Golden Rules for Surviving the Office

It may not be the outback or the peak of Mount Kilimanjaro, but there are days when surviving the office can feel like an endurance test. Here’s our guide to survival.

Tackle email overload

The average office worker sends and receives around forty emails a day, making it easy to spend a good portion of your working day fending off the onslaught of electronic mail. But don’t. It’s just not productive. Set yourself a limit – and stick to it. Check your emails no more than once an hour – cut that back to once every two to three hours if you can (you could set an alert to tell you when you can check). After all, if it’s really urgent, they’ll call you. And while you’re at it, it’s time to cull your inbox. That email about the Xmas Party from 2007? You really don’t need it anymore.

Defeat backache and eyestrain

If you’re anything like the average office worker, you spend around six hours a day sitting down. That’s a lot of time to develop bad posture. So make sure you adjust your chair, keyboard, computer monitor, and anything else that needs to be in easy reach to a suitable position. Getting it right – i.e. comfy but not slouching comfy – could save you a whole load of backache and eyestrain at the end of the working day.

Fight frustration

You know that feeling you get when you’ve been working on something for hours and you just can’t seem to get any further forward? It feels like you’re tying yourself in knots – and it’s incredibly frustrating. The key to having a better day in the office could well be getting away from it. That means putting down your work and getting away from your desk for half an hour or an hour – however long your allotted midday break is. However busy your day is, taking that break will help you return to your tasks feeling refreshed and far more productive.

Shut out the noise

Thanks to the 21st Century obsession with the open-plan office, most of us have to complete our daily tasks against a surging wall of sound. The effects on productivity vary from person to person, depending on how easy you find it to shut out the buzz. The key to survival? Be prepared. Kit yourself out with some headphones (the best quality you can afford) and some soothing background noise you can work with.

And if you’re still struggling to concentrate try taking a break. Here at Ransom Wood in our 70 acres of woodland its easy to pop out of the office for 10 minutes to have a breather and a quick stroll in the great surroundings. Our on site restaurant, Forever Green, can refresh you with a coffee or a bite to eat before you head back to your desk. Give our friendly team a call to see how we can help move your office to this great location.