7 Zen Home Office Ideas That Will Inspire Creativity & Peace Of Mind
Beyond a beautiful décor that speaks “we mean business here”, creating an office atmosphere of peace and tranquility is the way to cultivate a positive environment.
Unfortunately, the competitive tendencies and stress in the workplace have led many to ditch the cubicle of their offices and find the perfect haven in the comfort of their homes.
As such, home offices are commonplace in this modern times and have further increased in popularity with the advent of the work from home movement.
One way to make the work from home experience much easier and relaxing is to embrace the Zen principle in designing your home office.
It’s all about making your workspace more loving, satisfying and joyful, without reflecting the hassles of daily routines.
Fancy achieving that in your own home? These Zen home office ideas can help to inspire creativity in that little corner of the world.
1. Get Rid of Clutter
A clear desk is one of the surest ways to have a clear mind. While this is probably not the first time you are hearing this, clearing clutter from your workspace can have a dramatic positive impact on your state of mind.
If you get rid of clutter, stress has fewer places to hide and creativity will have more room to breathe.
To ensure clarity in the pursuit of your Zen home office, you need to ask yourself the following questions:
- What purpose will this space be serving?
- What is the ultimate purpose of the desk along with everything around it, under it, and on it?
- Is it a space for communicating with clients, paying bills, writing, or all of these?
- What no longer serves this purpose?
- What is used often, and what can be discarded, removed, organized elsewhere or donated?
Clutter is a form of stuck energy and clearing it out will give you the space needed to produce inspired work, whatever kind of work it might be.
2. Relaxing Music
The soothing effects of music on one’s mental and emotional state are what makes it a great tool for managing stress.
Scientific experiments conducted at the University of California produced something referred to as “The Mozart Effect.”
The study concluded that test scores improved after students listened to a recording of Mozart versus compared to silence or a relaxation tape.
The studies reveal that listening to music has the potential to improve memory skills and learning, perhaps due to the fact that the brain uses the same pathways for both memory and music processing.
Music preference will obviously differ from one person to the next. It is up to you to experiment and find your highest productivity playlist.
It might end up changing your whole work experience for the better.
3. Invest in a Himalayan Salt Lamp
If you light a Himalayan salt lamp that has a bulb at the center, it will emit an ambient glow.
The bulb heats the salt thus releasing negative ions that purify the surrounding air of pollutants and allergens.
4. Sit on a Balance Ball
If you still sit on a standard rolling desk chair, it is time to swap it out for a balance ball. The reasons why are so clear.
If you are like most office workers, you spend most of your professional life seated in a chair and a balance ball can mean the difference between pain and freedom.
If you use an exercise ball as a desk chair you can:
- Reduce low back pain
- Improve balance
- Get more opportunities for stretching
- Make your workday more fun
- Improve circulation
- Increase energy
- Burn calories
- Strengthen deep core muscles
- Improve posture
Balance balls come in different sizes. If you find a ball too tall for your desk, you can take the air out.
If you find it too short for your desk, you can add a blanket underneath it or air for height.
Sitting comfortably with both feet in front of you and flat on the floor, ensure that both knees are either lower than or level with your hips.
5. Take Warm Lemon Water
The benefits of lemon water include body rehydration as well as providing an energy boost in the morning.
Having a cup of lemon water sitting on your desk makes it a bit easier to go to work each morning.
6. Use Essential Oils
You won’t find a lot of scientific research backing up claims that essential oils can actually help brain functioning, but you can definitely find centuries of traditional wisdom that does.
Clary sage or sage, peppermint, juniper berry, basil, and rosemary are the most prized essential oils for mental clarity. Lemon is energizing while lavender has calming effects.
If you would like to prepare your own blends of essential oils, you can find numerous resources online that show you exactly how to go about it.
7. Connecting with Nature
Nature is perhaps the most abundant source of inspiration that you can tap into for clarity and meaning in your work.
Here are several effective ways to incorporate Nature into your plans for a Zen home office:
- Taking short breaks for nature walks.
- Placing the desk close to a window (preferably on your side, not behind or in front of you) for maximum viewing pleasure.
- Using office supplies inspired by nature such as leaf ties for loose cables or grassy page markers.
- Use water inside waterfalls to make your space more chilled – this indoor water feature guide will give you a good idea of what to look for.
- Growing living, breathing plants either on or close to your desk. You can try to surround yourself with all kinds of easy-care greenery along with some silk flowers to provide a bit more color.