When it comes to projecting a positive image through your personal space, some areas are more easily managed than others. Here are a few Dos and Don’ts to consider when it comes to the presentation of your workspace.

Your desk, cubicle or office can say a lot about you. The following are some things to consider when organizing and personalizing your workspace, via CareerBuilder.com.

Do. . .

Include visual breaks: Many of us spend more time in our cubicle than we do in our bedroom, so it makes sense to personalize our space: pictures of family or friends, a favorite artistic photograph or print, a desk calendar of your favorite sports team, etc.

Introduce nature: Green Plants for Green Buildings (formerly Plants at Work) says green things that grow can play an important role in creating a more relaxed environment: Employees exposed to plants exhibit “more positive emotions such as happiness and assertiveness and less negative emotions such as sadness and fear.” The organization also says that “interior plantscapes” can improve recruitment and retention of top employees significantly. Having greenery around is also good for your health, as it soaks up pollutants and gives off oxygen, notes Occupational Health & Safety. That said, consider something with low maintenance.

Have some fun: Might we suggest ThinkGeek, with their R2-D2 laundry baskets and “Battlestar Galactica” propaganda posters and screaming superfly monkey (with cape), for some cubicle fun? Or CubicleDecor‘s faux windows, which are made especially for cubicles and enable personalized views “outside.”

Don’t. . .

Display inappropriate visuals: Remember that even though we spend so much time there, it’s not really our space — it’s our employer’s. A picturesque postcard from your last vacation, your latest family photo, a print of Bill Buckner’s Game 6 error, a silly Dilbert comic — these are usually perfectly acceptable to display on the walls of your work area. A lewd desk calendar — not so much. Conservative corporate employers often allow less leeway in how employees decorate their space than those in creative industries. Your best bet would be to note your manager’s space and go from there.

Forget about lighting: “The quality of lighting in a workplace can have a significant effect on productivity,” claims the International Labour Organization, an agency of the United Nations. Good lighting can decrease errors by up to 60 percent and can decrease eye-strain and the headaches, nausea and neck pain that often accompany eye-strain. By providing good lighting, health problems are decreased, concentration and accuracy are improved, and a more active, cheerful environment is established. For a small space such as a cubicle, consider using full-spectrum light bulbs to bring in a feeling of natural light that is easy on the eyes.

Be a slob: Don’t let your workstation look like a picnic table. If you keep a messy desk, it’s probably inadvertent, and you’ll have to change behavior to clean up your act. Consider desk-top folders and small containers.

Once you tackle the external view of your workspace and the personality signs they imply, you still run the risk of simply keeping disorganization out of sight: the cubical may be neat, but the computer monitor is cluttered.

Resources

Do’s and Don’ts of Cube Decor
by Kate Lorenz
CareerBuilder.com, Sept. 24, 2007

Plants Are a Nice Amenity, But They Don’t Really Work All That Hard, Do They?
Green Plants for Green Buildings

Plants: Elementary Answer to a Larger Problem
by Pamela Kelly
Occupational Health & Safety, February 2005

Lighting in the Workplace
International Labour Organization