Not too long ago, I received a phone call from another entrepreneur asking for my guidance with a few things. While we were talking, I mentioned to him that I had some information on my desk that could help him out.
I quickly ran to my office, my neck crooked holding my phone in place. When I rushed in, I immediately stopped in my tracks. I stood there staring in disbelief at my desk.
With all the holiday errands, guests and extra trips to the grocery store, I had neglecting tidying up my office, much less my desk. There were three large piles of paper stacked up so high I thought I was looking at a new mountain range.
Why have I not addressed this? I thought. Why have I let it go? Not even two weeks have gone by and it’s come to this; now I can’t find that important piece of information when I need it. There wasn’t even a spot of clean desk to be found.
I told my buddy that I’d have to get back with him in the next day or two.
Creating harmony
How would you like to be able think clearly and be more productive? Would you like a more harmonious work environment that invigorates and supports you and everyone else you work with? Would you like your business to be more prosperous? If you answered yes to any of those questions, then feng shui for your business just might be for you.
Feng shui is the ancient Chinese art of placing objects in your environment to be in harmony and balance with the natural world around you. Feng shui takes a look at how energy (also called chi or qi) flows through your office (or home, car or even desk!).
It could take years to really get the art of feng shui down, but below I have put together six simple feng shui tips to encourage success in your business.
1. Declutter your desk and work environment
According to feng shui, your business prosperity and work performance can be amplified by decluttering and establishing order on your desk. Productive chi cannot flow if all that “stuff” on your desk is blocking its movement and cluttering up your mind as well as your workspace.
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Take everything off your desk and clean up any cluttered areas around it. Only keep out items on your desk that you use daily. Limit the amount of papers on your desk to those for one project only. Place your other papers and items somewhere other than the top of your desk like in desk drawers, file cabinets, desk drawers and/or storage cabinets.
2. Understand the bagua map
The feng shui bagua map is one of the main tools to analyze the energy of a certain space. Bagua is the feng shui energy map of your environment that shows you which areas your office, desk or home are connected to specific areas of your life.
Stand inside your office with your back to the front door. Now look straight in front of you. The section of your house in the far right corner is the relationship zone. The part in the far left corner is the money sector. And work yourself around the map. This works the same with your desk.
3. Add in visually appealing, positive and career-enhancing things
Use the bagua to guide you; imagine your desktop divided into a nine-part grid, as in the bagua map. Choose several areas of your life that need a little extra boost, and use the following tips to attract good energy to those areas.
Don’t get too crazy littering your desk with items — remember, clutter blocks creativity, so leave a minimum of 50 percent of your desktop clear at all times. Only choose one to three sections to focus on at a time; don’t try to home in on all nine sections at once.
4. Placement of your desk in a room or office
In the practice of feng shui, the prosperity, success and happiness you experience in your business life is extremely influenced by the position of your desk. The prime desk position is the command position. The command position is when your desk is located diagonally across from the entry to the room, with your back to a solid wall and giving you the widest possible view of the room.
Ideally, you’d like to be able to see all of the room’s doors and windows when you sit in the command position. Having visual control over your workspace gives you a much greater degree of true control over your work life. How often have you seen executives sitting with their backs to the doors of their offices?
5. Buy some live plants
Live plants bring many positive elements to your workplace. They improve air quality and bring a little of the natural world in. Green plants encourage personal and business growth. If a plant dies, remove it and replace it with another. Some great plants for business feng shui are the lucky bamboo plant, a jade plant, a peace lily, or a moth orchid.
6. The element of water
Did you know that water is the most powerful symbol of money in feng shui? Its sparkling chi energy is beneficial for your health and prosperity but you must be careful that you keep the water clean at all times. Small fountains that are designed for a desk are great, or you may even consider purchasing an aquarium. Another way to incorporate water into your business is the use of an artifact that depicts water, like a picture.
I have found that since setting up my workspace using feng shui I have much more clarity and I am getting a considerable amount of work finished. I am able to find things when I need them.
Set up your work workspace for success and try coming up with a feng shui plan for your area of choice. Understand that making even small changes can really make a big difference in bringing great energy to your business and/or office.
One of the most detrimental things to a business is a poison arrow. To identify hidden poison arrows, just stand inside your business entrance and look out. Let your attention travel as far to the left and as far to the right as you can.
- What is in your line of sight? Does anything obstruct your view?
- Is your business at the end of a street (T-junction)?
- Are any of the neighboring building rooflines pointing toward your entrance?
- Are there any utility or streetlight poles or towers across from your entrance?
Remedies for Business Poison Arrows
Feng shui offers several remedies for poison arrows. You can try a few that are specific for a business suffering from poison arrows. These remedies use compass directions and the destructive cycle. This means the element used will destroy the element assigned to a specific sector. In addition to the element, you can use the color assigned to the sector.
East or Southeast
Create a wall made of metal grating, such as a grille that can be erected between your entrance and the poison arrow. You can paint this wall a metal color either gray/silver or gold/bronze.
South
A wall featuring cascading water on the side facing the poison arrow can negate a poison arrow. You could substitute the wall of water with a fountain in front of the wall. Make sure the fountain sprays upward to disperse the negative energy created by the poison arrow.
