Our Living & Working Environments

How important is the environment we live in or work in?

I was recently asked to write an article for the NZ Herald Online discussing my personal and my professional thoughts on working from home.  I was very happy to have the opportunity to jump on my soapbox and wax lyrical about this topic! I believe that our living and working environment are areas that often are not given enough attention when addressing personal and professional happiness, and therefore, success.

One of the questions I often ask my clients is, “are they happy with their living environment?” It still surprises me how common it is to not have given it much thought.  The environment then frequently becomes one of the goal areas that we work on together, and it is a popular goal.  Does your home feel welcoming? Does it show your personality? Does it lift your spirits? Do you have things around you that you love? 

Our environment should support us in being us, should reflect our personalities, be a place that we choose to be in, be a place we feel proud to have people visit, even if it is just a studio/bedsit.

In the case of the working area, this is often seen as an environment that is designed around a practical need.  A place to get the job at hand done; and in some respect that’s fair enough.  However, if you have some influence in how your workspace looks and feels (especially those of you that work from home), then influence you should.  Does it have good natural light?  Does it inspire you to get your work done? Is it conducive to your type of work? Could it be better? Do you have the tools/resources around you that you need?

So take a look around you, have a think about your own personal environments.  Do you they support you in being fabulous?  If not, what can you do to change this?  For those of you on a budget, this doesn’t mean a big spend up, it could be something as simple as moving a lamp, putting up a poster, adding a candle, or putting your favourite books out on display.

I would love to hear from any of you that made a change after reading this.  What did you change and what effect did it have?

Read the NZ Hearld article