6种方式改善你的工作区

 　　At the end of the work week, do you often wonder where the time went and how you got so little accomplished¹? Are bosses or clients breathing down your neck because you’re always late with your assignments?

　　It doesn’t matter if you work from home or in an office full of other people there are certain things that go a long way toward helping² you be more productive, and many of them are fairly easy to change.

　　Lighting³:

　　Research has shown that people work best with natural sunlight, but for many of us that just isn’t an option—either there’s no way to get direct sunlight in our office, or we have difficulty using it anyway because the glare it can cause on computer screens. Luckily, there’s another way to go: natural daylight bulbs and desk lamps like this one from OttLite simulate the light from the sun’s rays, and encourage alertness and productivity.

　　Seating:

　　Human beings weren’t designed to sit at desks all day, but unfortunately, that’s the reality in many of our jobs. This is made even worse when we have to spend 8, 10, 12, or even more hours each day in a chair that just doesn’t cut it—after all, it’s pretty hard to concentrate on your work if you’re always squirming in your seat and feeling uncomfortable. If you let this go on for too long, you can even develop long-term problems, so it’s important to invest in ergonomic seating, such as the Herman Miller⁴ Aeron chair—a popular choice if you can afford it.

　　Air quality:

　　Did you know that removing pollutants⁵ can improve the performance of tasks like typing and solving mathematical problems by between 4 and 16 percent? Or that even the perception of better indoor air quality can make people work better? Air purifiers are a great way to remove allergens and other pollutants from the environment and help you to breathe easier and cleaner. This is especially important for people indoors for long stretches of time, because foul⁶ air has nowhere to go and simply gets recycled without something to purify it. Just research home air purifiers to find one that best fits your office setting.

　　Temperature:

　　We’ve all been in that workplace “perfect storm” where our station has been positioned right under the ventilation ducts, and it’s never fun. Sure, the main temperature gauge⁸ might say that the office itself is a perfect 71 degrees, but if you’re directly beneath the gale-force A/C winds or the scalding heat coming from that vent⁷, you know that number doesn’t apply to you. Unfortunately, it’s been scientifically proven that if we’re too hot or cold it can adversely⁹ affect our work performance. You can combat this in a couple of different ways: change your clothing based on the “indoor season,” or get a small fan or desk heater for your space.

　　Noise:

　　Of the many things that have been shown to distract us from the things we’re supposed to be focusing on, noise is one of the worst. Unlike visual distractions¹⁰, you can’t just close your eyes or turn away and be done with it, and if you simply try to distance yourself from it, you might find it to be a long trip indeed. Luckily, there are ways to drown out or dampen noise that have been shown to help: earplugs lessen¹¹ the negative impact of distracting sounds, and headphones can help you to cancel it out with sounds or music you want to hear. In fact, a number of studies have shown that classical music can actually increase productivity and even make you smarter—at least while you’re listening to it!

　　Organization:

　　Yes, yes, messiness is the sign of a creative mind and all that, but try arguing that to your boss or clients when you miss a deadline because you forgot the project was due or couldn’t find important documents in all of that creativity-inspiring junk piled on your desk. If you want to work more efficiently¹², schedule your tasks on calendar programs and invest in a nice filing cabinet and desk organizer.

　　The most important thing you can do is to create a functional¹³ space over which you have as much control as possible so that you know you can change things to suit your needs and the tasks at hand whenever you want. Once we feel like we’re more in charge of our domain¹⁴, we let down our guard, and free ourselves up to focus properly.

1 accomplished   

adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的

参考例句：

• Thanks to your help,we accomplished the task ahead of schedule.亏得你们帮忙,我们才提前完成了任务。
• Removal of excess heat is accomplished by means of a radiator.通过散热器完成多余热量的排出。

2 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

3 lighting   

n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光

参考例句：

• The gas lamp gradually lost ground to electric lighting.煤气灯逐渐为电灯所代替。
• The lighting in that restaurant is soft and romantic.那个餐馆照明柔和而且浪漫。

4 miller   

n.磨坊主

参考例句：

• Every miller draws water to his own mill.磨坊主都往自己磨里注水。
• The skilful miller killed millions of lions with his ski.技术娴熟的磨坊主用雪橇杀死了上百万头狮子。

5 pollutants   

污染物质（尤指工业废物）( pollutant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Pollutants are constantly being released into the atmosphere. 污染物质正在不断地被排放到大气中去。
• The 1987 Amendments limit 301(g) discharges to a few well-studied nonconventional pollutants. 1987年的修正案把第301条（g）的普通排放限制施加在一些认真研究过的几种非常规污染物上。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

6 foul   

adj.污秽的；邪恶的；v.弄脏；妨害；犯规；n.犯规

参考例句：

• Take off those foul clothes and let me wash them.脱下那些脏衣服让我洗一洗。
• What a foul day it is!多么恶劣的天气！

7 vent   

n.通风口，排放口；开衩；vt.表达，发泄

参考例句：

• He gave vent to his anger by swearing loudly.他高声咒骂以发泄他的愤怒。
• When the vent became plugged,the engine would stop.当通风口被堵塞时，发动机就会停转。

8 gauge   

v.精确计量；估计；n.标准度量；计量器

参考例句：

• Can you gauge what her reaction is likely to be?你能揣测她的反应可能是什么吗？
• It's difficult to gauge one's character.要判断一个人的品格是很困难的。

9 adversely   

ad.有害地

参考例句：

• We commented adversely upon the imbecility of that message of telegraphic style. 我们对着这条电报式的愚蠢的留言发泄了一通不满。
• Widely fluctuating exchange rates may adversely affect international trade. 浮动幅度很大的汇率可能会对国际贸易产生有害的影响。

10 distractions   

n.使人分心的事[人]( distraction的名词复数 )；娱乐，消遣；心烦意乱；精神错乱

参考例句：

• I find it hard to work at home because there are too many distractions. 我发觉在家里工作很难，因为使人分心的事太多。
• There are too many distractions here to work properly. 这里叫人分心的事太多，使人无法好好工作。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 lessen   

vt.减少，减轻；缩小

参考例句：

• Regular exercise can help to lessen the pain.经常运动有助于减轻痛感。
• They've made great effort to lessen the noise of planes.他们尽力减小飞机的噪音。

12 efficiently   

adv.高效率地，有能力地

参考例句：

• The worker oils the machine to operate it more efficiently.工人给机器上油以使机器运转更有效。
• Local authorities have to learn to allocate resources efficiently.地方政府必须学会有效地分配资源。

13 functional   

adj.为实用而设计的，具备功能的，起作用的

参考例句：

• The telephone was out of order,but is functional now.电话刚才坏了，但现在可以用了。
• The furniture is not fancy,just functional.这些家具不是摆着好看的，只是为了实用。

14 domain   

n.(活动等)领域，范围；领地，势力范围

参考例句：

• This information should be in the public domain.这一消息应该为公众所知。
• This question comes into the domain of philosophy.这一问题属于哲学范畴。