Spending your working hours in an office may involve your dream job. However, it can still be difficult to maintain productivity in such an environment, and even harder to boost your performance. Therefore, it’s important that you put some effort into your own mental and physical health as well as the way your working area makes you feel. The following tips may sound simple, or too good to be true, but they actually work wonders for improving your concentration and productivity at work.

1. Keep your desk tidy

Never let clutter take over your desk, working area or your desktop/laptop. In general, you want to make sure that everything you need for work is neatly organized in your drawers and your desk surface. The same goes for your icons and folders on your computer as well. When you have to go through a mess in order to find that one thing you need at that moment, your productivity is bound to drop. After all, this will break your focus. Moreover, clutter is known to increase stress, which is something you want to avoid at all costs.

2. Organize your tasks

Has it ever happened that you simply forgot to tend to all the tasks you had planned for the day? If it has, and it affected your work performance at some point, it’s time you organized yourself better. In fact, this is nothing too difficult. You can take some time during the weekend to write out everything you need to get done during the following week. Of course, beside work-related tasks, include all your responsibilities outside of work that you can recall as well. You can write everything in your planner, or you can use post-it notes on a corkboard when you go to work on Monday. This is a great way to keep all your tasks in check and never forget what you have to do. What’s more, this will help you plan out your days properly, so that you have time for everything. It is definitely a sure way to improve performance.

3. Healthy lifestyle

You may not like hearing this, especially if you have to sit at a desk, in front of a computer for hours, but the undeniable truth is that a healthy lifestyle is key to maintaining and boosting productivity, as well as good mood. In that respect, adding fruits and veggies to your diet, ditching foods that are obviously not good for you, and exercising regularly is a must if you want to be up to the task of staying productive. Remember, even 5-10 minutes of regular physical activity is enough. There are also plenty of deskercises that you can try out while at work.

4. Surround yourself with positivity

Positive energy that will boost your productivity and overall performance is not the easiest thing to come by. Therefore, you have to create the perfect conditions for yourself in order to be able to enjoy your time at work. Together with décor, music can make a world of difference when it comes to focusing and putting more effort into the task at hand. With that in mind, make sure to find the tunes that work the best for you personally. Obviously, you mustn’t disturb other people, so make sure to get a pair of good-quality and comfy in-ear headphones that will help you relax, but also achieve the focus you want.

5. Make your work space your own

Sterile and impersonal work environment is never going to boost your performance and productivity effectively. While it’s true that you don’t need plenty of knick-knacks and accessories lying around, as they will just make a mess and distract you from work, you should still try to make your work space your own. Stationery that you like, a photo of your loved ones, comfy seat cushion and a plant you find pleasant to look at can actually do wonders for how you approach work and handle all the tasks.

In order to improve your work performance, it’s important to realize that work is not everything you’ve got. Don’t forget to take the time to relax and enjoy your hobbies outside of work as well, in order to feel accomplished, fulfilled and ready to make the most out of every day.