Maximizing the good energy in your work space clears the air, allows for inspiration to flow and for you to experience more moments of high productivity. If you’re not stuck in a cubicle layout then you’ve got some maneuverability with whatever furnishings you have. And even if you are in a cube, there are still some things you can do to maximize the good energy in your work space.

Starting Point: Find the Door

Black Hat Feng Shui (of which I’m no expert, just a devotee), orients an entire room not based on the compass rose of North, South, East and West, but of the primary entrance to the room. This can get dicey with rooms that have multiple doors in use, but offices aren’t often such rooms. If you do have an office with multiple entry points that are often in use, choose one door to call The Door. For these purposes, it’s the door the clients, personnel, or co-workers use.

Position the Desk

This is the most important part of arranging your office, and it’s the most counter-intuitive for small spaces. The desk faces The Door, which ever door that is. Do not put your desk so you are facing the wall. It’s really bad energy to have your back face the doorway where people are going to come toward you. If you’re stuck in a cubicle layout, or if your desk is permanently attached to a wall (like a Ninja Standing Desk), try putting a small mirror on your desk angled so that you can see people as they approach you.

Eliminate Clutter

Clutter signifies stagnation, and none of us really wants to be stagnant in our working life.  This doesn’t mean  you have to be a neat freak or an organizational junkie. Pick one day a week and devote fifteen minutes to tidying up your work space: file those papers, put things away, refill your candy dish, clean out your coffee cup. If you do, this is usually the time you’ll realize that at first it takes more than fifteen minutes (that’s okay, you’ll get it down to that). You may also find that there isn’t actually enough space for your stuff – things don’t actually have a home they can go back to when you’re finished using them.

At this point you have a choice of three things. Option One: You can ignore the problem and keep the clutter. This first track is not highly recommended. Option Two: You can realize that actually you’re quite good at organization and take a moment to dream up how you might better organize your physical space to accommodate your stapler and your desktop filing system both. This works if you’re being honest and actually good at physical organization. Option Three:  You can realize that organization is a weakness and you can work on managing that weakness. This is the time to reach out to someone you know who might be willing to help you. Ask them to assess the situation and make some recommendations – and then try them all. You may not like them all once you work with them for a week or two, but there may be some gems in your friend’s recommendations that you’ll only find if you try it out.

Consider Your Guests

Whether they’re clients, employees, co-workers or someone else entirely, consider the people who come into your office space. If you don’t actually want them in your space, this is the time to take away the comfy chairs and replace them with hard wooden stools. Likewise, if you’re frequented by unwanted guests, have a candy dish full of candy that the unwanted guests don’t like, but perhaps others whose company you prefer do enjoy.

If, however, you enjoy the company of the people around you, or at least find it useful that they come into your office space, consider the space from their perspective. If your office is large enough for extra seating, is the seating comfortable and convenient? Can they reach your garbage can if they need to? What about comfort things like the box of tissues and the candy dish? If you have the aforementioned dish of candy, do you stock things they like?

Small Changes, Big Changes

Feng Shui is full of small changes in the physical space we occupy that equate to large changes in our mental, emotional and spiritual lives. And this could be just the beginning…