Does your work environment cause you stress?

With many organisations considering the option of having a hybrid or flex option for their team to work from home and work from the office, the importance of how our work environment or place of work affects our health and wellbeing may be underestimated.

Along with the management of ergonomics, slips, trips, falls and manual handling, we also need to consider temperature, noise, and how our surroundings make us feel?

Our environment provides information to our body that can affect our health and wellbeing. For instance, if you are working in a space that has lots of interruptions when you need to be focused, that can impact your productivity. For some people having a cluttered or disorganised space can affect productivity, for others being able to get out into nature throughout the day helps to reset and recharge their mood, while for others, artificial lighting may cause headaches.

Lately, I've been making a bit more effort to align my surroundings with my biological needs. Sounds a bit cray-cray I know, but by using the Shae personalised health platform I have a detailed health profile that delivers me specifics on my best foods, exercise regimes, sleep schedule, climate and an in-depth understanding of how my brain at work, socially and in general function. It also provides insights into the best environments to promote epigenetic wellbeing, the best time of year to rejuvenate and take a holiday or retreat, and the ideal environmental conditions that will support rejuvenation.

I must admit I was a bit sceptical at first even though I know the importance of the environment on our health. What I couldn't quite wrap my head around was that by making seemingly small changes like having splashes of red, matching colours, keeping my windows open to allow for breezes, and adding a few pot plants to my space I would feel less stressed and more productive.

I figured I'd give it a try and see how I went. I've never been one for having matchy-matchy stuff in the house; I think of myself as being down to earth, pragmatic and preferring function over form. I figured, what's the worst that could happen? The house would look nice, my home office would get a spring clean, and I'd have a few new paintings on the walls. I figured I'd do a little experiment and have a little fun along the way.

The results are in and I have to say that I'm surprised at the difference it has made. Not only have I enjoyed the process, but I have also actually noticed a significant difference in how I'm working and feeling in my space. Others have noticed too.

My energy levels have improved and I feel like my vitality has increased. I'm better able to focus for longer periods of time (something I often struggle with). My work output has increased and I feel less rushed. If I was to describe how I feel in one word, it would be "grounded".

I'm not sure if I can attribute these outcomes to the changes I made but I have to say, nothing else has changed so I'm not sure what else it could be. What I really love is that I have been able to set up my space so it suits me, not something I would have been able to do if I was working in someone else's offices or clinic space, I guess that's one of the advantages of working from home.

As we transition into new ways of working that include the flexibility to work from home I can highly recommend taking the time to set up your space in a way it will serve you, both from a functional and safety perspective but also from a wellbeing and energetic point of view. If you would like to understand more about how your space impacts your biology and your overall wellbeing, drop me an email or book in a discovery call.

Mary-Leigh is a Nutritional Medicine Practitioner, Performance Specialist and Transformational Coach that brings vitality and productivity into the workplace through cutting edge wellbeing, leadership and employee experience solutions. She has dedicated over 25 years to the welfare and wellbeing of others and works with high performing individuals and organisations that understand the importance of happier, healthier, engaged employees.