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.

Carbon Monoxide – The Silent Killer

ElectricMan’s motto is “Quality Electrical Services”, and to achieve this, we feel like it’s our duty to inform our customers of the importance of home and electrical issues that might affect them. One of these dangers is Carbon Monoxide.

Carbon Monoxide is a toxic gas that is odorless, tasteless, colorless, and non-irritating, so it is very difficult to detect unless you have a carbon monoxide detector. It’s often produced by older motor vehicles and other gasoline-powered tools, heaters, and cooking equipment such as furnaces, heaters, wood-burning stoves, electrical generators, and propane-fueled equipment like portable stoves. Simply put, carbon monoxide is produced whenever gas, oil, kerosene, wood, or charcoal is burning.

Carbon monoxide is the leading cause of accidental poisoning deaths in America. The Centers for Disease Control estimate that carbon monoxide poisoning claims nearly 500 lives and causes more than 15,000 visits to the hospital emergency departments annually.

Symptoms of mild poisoning include headaches, vertigo, and flu-like effects, but larger exposure can lead to severe heart and central nervous system problems and even death. If you do suspect poisoning, get fresh air immediately. Open windows and doors, turn off combustion appliances, and leave the house. Take your pets outside too! Go to an emergency room and tell the doctor. A blood test is the best way to make the diagnosis. Treatment usually involves high doses of oxygen using a facemask.

Prevention is the key to avoiding carbon monoxide poisoning. Have your fuel-burning appliances inspected by a professional at the beginning of every heating season. Don’t idle your car in the garage, even with the garage door open, don’t use a gas oven to heat your home, don’t ever use a charcoal grill indoors, don’t sleep in a room with an unvented gas or kerosene space heater, and don’t use gasoline-powered engines in enclosed spaces. Have carbon monoxide detectors installed.

The National Fire Protection Association says that 93% of homes have smoke alarms but the Consumer Product Safety Commission estimates that only 15% have carbon monoxide alarms.

Here at ElectricMan, we can professionally install smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors in your home, because carbon monoxide poisoning is no small matter, and we care about your safety. We’re a family business and we put family first, including yours! We’re also available 24 hours, 7 days a week.

At ElectricMan Inc, we can professionally install smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors, because carbon monoxide poisoning is no small-matter, and we care about your safety. We’re a family business and we put family first, including yours!

It is true that most of the electrical problems you have in your home will need to be taken care of by a licensed electrician. However, there are various smaller problems that you can easily and safely troubleshoot. Here are just a few:

This can be quite bothersome and yet pretty easy to troubleshoot. Begin by checking that the bulb has been screwed in correctly. It needs to be in all the way. If that is in order, check to see that the wattage is correct for the fixture in which it has been fixed. If the wattage is not right, that can be causing overheating and it can even lead to a fire. In the event that the wattage is correct, just replace the old bulb with a new one. If the light is still flickering, then it is possible that the electrical outlet or the cord has a problem.

Custom Electrical Services offers affordable electrical solutions for your home.  They can handle any electrical project from the simple to the most lavish.  Recessed can lighting?  They can add modern lighting to provide accent lighting or general illumination.  Can lighting can be very neutral lighting providing general illumination without being noticed.  Have a piece of art or that favorite family photo you want to spot light?  Recessed lighting can be used to focus light onto the favorite picture.  New LED lighting options offer a low energy affordable solution.  LED lighting can reduce the amount of heat put off my traditional incandescent lighting.  LED recessed lighting can provide years of low cost general lighting as well.  [gravityform id=”2″ title=”true” description=”true”]