How Can You Design a Healthier Workspace to Reduce Stress and Boost Productivity? (Well at Work by Esther Sternberg Review)

What Are the Best Workplace Wellness Design Ideas for Better Sleep, Focus, and Resilience? (Well at Work Summary + Takeaways)

A practical review of Well at Work by Dr. Esther M. Sternberg on designing workplaces for whole-person health—stress, movement, sleep, light, food, and mindfulness—so teams feel better and perform better.

Keep reading for a step-by-step checklist of workspace changes you can apply immediately—starting with quick wins like light, quiet zones, movement prompts, and a dedicated mindfulness space.

Recommendation

Research director Esther Sternberg explores how integrative medicine and deliberate design can converge to boost productivity and well-being in today’s fast-paced professional environments. Sternberg details the positive effects of integrating elements such as meditation rooms, green spaces, and natural light into the workplace and why thoughtful design contributes to a culture of mindfulness, resilience, and community. Whether you’re an employee or a leader striving to cultivate a healthier work environment, Sternberg will help you refit your workspace for personal and professional growth.

Take-Aways

• Design workplaces for holistic health.
• Eliminate stress factors in your workplace to build resilience and increase productivity.
• Make space for physical activity.
• Prioritize better sleep to increase productivity.
• Eliminate the corner office to help people feel equally empowered at work.
• Fill the office with natural light, green plants, and fresh air.
• Provide better, more nutritious food options.
• Design spaces for employees to slow down, meditate, and be mindful.

Summary

Design workplaces for holistic health.

The COVID-19 pandemic moved modern workplaces to embrace strategies for combating the spread of infectious diseases. However, most companies still have a long way to go when it comes to lessening employee stress. There is a difference between designing an office space so that it does not actively harm its occupants — ensuring that it’s properly insulated and ventilated, for example — and proactively crafting workspaces to support well-being.

“Since it is estimated that Americans spend more than 90 percent of their time indoors — much of it at their offices and workspaces — designing healthier workplaces is critical.”

Workers are employers’ most important assets. Research demonstrates that designing workspaces with an eye toward promoting well-being can significantly boost employee health and productivity. Specifically, companies should focus on design features that support the seven pillars of integrative or whole-person health: stress management, exercise, sleep quality, social connections, environmental factors, nutrition, and spirituality.

Eliminate stress factors in your workplace to build resilience and increase productivity.

The stress response is a physiological reaction that can enhance or hinder performance depending on its intensity and management. Balancing good stress with bad stress enables peak performance. Moderate stress can boost productivity; excessive stress can fuel performance deterioration. In a new work setting, your stress may spike due to the unfamiliarity and unpredictability of the environment. Still, ideally, you adapt and habituate to the stressors over time, decreasing your stress levels.

Finding the right balance often hinges on whether your workplace supports or undermines your resilience — that is, your capacity to recover from setbacks and handle the unexpected. Genetic predispositions, early life experiences, and the number and type of stressors in your environment affect your ability to rebound. Studies show that overly noisy work settings tend to impede well-being, for example.

“Noise is one of the environmental stressors of which office workers are acutely aware, especially in an open office setting.”

Implement strategies to manage environmental stressors and strengthen resilience and well-being. For example, creating quiet zones or installing sound-absorbing materials such as rugs or rubber flooring in the office can mitigate noise distractions. Maintaining humidity levels of around 45% lowers stress. Encourage stress-reducing activities such as yoga or meditation during breaks, and incorporate simple techniques, such as the 4-7-8 breathing method — a four-second inhale, a seven-second hold, and an eight-second exhale — to promote relaxation throughout the workday.

Make space for physical activity.

Movement nurtures physical and mental health. It also boosts energy levels, reduces stress, and enhances creativity. Companies such as Google recognize these benefits and encourage employee movement by providing bicycle stations, fitness centers, and outdoor recreational areas. By creating attractive and purposeful spaces that invite movement, companies can improve the well-being of their workforce while fostering a dynamic and engaging work environment.

“The office could be our new gym!”

Take regular breaks to walk or stretch. You can set movement reminders on wearable devices or use another method to ensure you take these breaks throughout the day. A teddy bear factory in Vermont prompts its workers to stretch their bodies — and dance — by playing music for a short period each hour. Active workstations such as treadmill or standing desks can combat the adverse effects of prolonged sitting, promote muscle engagement, and reduce the health risks associated with sedentary behavior. Prioritizing ergonomic setups, including adjustable chairs and proper screen positioning, enhances employee comfort and encourages healthier postures throughout the day.

Prioritize better sleep to increase productivity.

Sleep boosts productivity by refreshing your energy levels and improving your mood. Everyone knows the difference between waking up after a good night’s sleep, feeling refreshed and ready to face the day, versus waking up after a poor night’s sleep, feeling low in energy and irritable.

Light exposure affects your sleep. For example, bright bluish light in the morning suppresses melatonin production to promote alertness; redder light in the evening aids in falling asleep.

“The things you experience in your environment not only affect you when you fall asleep or waken; they also affect the patterns of your sleep throughout the night.”

