London office space is at a premium – now more than ever. In 2018, a sq ft (or the size of your laptop) could cost as much as £211 a year. With costs so high, a lot of value can be placed on using your office space more effectively. An effective office space promotes workers mood, focus and productivity. It should also create the culture your company wants to project.

Some companies have taken this idea and ran with it. For example, Google offices in London are equipped with canteens (all food is complimentary), restaurants, coffee bars, juice bars, a gym, massage rooms, £17,000 sofas and sleeping pods to take your mid afternoon power nap in.

Now, we’re not saying you need to do these things to keep your workers happy, but you can and should at least take some inspiration from these ideals.

So, back to reality. You want to create an office environment that boosts mood, focus and productivity, but you’re in an expensive office in the city, with no space and only a small amount of money to make it happen. What do you do?

Start with decluttering.

Almost all offices will have things you don’t need in them (and no, we’re not talking about any specific employees). We’re talking old electronics that don’t work, broken filing cabinets, paper and junk that you don’t need. We’re also talking about your office files and documents. You see, contrary to what most believe, most office files and documents don’t belong in your office.

Ok yes, you do need to keep many company records for legal purposes. But no, you don’t have to, and shouldn’t store them in your office. Storing them in your office takes up valuable room which you could use to do a number of things:

• Hire a new employee – or two!
• Create a new work zone – maybe a lounge area or a silent work room
• Bring a smile to your workers and bring in a ping pong table
• Add plants to your office – they’re proven to boost mood, focus and productivity, and for just a small cost.

So we now know that storing your files can help pave the way for a happier, focused worker.

How do we store them?

Organise your files into archive boxes, retaining only the files you need, or know you’ll need in the near future. The archive boxes can be put to storage, and the other files retained. It’s a simple process that will benefit your business in more ways than just maximising your office space.

So there it is, the #1 way to maximise your office space.