Revitalise Your Workplace: Healthy Habits for Enhanced Wellness and Productivity at Work

Trudging to work and feeling down? It’s time to clear out the cobwebs of negativity in time for spring. Our wellness tips for office workers show you some of the healthy habits at work you can start making for a real spring clean that has a lasting impact. We aren’t talking about wiping down your desk with a bit of anti-bac. We’re considering what’s missing in your office culture – and how you can form a new set of healthy habits. 

At Collection Pot, we see so many Pots created by stellar, world-class workplaces that have got culture nailed. Read on for the very best actionable advice for decluttering your office culture, so you have a spring in your step!

How to enhance your workspace

What part of your office culture needs a declutter? 

How do you feel about work? Are you walking in with a spring in your step, or feeling down and out? If you could do with some more zest – identify the causes in your office culture that you can handle or change with some healthy habits.

Typically, when we spring clean, we want to create space (physically and emotionally) for change. The simple acts of clearing a desk, mowing a lawn, tending to a plant all seem small, but do add up. The same applies for your workplace. You need to be at your best there so getting some healthy habits at work is a great idea. 

Where do you feel you could use more air and space in the workplace? Where are the pain points? 

Wellness tips for office workers – what to consider: 

• Is your commute stressful / lonely / dull? 
• Are you arriving and launching into problems? 
• Do you wind down too much at the weekend and take days to get back to speed? Or do you never wind down? 
• Is your work not affording you any breaks? 
• Do you feel overwhelmed or underwhelmed? 
• Are you feeling healthy and fit? If you aren’t feeling healthy – where do you feel issues arise? 
• Does your space make you feel creative? 
• Does your team make you feel creative? 
• Are you connected to your work or just passing the time? 

These are broad questions that can help you identify the issues. It could be a people problem that you can fix – where you start to connect more with colleagues or friends. There might be blockages in how often you meet new people, how you travel to work or what you eat and do to repair and rest. There could be issues that HR can step in to sort. Or you might need a new job – yes, really! (And you thought you were here to learn to declutter!) 

It can be hard to identify the best wellness tips for office workers and healthy habits at work that will work for you without knowing where you need support.

Issues with the space itself – spring clean your area 

If you feel uncreative and stagnant, healthy habits at work must start with a spring clean. You can declutter your desk and space as much as possible. The advice will be no surprise, but you need to think about nature – plants to look at and care for, water for them and you, and fresh air. 

(Did you know a 2010 study by the new University of Technology, Sydney, found significant reductions in stress among workers when plants were introduced to their workspace? Results included a 37% fall in reported tension and anxiety; a 58% drop in depression or dejection; a 44% decrease in anger and hostility; and a 38% reduction in fatigue.) 

But we know that offices aren’t always set up like this, and your cheese plant won’t always be welcome – so an alternative is you need to Spring clean out as much clutter as possible from where you can. 

Areas to consider as you declutter your space

• Messy desktops 
• Folders that are unruly 
• A dusty desk chair 
• Old decorations
• Updates that need to happen on your computer 
• General hardware issues that need to be fixed – glitchy mouse, dirty keyboard 
• Old pens and paper and messy drawers
• Old snacks 
• Unused items 

Issues with sadness or lack of joy at the office – aim to make connections

We can find it really hard to get on at work when we aren’t connecting with other humans. If your office culture doesn’t allow for enough connection – you need to make that a priority. Wellness tips for office workers aren’t just about getting a walking treadmill – but about caring for your soul. 

It’s not fluff – it’s science – and brain scans and studies all reveal our deep need to be connected so all healthy habits at work should have people at the heart of them. 

According to a well-known 2010 study by Princeton researchers Daniel Kahneman and Angus Deaton. 

If you have a friend that you see on most days, it’s like earning $100,000 more each year. Simply seeing your neighbours on a regular basis gets you $60,000 a year more. On the other hand, when you break a critical social tie – here, in the case of getting divorced – it’s like suffering a $90,000 per year decrease in your income.

Our connections matter. How can you spring clean your working environment not by letting things go – but by letting people in? 

Ideas: 

• Work in a new space 
• Connect with like-minded people in similar roles 
• Go to the office if hybrid working on days when you can work together and not just meet in meetings
• Try body doubling – working with someone else on a task together yet in silence 
• Have plans after work with family or friends to look forward to 
• Have clubs or hobbies to look forward to 

Issues with unwinding or feeling blocked – build in daily movement 

If you felt unhealthy or like your office culture wasn’t making you feel creative, you might need some more movement. Wellness tips for office workers are very common because we know how bad the office can be for us all. The only problem is, there isn’t an app that will cattle prod you out of your seat. No one is coming to correct your posture or force you to do a walk at lunchtime. Healthy habits at work aren’t easy – but they are worthwhile. We know that the bad things aren’t great long-term. Sitting is the new smoking, as they say, so now is the ideal time for you to start looking at how you can take more responsibility for motion yourself. Only you can get your body moving! 

Wellness tips for office workers: 

• Squats when making a cup of tea 
• Balancing work – trying to get your shoes on without sitting to do so 
• Stretches in your chair 
• Stand up regularly – set an alarm or use a smartwatch 
• Squeezing muscles when in long meetings or calls 
• Walks to and fro work, during work or lunchtimes
• Making time to go straight from work to activity without pausing to head home 

All over issues – spring clean and make space for gratitude 

It sounds cheesy – but if things feel really bad with your office culture and you need to try and pull through, then turn your thinking around for spring. This starts with gratitude. Instead of I have to, you say ‘I get to’. What are the benefits of this job – even if it means heat, food or seeing birds out the window? 

Why are you here? Is it a stepping stone? Think about how short life is – a few thousand weeks at best. 

Getting some pictures or phrases that remind you of what there is to be grateful about can be very powerful for you when it comes to motivating you and revitalising your workplace – after all, every thought starts in the mind. 

We hope this has helped you consider some healthy habits at work you can implement. If you have any other wellness tips for office workers – share them with us! Find us on social media.