Have you ever wondered why you appear to be more focused and productive in some locations and not in others? Well, you may be shocked to know that something as seemingly unrelated as the color of the location you are working from can have some serious impact on your productivity.
The strong influence of color on human psychology is a proven fact. Therefore, it means that you should not only focus on getting the highest laptop configuration you can find – whether for work or play but also look at your work environment so that your productivity can be enhanced by a proper workplace organization.
Psychological Effect of Colors
It’s been psychologically proven that every color has a certain effect on the people around. These effects can be positive or negative. According to Angela Wright, a Psychologist who has carried out some studies on the subject, there are four primary psychologically powerful colors: red, yellow, blue and green.
While these four colors and those derived from them all affect us in one way or another, we will focus on the three that will have the most stimulating effect on our productivity: red, blue and yellow.
The Color Red
Red is regarded as a very physical color. Its properties include courage, physical strength, determination, excitement, masculinity, energy, survival, and warmth. Sure it does have some negative properties such as aggression, defiance, strain and a visual impact that some may not be able to handle. However, the positives do outweigh the negatives.
The color red can act almost like an adrenaline rush. It is a color that has a “never say die” effect. Your heart will pump blood faster, increasing your pulse. It is especially ideal for people who are accustomed to dealing with high-pressure situations.
This color will boost productivity in physically demanding job situations. If your job requires a lot of physical effort, then consider a healthy splash of red in your work area.
The Color Blue
Blue is primarily an intellectual color. Its main effect is the enhancement of our intellectual activities – something that we all need a good dose of to be productive. Other properties of the color blue include efficiency, trust, communication, calm, logic, reflection, serenity, coolness, and duty.
On the negative, blue can sometimes be perceived as aloof, cold, unfriendly and even lacking in emotion (no wonder that feeling blue is an expression of sadness).
While red is forceful and in all over your face, blue is calming. Shade also matters. Thus, dark blue will stimulate clear thoughts while light/baby blue will produce a calming effect, aiding focus and concentration. It’s no wonder that blue is the world’s most favorite color.
The color blue is ideal for environments that require clear communication, creative thoughts and a high level of focus. This is something that computer geeks can definitely relate to.
The Color Yellow
The color yellow almost cancels out the negatives of the color blue. Yellow is an emotional color. On the positive, its properties include creativity, confidence, optimism, friendliness, self-esteem, emotional strength, and extraversion.
On the negative, it can elicit emotional fragility, fear, anxiety, irrationality, depression and even suicide. Because of its emotional strength, yellow is regarded in psychology as the strongest color.
Yellow is great for environments where fresh ideas are constantly needed. It can give a nudge to optimism in a situation that looks like a dead end. If your work requires solving constantly evolving challenges, you may want to consider splashing some yellow around.
Putting it All Together
From everything we have seen thus far, we can see that each of the three colors we looked at have their positives and negatives. Like we saw with blue and yellow, one color complimented the other by canceling out its negative properties.
With this, it should be pretty clear that we can combine these colors to achieve the optimum environment for enhanced productivity. For example, we have already seen that blue enhances intelligence and clear thoughts. Adding a touch of orange to a blue setting will enhance creative sparks.
Enhanced productivity is not just about the color. While choosing the color that elicits the best from you, you must be sure to find out the intensity or brightness of the color that does the magic. The color and the shade of it has to be right if you will enjoy the full benefits of that color.
Is that All?
Of course not! In a work environment, color is only one of the factors that impact the overall performance. Even though we cannot omit the fact that it is powerful enough to shape our mood and inner feeling, we also know that there are other important factors that can affect productivity. Let’s take for example the desks and the chairs, as being the most basic, yet most important assets in your workplace.
I dare say that even if you have the exact blend of colors that elicit the highest level of productivity from you, without the right desk and chair, you will not be able to perform to the fullest. The key to a perfect working environment is knowing exactly what to do to achieve complete balance in your workplace.
From our discussion on colors, we can see that it has nothing to do with how much one is able to spend but only on one’s knowledge and, of course, an ability to use it. If you are knowledgeable even by choosing a budget-friendly painting plan, you can achieve the right color blend.
In the same way, you can find budget-friendly chairs, desks, and other office equipment. With these budget-friendly office chairs, desks and office equipment, you can now reap the full benefits of the properties of the color(s) you have chosen.
Take a good look at your work environment right now and begin to note areas that you can improve. Remember, at the end of the day, it is only your knowledge that can help you establish the perfect environment for a productive work.
References:
1. Psychological Properties Of Colours
2. 4 Colors That Give You an Unexpected Productivity Boost
My name is Artem and I am a founder of My Ergonomic Chair blog, that is my absolutely beloved project on office ergonomics and posture.
Being very dedicated to sports and well-being, I love to share my knowledge with others and help others to increase their level of comfort, productivity as well as improve health in order to live a better and longer life.
