Simple Techniques to LOVE Your Job Again

Invisible Forces at Work: Part One

It’s Monday again, and you’re stuck in the same routine.

The doors slide open to your building. You pass the entry-level cubicles as you trudge towards the familiar but uninviting entrance to your cell (office).

You barely even notice the faces anymore. Everything has become routine. The pattern on the carpet is barely noticeable as you move toward your desk.

On your desk is a stack of papers you left on Friday. Your computer is still on and running slowly. It was warm, so you left your jacket in the office over the weekend and now there are two: one for your chair and for whoever comes in for a meeting.

The time has come to take a huge dip in the ocean of work bliss: COFFEE. But your relationship with coffee isn’t even the same. You used to love it, and everyone, when you had it the first, second, and third time, but now it’s just a warm drink that brings you to base level.

So now your life looks like this:

• 8 hours (if you’re lucky) of low quality sleep
• 1 hour (or so) of horrible, Walking Dead-level waking and getting ready
• .5 - 2 hours of barely manageable “trip to Mordor” commute to and from work

... And now we’re at work, with this stack of papers. Go ahead. Reach in there and get a pen, so you can take care of business. Oh, wait, life piled up on you again. Your desk is nothing but a junk drawer and your pens are nowhere to be found. Now you will spend time looking for something to write with. Also, you don't compensate for the diuretic effect of caffeine by drinking more water, because who knows that, right?

So now you’re tired, dehydrated, probably hungry, and you explode on someone or something (like pounding your desk) over not being able to find a damned pen. You’ve gone down a rabbit hole of nastiness because you do not understand the invisible forces at work while you’re at work; the ones you cannot see. The ones people laugh at when spoken about. I’m talking about Feng shui.

Your way isn’t working, and it’s time for some experimentation.

Feng shui is NOT:

1. Magic
2. Voodoo
3. Nonsense
4. Without practical application
5. Something that makes you weird

Feng shui IS:

1. Practical
2. With much precedent and tradition
3. Used by successful persons who swear by it
4. Able to be practiced such that the results are felt immediately!
5. For smart people who don’t think they already know everything.

Your Simple Feng Shui Guide to Make Work Desirable Again:

USE YOUR TRASH CAN for everything that doesn’t need to be in your office:

• That extra jacket needs to go.
• The napkins from lunchtime take-out need to go,
• The wrappers from your winter cough drop prevention techniques that you placed underneath your monitor because “that's not too much to be dirty” need to go
• AND that drawer needs to be restored to its former glory.
• Ideally, only the essentials should be in your office. On my desk are my keyboard, mouse, monitor, a notepad, and a single pen. (And I'm a freaking boss!)

Think about it, your brain does not have unlimited space to store things, and neither does your mind have unlimited capacity to perceive its environment and remain stable/productive. You may not be consciously aware of all the garbage that surrounds you, but your senses are still bringing that data in, and your conscious/subconscious minds are still relating to your surroundings.

Think about stagnant water. Clutter keeps energy from flowing properly, and everything is energy. Too much gunk keeps your energy pond stagnant, and we all know that’s the water we’d rather not bathe in.

So WHY would you work in it? Just because you cannot see what’s going on doesn’t mean nothing is going on... After all, where is a text message when it’s being sent to your phone?

Get rid of all the clutter in your workspace, enjoy the benefits of a clearer, less disturbed mind, and be able to find that pen you were looking for!

BRINGING GOOD ENERGY IN is the next step we take after we’ve removed all the negative influences and allowed for the free flow of the good stuff, and it’s surprisingly simple:

The technical stuff will come in part two. For now, we are going to focus on basic ways to clear your space so you can breathe. The easiest ways to use simple feng shui are adding more oxygen to it, and moving your furniture around.

Make sure your furniture is not cluttered or too near another piece, as dust can collect near the edges and is wonderful for disrupting the flow of energy. Which is BAD.

If you can, push your furniture against the wall, creating the maximum amount of space and getting rid of roadblocks for your new office's feng shui highway.

Remove any unnecessary furniture. Embrace essentialism. You can always get by with less. After all, that stuff you don't wish to get rid of is what led you here right? Don't fall victim to risk aversion.

Get some oxygen flowing in the place!

I recommend a light fan breeze every now and then to keep the air flow going. Nobody wants a stuffy office. You’re SUFFOCATING yourself!

Plant some plants in there! Any plants will do, for now, depending on how much care you intend to give them.

Plants are beautiful and calm the mind. They naturally purify the air, which is great feng shui, increase humidity, reduce air temperatures, and give you something to do while you're taking your much-needed breaks in order to maximise your productivity. (see: Pomodoro technique)

Plants especially suitable are: areca palm, lady palm, rubber plant, English ivy, Ficus Alii, and peace lily.