Office (and home) Design for Success — Reduce Negative Influences

I’m talking about all of them.  From the garden variety nasty co-worker, the endless details that eat up your time and your soul, the boss who’s agenda is to make life miserable for everyone to the Feng Shui ‘poison arrows’, the electromagnetic draining that challenges your immune system, the endless barrage of mindless details separate you from Nature, your Spirit and your Soul.  Yik, I think I’ll go eat worms.

Physical negative influences:  here are a few big ones:

Clutter.  Clutter is one of the biggest drains on your vitality and profitability.  Your time, and how you spend it result in the product and the income you produce.  Begin right now to clear your clutter, organize your files.  If you find it difficult, ask for help.   Hire a professional organizer and you will save thousands of hours .  This includes emails:  turn off the email notification so that you can focus on one thing at a time and you’ll be more productive and happy.  Only answer emails 2 times a day:  at 11:30 and at 3:30.  Timothy Ferris recommends taking control of your life in this way by announcing to everyone that you only answer emails at your specified times and they’ll make sure they slot themselves in properly.  The 4-hour Work Week, Timothy Ferris

Sharp desk corners, sharp wall edges:  these are called “sha ch’i” in Feng Shui and are likened to poison arrows shooting at you consistently.  Over time, they can cause physical illness and separation.  The colors and shapes around us actually create ‘shape caused waves’ for better or for worse and we can place these things in our environment to act as cancellations of the negative energy hitting us.   Place something between you and the sharp corner, soften it with plants, you can place artwork on either side of the corner, hang a tapestry or old-fashioned bell-pull over the corner.  Traditional Feng Shui cure for this is to hang a red ribbon down the corner or, depending on where the corner is located, hang round faceted crystal (small on a 9” red ribbon) from the ceiling between you and the corner. 

Fluorescent lighting will drain you.

  • Natural lighting will counteract this a bit, but the way the florescent lights are constructed, they vibrate and our eyes and brains pick this up.  It exhausts us, not to mention the color of the light is limited to one end of the spectrum.  See my post on the negative effects of fluorescent lighting. 
  • Art with scenes of nature will a bit, as will certain colors.   Soft yellow is good to increase the warmth of a space and assist in thinking and focus.  Bright white, hard surfaces, and little color will drain your energy quickly.
  • Colors with a warm, or yellow, undertone will also help to bring a fuller spectrum to rooms with little natural light or northern exposure.  If you must have florescent lighting, ask to have ‘full-spectrum’ bulbs; they cost a little more money but net big rewards in health and productivity.
  • Plants will help to mitigate the negatives, provide more oxygen and actually remove VOC’s and some toxins in the room and add life but there is a caution:  make sure that the plants are always healthy and well cared for, no dried or dead plants.

Toxic Relationships:

Deepak Chopra, MD, (one of my teachers) tells us that a toxic relationship is the most poisonous of all toxins in your environment.  Whether they are toxic clients, (How to Fire a Client) a boss, a partner or vendor, the relationships you have in business is energy that gets into your cells, your soul and your product.  The more quickly you handle this toxin, the more quickly you’ll open the space for healthy relationships to enter.

You needn’t initiate conflict to solve a problem, sometimes a more effective, long-term solution can be initiated on the ‘inner planes’ of intention.  But this doesn’t mean that you might not have to stand your ground and advocate for yourself–don’t be a push-over, you deserve to fully occupy your space on the planet with your unique self, kindly and clearly.

Intention

 Rather than a confrontation, you can solve just about any problem with intention.    Everything first begins on the energetic plane where thoughts are things.  Dr. Wayne Dyer reminds us that intention is the dynamic power of the universe.  The Power of Intention, Wayne Dyer  

At the start of your day set your intention to have a loving and peaceful day and that all negative and interfering influences will easily be directed away from you to their next highest good.   You can also use this phrase to diffuse an issue that you haven’t been able to solve, “I give this to the Light of God.  I fill myself and my space with the Love of God.” 

This won’t remove your responsibility to kindly and clearly set your boundaries and practically handle your job.  What it will do is allow you see the situation more clearly and have compassion for yourself and the other person.  The situation will resolve or disappear.  Is that okay with you?

Back it up with a physical cure:

Mirrors are very powerful items in Feng Shui.  [How to Use Mirrors in Feng Shui]  With your intention, place a small flat or concave mirror facing away from you toward the offending person or thing.   As you place the mirror, use the phrase:  “Good luck with that Over There.”   

More Feng Shui Steps for Success:

·        Put yourself in the power position

·        Reduce negative influences

·        Bring in healthy and positive energy

·        Hire the Heavens: Invite Divine Assistance

·        Be happy