No matter how good you are at multi-tasking, we all struggle with productivity at times.

Your mind is in overdrive; you’ve not stopped, but you’ve not really started either. As a result, you’re not as productive as you’d like to be, and that’s frustrating.

What if we were to tell you that you’re not to blame. Your work environment could be the one thing that’s stopping you from always bringing your A-Game to work.

There has been a huge amount of research into the impact the office environment has on productivity. So, we thought we’d explore some of the best ‘hacks’ and garden office interior ideas that’ll boost your productivity!

Implement These Productive Design ‘Hacks’:

Improve Lighting

If you’re someone who suffers from brain fog, you might not be getting enough natural light during the day. After all, the Health and Safety Executive’s (HSE) research shows that poor lighting can lead to eye strain, headaches, lethargy, irritability and poor concentration.

So, if you’re finding that mid-afternoon slump taking its toll, it could be the lighting alone that’s the cause. That’s where the garden office comes into its own since it’s all about making the most of the natural light (more on this in a bit).

Separate Space

The importance of having a separate space cannot be underestimated. We might not know it, but noise can be a real distraction, even from a faint TV in the background. So, to be your most productive, you need a space where you can shut yourself away from the rest of the family, and the garden office is the ideal way to do this.

Temperature

According to research by the Lawrence Berkley National Laboratory, the ideal working temperature is 21 Degrees Celsius. However, even a single degree higher or lower can negatively affect your productivity. Some studies have even shown that office workers exposed to cold working conditions make over 40% more mistakes!

That’s why it’s important to choose a garden office that can comfortably be used all year round.

A Comfortable Space

We’ve all heard the analogy ‘a tidy house helps a tidy mind’. Well, it’s particularly true if you want to remain productive when working from home. You’ve guessed it; a properly planned garden office can help you achieve just this. Plus, it’s super important that you plan your office space ergonomically – where everything you choose is designed to make you feel comfortable.

Bringing the Outside In

There’s a good reason why some of the biggest offices in the world have roof-top gardens and plenty of indoor plants. The mere presence of greenery increases work performance in several ways. Plants in and around a garden office not only purify the air, but they also improve our mood, reduce stress and increase our productivity.

Productive Garden Office Design Ideas

1. Bring in the natural light

Here’s one of our favourite garden office design ideas.

By introducing expansive floor-to-ceiling windows and doors, you let in just the right amount of natural light and instantly feel more productive.

Best of all, if you choose a SMART Garden Office, you have the freedom to decide where you place your windows and doors. You can also opt for integrated flush blinds to block out the rays when the sun is low in the sky.

2. A distraction-free space

We weren’t at all surprised to discover that research from the British Journal of Psychology found that being exposed to just one background conversation reduces productivity by 66%, so here’s one of our top contemporary garden design ideas.

Position your garden office away from the house to give yourself a separate space to work from. Then, you’ll have all the benefits of working from home without constant interruption. So, if you want to pick up the children from school and still work when you get back, you can.

3. Just the right temperature

We know it’s tempting when working from home to throw on an extra couple of layers during the winter months. After all, it costs a small fortune to heat the whole house.

An insulated garden office with electrics is just the solution. Take SMART Garden Offices as an example. Every range is built using high-quality PVCu windows and doors, including 28mm sealed units and low-E glass. Plus, insulation is placed into all building elements: the floor, the walls, and the ceiling to ensure excellent thermal performance. All SMART garden rooms are supplied with a slimline, wall-mounted, thermostatically controlled radiator as standard. However, if you want to control the temperature of your garden office to exactly 21°, you can have air conditioning fitted. You’ll never have to fear those winter months again!

4. Design with comfort in mind

We could talk forever about the garden office design ideas to make sure you’re as comfortable as possible and not doing your joints any harm. However, there are a few basics that everyone should consider:

• Desk height. A too high or low desk can cause stress and strain on the body, especially your back and wrists. The correct height for computer work is determined by your height as well as the type of equipment you use. However, 71.12cm is the standard desk height that most people use.
• Right chair. Invest in an ergonomic chair – one that you can adjust to your body and has good lumbar support. Your thighs must be parallel with the floor, and your knees should rest at 90 degrees to your flat to the floor feet. Your elbows should rest on your desktop at a 90-degree angle.
• Screen position. Your screen should be directly in front of you, and a good guide for any garden office owner is to place the monitor about an arm’s width away with the top of the screen at eye level.

A SMART garden office can be designed to include all the workplace essentials, including bespoke, hand-crafted ergonomic desks and storage solutions. Fitted shelves and cupboards, as well as full-height, solid adjustable bookcases, keep everything in order (as pictured below).

5. Being at one with nature

If you’re an artist or a writer, a garden office nestled amongst greenery can do wonders for your creativity. Imagine being the owner of this Mediterranean-inspired Key Studio below. As one of the most inspiring contemporary garden office ideas we’ve seen, pops of green against warm wood and white-washed walls make for an uplifting view.

One of our most popular ranges, the Affinity, also gives you the option of having an adjoining decked area with a canopy so that you can work outside. This is perfect if you have the occasional client meeting or simply fancy a change of scenery.

Order Your Brochure Now

Creating your very own perfectly lit, temperate, nature-inspired, and comfortable, garden office is effortlessly simple with SMART Garden Offices.

Not only do we have seven striking garden office ranges in over 64 different sizes (starting from £10,525), we deliver across the UK – although most of our clients are clustered around Suffolk, Norfolk, Essex and London.

Here’s the exciting part – you can design and customise your own SMART Garden Office using our SMART configurator visualiser app. Simply search ‘Smart Garden Room Visualiser’ on App Store or Google Play to download the app. You’ll love how immersed you become in the design process.

To give you some ideas ahead of using the app though, it’s a good idea to download a copy of our brochure first. It’s packed full of inspiring design ideas with real-life photos!