Southwest or Northeast
You can plant a hedge with thorny plants between your entrance and the offending poison arrow. Allow it to grow at least five feet high. You’ll need to keep the hedge neatly trimmed. You can also plant trees in odd numbers.
West or Northwest
A wall will help disperse the poison arrow effect coming from the west or northwest. For an added boost, you can paint the wall a cherry red. As a great side effect, the color will help customers find your business very easily.
North
You can build a brick wall that’s about five feet high. Landscape in front of the wall with a bermed area, supporting three or five tree plantings.
Alternatives to Walls
If you can’t build a wall, plant a hedge, or add a bermed area, you can use planters filled with tall plants or small trees. If city/town ordinances prohibit adding planters, you can hang a multi-faceted crystal above the entrance door of your business, high enough so it won’t interfere with customers entering and exiting your business.
2. Lighting to Attract Business
Lighting is the most effective feng shui tool for attracting auspicious chi energy into your place of business. There are several places you want to maintain good lighting. Be sure to replace any burned out bulbs.
- You can use attractive fixtures that convey wealth and high quality. Gold or silver is a good metal color choice for business fixtures.
- Exterior wall sconces on either side of your entrance door(s) should remain turned on 24/7 to attract good yang energy for your business.
- Landscape lighting can be placed on a timer or light-sensitive meter to illuminate your business whenever it is dark.
- You need one or two uplights shining on your business sign and building entrance!
- A mixture of interior lighting options in your entrance, such as a crystal chandelier, wall sconces, table lamps, and floor lamps attracts chi energy.
3. Landscaping Your Entrance
Your business entrance should be landscaped, spotless, and meticulously designed to be inviting. You can use large commercial planters for round or oval leaf plants (no pointed leaves) that you can change out with seasonal flowers. Be sure you keep these spruced up by deadheading spent blooms. Define and frame the entrance with identical plants/planters placed on either side of the door(s) out of the path of customers. If exterior floor space is limited, use a pair of hanging baskets with one on either side of the entrance door.
4. Entrance or Reception Area
First impressions are vital to your business. You want customers to enjoy being in your space and not want to leave. The reception area of a business or front window of a retail business, should be cheerful and energized with appropriate decorative objects and artwork to improve your luck.
- Make sure all your furniture is clean and upholstery isn’t worn or in need of repair. Either reupholster or invest in new furniture.
- Flooring should be clean and in excellent condition. Hardwood or vinyl flooring should be polished and free of scuff marks.
- Carpeting and rugs should be vacuumed as often as necessary to keep presentable, especially if you have heavy foot traffic.
- Strategically place live plants (no pointed leaves) in the east, southeast, and south corners/areas of your entrance/reception area. You can use fragrant herbs, too.
- Fresh flowers on the reception desk or cashier counter bring vibrant chi that your customers will appreciate.
5. Clutter Free Zone
Your entire business should be free of all clutter. This can be something as simple as emptying trash cans more than once a day or regularly straightening magazines or books in a waiting or reception room.
Clutter Robs You of Money
Clutter makes everything become stagnant. No business owner wants a stagnant business. You can avoid this by using a decluttering checklist. You want to keep the front entrance clean, even if it requires sweeping or vacuuming more than once a day. This area should always be free of dirt and debris. Glass doors and windows should sparkle.
6. Desk Placement
If your desk is located in the entrance area of your business, it’s important that your desk is placed in the command position. This means you want to be able to see anyone who comes into your business. Never sit with your back to the main door. There are a few configurations that can help you take advantage of feng shui office layouts.
7. Generate Yang Energy With Water
Yang energy is active and creative chi energy that a business must have in order to thrive. You can generate this auspicious energy by adding a water fountain or aquarium in the east (health), southeast (wealth) or north (career) sector of your entrance/reception area. Always keep the water fresh and replaced in fountains and aquariums. Replace any dead fish immediately.
8. Create a Wealth Vase
You can create a wealth vase to store in an office cabinet or closest to the entrance of your business. This is a secret feng shui money magnet that needs to be hidden from view and stored where it won’t be disturbed. You can place it in the north (career) or southeast (wealth) corner of the entrance. Foyer or reception area.
9. Use Your Kua Best Directions
You can calculate your Kua number to reveal your four best directions. The ideal is for the facing direction of your building to be in one of these four directions. However, if it doesn’t, you can still sit facing one of your best directions while working, negotiating deals, and working with customers.
10. Activate Career and Wealth Elements
You can go beyond a water fountain or aquarium to activate other areas important to your business success. For example, you can place a crystal or two to activate your education sector (northeast) to attract educational opportunities for advancing your business. If you need a mentor, place a metal object, such as a metal wall medallion on the northwest wall of your office.
11. Scents for Wealth and Fame
You can use aromatherapy essential oils to infuse your business with pleasing scents to attract wealth. Choose a pleasing scent, such as lemongrass (wealth) or peppermint (fame and reputation).
12. Music for Good Feng Shui Vibes
You can attract auspicious chi energy by playing the right kind of music. You want unobtrusive background music. There is specific feng shui music that you can play according to the sector to assist in activating the ruling element.
Tips for How to Feng Shui Your Business Entrance
Feng shui tips can teach you how to create an auspicious entrance for your business. You’ll immediately feel the difference in the energy and soon reap the beneficial results in your business.