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Feng Shui Your Dental Office
Our jobs should fill each day with contentment and joy and not just assignments to be completed. Just because jobs consume the majority of our waking hours does not mean the workday needs to feel endless.
Feng Shui (pronounced Fung Schway) is an ancient Chinese art and science of creating a harmonious environment to improve your health, wealth and relationships. Feng Shui explains how a place affects the human condition on how we see, hear, smell and touch, and how it influences our experience in life. You don’t have to be a mover or shaker to experience Feng Shui’s power. Feng Shui is meant for everyone.
Are you looking for a winning edge or sharing a desire to improve your working conditions?
Whether you own a corporation or a dental practice, your primary goal is to generate revenue. However, in order to achieve this, you must first create a welcoming and comfortable working environment. Your office should be a place where employees will be driven to succeed and encourage teamwork. Often, we set aside this notion, viewing design and layout factors as incidental and low priority. On the contrary, promoting a harmonious environment is an essential consideration and means to a productive end.
Begin by stepping outside your office building and view the appearance. Look to see if it is maintained, properly lit, and free of clutter. The front door of your office should exude a welcoming feeling for your patients, as if they were being greeted into your home. Your sign should match your business’ intent, purpose and mission. For the health care professions, a curved sign is recommended because it reduces stress and adds a brighter and lighter energy to the sign.
As you enter into each room in your office, evaluate the following:
1. Natural Lighting: Replicate natural lighting by use of spotlights, tabletop lamps, wall sconces and floor lamps. They produce a more natural atmosphere and reduce stress by illuminating the surroundings with an array of colors that help induce good feelings.
2. Sounds and Noises: On-going mechanical noises can wear you down. To correct the problems, don’t try to eliminate the noise but add other sounds to the environment. For example, you can use wind chimes near air vents, bells attached to doors, program computer sounds for outdoor sounds, open windows to allow window treatment to flap, portable running water falls in the reception area, and music. Music increases effective productivity. It is a necessary ingredient in the workplace to relax and boost performance.
3. Scents in the Office: A scent-deprived environment must be filled with a variety of scents, not just one. For example, a mint scent such as pine, cedar or peppermint promotes energy and involvement. Juniper berry, jasmine, red thyme and geranium rose are water scents and enhance compassion towards others.
4. Clutter: Clutter can contribute to obsessing and workaholic behavior. Select a time when you are typically not as productive as normal. This will alleviate guilt about not working. Give yourself 10-15 minutes (set a timer), select the oldest pile of clutter and separate it into three piles:
- “File” pile
- “Throw away” pile
- “I still might do this” pile
Remember: Do not work longer than the pre-set time. This allows you to feel a sense of accomplishment without forcing you to complete the task.
5. Ergonomics of the Room: It is essential ergonomics be considered when organizing and setting up any workstation, including the clinical rooms. Everything should be accessible and strategically placed to increase ease and flow during the work process.
6. Lounge: A break or lunchroom can be a god-send in businesses involving intensive solo work. This room should feel substantially different from other rooms to be conducive to relaxation and renewal. Our minds sharpen when we honor our natural biological rhythms.
Use earth colors on the walls and floor such as copper, salmon or yellow. The use of natural sounds from a fish tank or CD playing sounds of water is soothing and refreshing. The chairs should be substantially different than the office seating to detach oneself from the work environment. Envelop the entire room with a comfort fragrance (i.e., basket of ginger sticks or spiced apple) in a diffuser since it contributes to a homey atmosphere.
Feng Shui’s concepts to customize a work environment can be tailored to each office. Follow these twenty Golden Rules of Feng Shui for the workplace and create a harmonious working environment.
1. Face a room’s entrance when seated at a desk.
2. Make sure there are no pathways behind a desk chair.
3. Position your desk so that it is not directly in line with the entrance to the room.
4. Illuminate all the pathways seen directly from your work position.
5. Direct light to shine over your non-dominant hand.
6. Put materials used most frequently within reach or within one roll of your chair.
7. Adjust your chair height so your work is at a comfortable eye level.
8. Position the phone on the side of your desk at your dominant ear, not your dominant hand.
9. Put inspirational articles in clear view.
10. Shelter your personal space.
11. Be sure your desk area can be converted into appropriate communication space.
12. Be sure your workspace engages all five senses in some way.
13. Surround yourself with colors that answer your needs.
14. Create a clean, clear workspace.
15. Keep a live plant in your office and maintain it.
16. Use plants to clean airborne toxicity.
17. Position electrical outlets so you don’t have to crawl around the floor to reach them.
18. If you desire change, relocate 27 items to other locations.
19. Personalize the piece of office equipment that you use most frequently.
20. Organize your workspace at the end of each day and keep surfaces free of dust.
An understanding of the factors in a work place that can add to your contentment will unfold as you comprehend Feng Shui’s wisdom. Any work experience can be more desirable. When work and play are equally satisfying, you have obtained the pot of gold waiting for you at the end of the rainbow.
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