To optimize sleep quality, minimize your exposure to blue light in the evening — especially from computers and smartphones — as it can disrupt sleep-wake rhythms and reduce melatonin secretion, affecting alertness the next day. Adjusting screen settings based on the time of day or taking breaks in natural sunlight promotes better sleep patterns.

Other factors affecting sleep include physical stressors such as pain or discomfort and psychological stressors such as anxiety or grief. To mitigate physical stress, avoid heavy meals before bedtime and limit alcohol or caffeine intake late in the day. For psychological stress, use relaxation techniques such as meditation or deep breathing to calm the mind before sleep.

Eliminate the corner office to help people feel equally empowered at work.

Humans are social creatures; social hierarchies in the workplace hinder employee interaction and performance. Office layouts that separate bosses from their teams are counterproductive. Google and Green Mountain Power eliminated traditional hierarchy markers — like private corner offices — in their office designs and, as a result, saw improved teamwork and productivity.

Google’s offices feature open, collaborative workspaces to foster a sense of employee equality. Similarly, Vermont’s Green Mountain Power clusters employees in functional teams — dubbed “neighborhoods” — within the larger office setting. Each cluster has its own communal spaces — some designated for eating and socializing, others for brainstorming or other collaborative work — and leaders work side by side with their teams, helping them feel valued and boosting morale and efficiency. Egalitarian workplace designs create inclusive environments that nurture collaboration.

“Indeed, studies in animals suggest that the energy expended in establishing position in new hierarchies can be stressful too.”

To improve coworking interactions in your office, create gathering spots that encourage informal encounters. For example, designate lunch break areas where colleagues can eat together and share stories.

Offering options for smaller groups to convene in different settings enhances collaboration and camaraderie. Consider the success of coworking spaces such as the Brewery Artist Lofts Complex in downtown Los Angeles: Artists from varying disciplines work in the same space, building valuable connections and inspiring one another.

Fill the office with natural light, green plants, and fresh air.

Incorporate natural elements into the workspace, such as natural lighting or indoor plants, to create a more inviting atmosphere and reduce stress. Greenery in office spaces enhances people’s moods and improves worker well-being. Plants and forest scents boost productivity and creativity. Use natural essential oils or diffusers with organic compounds such as pine, spruce, or eucalyptus, which have calming effects on the nervous system and promote relaxation. Live plants improve air quality and mimic the therapeutic effects of spending time in a forest or green space.

“It turns out that green light can actually reduce pain through the release of those antipain brain chemicals, the endorphins.”

The green wavelength of light, abundant in forests, alleviates pain by stimulating the release of endorphins. Plants act as natural air purifiers, absorbing carbon dioxide (CO2) and releasing oxygen. Plants mitigate CO2 accumulation — which can impair cognitive function and cause drowsiness — by absorbing it during photosynthesis, thus preventing the formation of CO2 bubbles around individuals in poorly ventilated spaces.

Provide better, more nutritious options for food at work.

Diet influences energy levels and cognitive function. Consuming foods that generate inflammation, such as those high in fats and carbs, can lead to sluggishness and impaired short- and long-term brain function. Interleukins — molecules that immune cells produce during inflammation — impede brain function, triggering sleepiness, reduced appetite, and mood changes. An anti-inflammatory diet rich in fresh fruits, vegetables, whole grains, healthy fats, and lean proteins supports optimal brain function and sustained energy levels.

“So, if you want to stay focused and at peak performance, don’t make your brain and body waste valuable energy working to counter the effects of a heavy, sugary or fatty meal.”

You can foster a culture of healthy eating to support employee well-being and productivity by helping provide access to fresh, nutritious foods. You might, for example, offer Mediterranean-inspired cafeteria options such as those found at True Food Kitchen or create partnerships with local farmers’ markets or suppliers for fresh produce. Encourage mindful eating practices away from workstations. Workplace gardens on rooftops and indoor hydroponic systems can allow employees to garden and access freshly grown vegetables onsite.

Design spaces for employees to slow down, meditate, and be mindful.

Spirituality, mindfulness, and meditation are vital components of a productive work environment. These practices enhance focus, creativity, and overall well-being. By creating spaces for quiet contemplation, such as meditation rooms, green areas, or covered walkways, workplaces can offer opportunities for employees to slow down and reconnect with themselves. Even companies with limited square footage can promote mindfulness and relaxation: Green Mountain Power transformed a basement storeroom into a meditation area, for instance.

“Spirituality, as I define it here, is anything that brings you to a place of peace and tranquility and, importantly, to a place of focus.”

Design spaces to encourage people to slow down and take in their surroundings. Use materials such as tatami mats that require mindful movement or incorporate labyrinth patterns into open spaces for meditative walks. Transitional areas, such as covered walkways or parking lot green spaces, serve as buffers between different domains of life, helping employees transition into a calmer mindset before entering the workplace.

About the Author

Research director for the Andrew Weil Center for Integrative Medicine Dr. Esther Sternberg founding director of the University of Arizona Institute on Place, Wellbeing & Performance.