Feel Like a Kid Again – Seven Simple Tips to Reenergize Your Work Day

Remember the energy you used to get when the new school year approached? The nervous excitement about your classes, the friends you hadn’t seen all summer, and the fresh crisp weather that meant new clothes to start the school year? Everything felt fresh; a new beginning and clean slate.

Finding that kind of freshness in a job is a little more difficult; especially because you weren’t given a three month break. Each day is exactly like the day before and although you aren’t burned out, you certainly aren’t excited about the work day. Use these simple tips to re-energize your daily routine and before you know it you will feel like a kid again heading to your first day of school.

1. Change your visual space. This simple technique will change the energy of your office or cubicle. Take down the photos, posters, or other decorations and replace them with new ones. If you had pictures of your kids on your desk, refresh them with updated versions. Change the frame of a favorite photo to give it a new look. If you had a painting of a landscape on the wall, change it out with something completely different. A very small change can make a huge impact in your mood and energy level.
2. Re-arrange your office furniture. Again, change will reenergize you. It is the same job, same duties, same hectic schedule but changing your furniture layout will make it feel new again. It is the same feeling you had when you set foot into that new classroom in the next grade, although It was the same school, the energy was quite different sitting at that new desk.
3. Clear clutter. Take time this week to clean off your desk, clear the clutter from your space. This includes cleaning out your drawers and going through all the junk you have accumulated over the past year or two. In the same way that new school supplies made you feel like you could set the world on fire, de-cluttering your space will make you feel energized and relieve stress.
4. Ditch the fluorescent lighting. Buy some lamps and keep the overhead lights turned off. It’s easier on your eyes and it creates a much calmer mood for your office. Replacing the harsh lighting with more natural lighting or lamp light will significantly change the feel of your space.
5. Bring life into your space. If you live in an area where the seasons change you will soon be heading for winter months and less daylight. Keeping living plants in your office will keep you connected with the outdoors, even if it is in a small way.
6. Change your daily routine. Something as small as changing the route you take to work will break the doldrums. If you go out for lunch, try packing one day per week.  The key is to make small changes to a daily routine.
7. Stay organized. Summer always has less structure than the school year. Now that kids’ activities and homework have to fit into your day, you’ll want to stay ahead on your planning. If you don’t have a planner, now is the time to buy one.

These small changes in your environment will have a huge impact on your mood. Go ahead; what do you have to lose? Besides, don’t you miss that back-to-school excitement just a little?