Any business knows that productivity is key to growth, let alone staying afloat. Whether you are talking about a production line, a traveling salesperson, and yes even your office space; productivity is going to be the main driving factor which will allow your business to not only stay in business, but also experience growth year over year, month over month.

Here we are going to describe 23 ways to improve office productivity which will in turn allow you to realize higher profits, more output, and less money being wasted to lost productivity.

First on the list? Improving office productivity through computer applications:

Science proves that taking more breaks allows us to be more productive.

How does that work if we technically will have less “work time” by taking all these breaks?

It gives us time to collect our thoughts, time to let our mind roam, and even some time to talk and bounce ideas off of others.

So, instead of making employees hate working because you limit them to one break a day; let them take a short one every hour or two and watch the ideas and productivity outputs increase!

Not only should you be organizing your desk, but also the entire office.

A cleared out area allows for a clear mind to work at much higher levels of clarity. Whether you have a cubical office design or a more open concept; requiring all areas of the office to be clear on either a weekly or daily basis should be a must.

Sure, not everyone likes to clear. But, if you give employees 10-15 minutes to clean their area at the end of every day I’m sure most people will be happy to do so (especially if you explain it is part of your initiative to improve productivity in the office)!

Some people have a habit of checking their email every 10 minutes while they are waiting for someone important to get back to them.

In reality, the likelihood of them replying back right away even if you get back to them quick is slim. On top of that, it seems down right desperate.

By implementing 2-3 time periods (again, depending on the department) that people should check their email; you will end the constant refreshing of email pages by a lot of your work force. This allows people to get back to work and pay much more attention to their work at hand.

There can be multiple things wrong with your lighting system that might be throwing off people in the office.

First of all, if you have fluorescent lights then you might just have a few (or a lot) of lights in your office that flicker or even worse, buzz. This can cause eye stress, annoyance, and a general distraction.

On top of that, you may have either an under-lit or over-lit office. Both are bad, and it’s up to you to find the optimal light output for your office. This can be done by surveying employees on your lighting system and going from there.

Lastly, low quality light can be an issue. An easy way to not only improve the quality of light but also get rid of flickering and buzzing light issues is by upgrading your reduce your energy usage by up to 30% or so. Sounds like a win-win situation here!

Not only will they help with productivity, but they will also clean the air of toxins which will keep the air fresh and not-so-stuffy.

Stop making it so difficult to get around. Make it easy to get to the bathroom, to the trash, or even to an outlet.

Time is money, and if people are having to spend time just to get to the most basic things you aren’t setting up your office for success (literally).

Using office design to increase productivity can be difficult, sure. But it doesn’t have to be all that complex. You could even get some people together to brainstorm what could be done to best optimize the space you have to best serve efficiency in the office. So while there will never be the “best office design for productivity” hack or tip (due to all offices being different), you can always use some general guidelines and common sense to help you out.

Wherever the noise may be coming from, while it may not effect everyone it may be effecting some people.

Now, this can be an easy fix if the noise is coming from within the office. To solve this issue, all you need to do is address the area of concern and fix it. But, what if the noise is coming externally on a frequent basis?

Well, you can do either of two things. Firstly, you can try to address or confront the external noise producer and see if there is anyway for it to stop at least during your time of work. If that doesn’t work, then you might need to install sound proofing technology into your walls. This can get pricey sure, but you’ve got to weight the benefits of having less noise in the office versus the cost it is going to be to make the upgrade.

Although you might think that you won’t be able to get everything in if you shorten meetings, you would be mistaken!

In fact, having shorter meetings make them much more focused and thus; more productive. Even if you have two meetings over one a week because they are shorter, it is much better to have two 10 minute meetings over one 30 minute one that lacks purpose.

On top of that, do you really need to have a meeting? Or, are you just holding meetings to “have a meeting?” If it is the latter, try scheduling meetings only when they are needed, rather just out of habit.

Looking for ways to motivate the office into getting stuff done? 43Folders.com and it’s a simple concept: work for ten minutes, break for 2, then repeat this 5 times (or an hour).

You might say, “are you mad?! No way I’ll let my employees take a break every 10 minutes.” But here it out…

Maybe you shouldn’t implement this tactic specifically, but make a variation that works for your needs but still allows for productivity to be most optimal. And yes, there will be times when extreme concentration is required for more than 10-20 minutes, and obviously this doesn’t have to be a “set in stone” type deal. Instead, make it a generally accepted practice to partake in such method of break and work balancing.

(We already talked about more breaks in #3, but we thought this hack was worthy of its own).

Have you ever listed a job listing opportunity with one of the qualifications as “multitasking?” If so, you’ve got it all wrong. In fact, you should be listing a qualifications as “the ability to be laser focused on one thing at a time.”

