How To Stay Productive In An Open Office

The nature of an open office has recently come under fire as open layouts can cause some people discomfort and a slight drop in productivity. If your office is an open concept design, It can be difficult for you to manage your workflow. If you’re growing accustomed to staying productive in one of these environments, here are some tips to make sure that you can stay productive.

Before we even begin to start to go deeper into context, one of the most prime things you can do to stay productive is utilizing apps or software which can help you make your job faster. For instance, you can use the help of a character counter to quickly determine the exact number of characters already present in the article you are writing.

Isolate Yourself With Headphones

Listening to music can be an excellent way to drown out some of the distractions of open office space. Even ambient or instrumental music can be a wonderful way that you can drown out the surrounding environment and stay focused on your work. Headphones serve as a universal sign that you do not want to be disturbed and this can prevent coworkers from coming up and opening up a conversation with you when you need to focus.

Know When To Prioritize Your Own Work

It’s easy to get carried away when many people keep asking for help. Helping is an excellent way to establish relationships with other people but taking some time to help a coworker can quickly decrease your own productivity. Shifting gears for a few extra minutes to help a coworker with a problem might take you as much as 5 min to get back to your work. If you are doing this all day, you might find yourself with a stack of work at the time you would typically be ready to leave. Balance the amount of help that you give to others and be respectful when suggesting that you need to stay focused on your current project if someone has something large they need help with.

Have Spaces Delegated To Collaboration

Having a full open workspace that is designed to be collaborative could make it difficult to find peace and quiet. If your office allows for it, keep a cluster of chairs facing each other that are perfect for brainstorming or meetings. Having even partial cubicle walls or areas that are reserved for personal work can make sure that interruptions can be prevented.

Keep some of these top ideas in mind for creating a more harmonious workspace and making sure that you can access the full benefits of an open office workspace without losing productivity.

This post was written by Tara Kintz. Tara is a director at Signature Workspace which is a  Tampa office space. Signature Workspace, owned and operated by Cantor Fund Management, offers services and amenities such as private offices, flex space, co-working space, virtual offices, meeting/conference rooms, and more.