Multitasking Parkinson’s law” in short says that we will fill whatever time is allotted to complete a given task.

Why do you think people with a 3 month deadline to get a presentation done still find themselves struggling to get it ready to go last minute? Because they will fill the entire time they are given to finish it. This goes with any task, and if you shorten the time allotted to finish tasks you will see more getting done because people will work to fill the allotted time given.

This of course can be used too far and not given enough time to get things done with all the proper due diligence required. Finding a good balance of long enough but not TOO long will be difficult, but start looking into deadlines and what exactly defines how far out they get set and start thinking about setting shorter (yet still doable) deadlines.

Studies show that standing will not only improve health, but it will also improve productivity. Focus goes up and thus more work can get done.

call center workers showed that pollution in the office reduced productivity levels. As you can imagine, pollution is a major issue in a lot of places, especially in bigger cities.

Do you or does someone that you know have a Federal Pacific Electrical panel in their business or home? There are a number of reasons that these panels are unsafe, which means that they should be replaced as quickly as possible. One of the first reasons is simply because they are so old. Federal Pacific panels have not been installed in many years. The main reason that they should be replaced by your electrician in Los Angeles is because the circuit breakers in the panel may not always trip whenever they should. This can lead to some very serious issues with your home’s electrical system.

An Example

A couple years ago, one of our technicians were called out to inspect a circuit wire that appeared to have bubbled up. Whenever he arrived at the location, he discovered that this particular circuit had been overloaded so far that the sheath covering on the cable started to boil. Upon further inspection, he found out that the power for this particular cable came from a Federal Pacific electrical panel. What happened, was that the homeowner’s air conditioning unit was experiencing issues that caused it to seize up, continuously pulling more and more power from the panel. Rather than tripping like it should have, the circuit breaker remained on, leading to the boiling cable sheathe.

Although we were able to correct this problem relatively quickly, it could very easily have turned out much worse. This overloaded wire could have caught fire, or remained unnoticed and poorly insulated until it came into contact with a person or with another item that led to serious electrical shock or other injury.

The moral of the story is to have your home regularly inspected by a Los Angeles electrician for proper safety. For more safety tips or information about unsafe electrical panels, visit The Electric Connection at www.theelectricconnection.com.

Do me a favor and imagine that you are in need of suggestions for a Fourth of July party. You head to via Wikipedia

Of course, I’m not talking about snap pops, black cats, m-80s, or even those cool little paper cars that gush sparks, travel four feet, and then burn to death in a microblaze reminiscent of a 1970s action film.

I am talking about the ones that explode up there, the ones you have to tilt your head back to see. That the fireworks explode in the night sky is important because the very act of looking up immediately takes you out of the mundanity that the rest of the holiday will surely deliver – the planning, the decorating, the complications. No more overflowing trashcan with wing sauce-smeared cocktail napkins. No more ordinary stuff.

At the heart of the Fourth of July is a spirit of independence that is, actually, a big deal. When your eyes are on what’s going on at ground level, it can be hard to realize how big a deal ideas like independence and sacrifice are. Once your attention is arrested by the spectacle of fireworks happening up there in the sky, you’re taken out of the everyday and able to reflect on these things, which is important, I think.

2. They are glorious.

“And the rockets’ red glare/ The bombs bursting in air,” goes the song. Did you know that the word “rocket,” in the sense of the combustion-fueled projectile, dates all the way back to 1566? The Oxford English Dictionary notes that rockets have historically been “used for signalling, in maritime rescue, for entertainment, and as a weapon.” Fireworks symbolize communication, violence, and entertainment: A strangely fitting mix for the complex human heart.

The red glare of the rockets in “The Star-Spangled Banner” refers to the bombardment of Fort McHenry in the War of 1812. That the fort was not taken during the battle is indeed glorious, and fireworks are a reminder of the fortitude of the people who fought and suffered to keep America independent in 1776 and again in 1812. Boom. (Literally: boom!)

3. They are beautiful.

So, those are my three reasons that fireworks are the most important part of any holiday festivity: They happen above you; they are glorious; and they are beautiful. I think these are pretty good reasons for making sure you see some fireworks this Fourth of July.

Take a moment out of the hectic festivities to reflect on the spirit of rebellion, creativity, and inspiration that is involved in claiming and defending independence from parties eager to exploit the vulnerable. This is about more than just us. This unites us across time and space. Fireworks reflect the beauty of standing together for what is right, even when it hurts.

Electricity gives us light, warmth and many of the conveniences of modern life. It powers industry, our homes, our schools and our offices, yet most of us take it for granted. Do you know where your electricity comes from or how it reaches you to provide the energy you depend on? It's Grid Week, and the Department of Energy's Understanding the Grid infographic gives a bite-size education on how electricity is generated, transmitted and distributed to our homes and businesses.