Let’s face it. You spend a third of your life at your work. Those hours either energize or drain you. If you love what you do, you’re miles ahead of the person whose work is painful to endure. Much of it is just the nature of the beast. There will always be rude customers and toxic coworkers…but what if you could exercise just a modicum of control to tip the balance in your favor? I want to you to think of the obvious as well as the not-so-obvious.

Some of us need to begin with the basics: Declutter. If you've been ensconced into your desk for any length of time, it may be feeling more like an overstuffed closet than a place where the rubber can actually find, much less meet the road. Attack mounds of papers and devise a storage system for those you must keep. Discover a way to keep the things you need once in a while. Dust while you're at it. When your space can breathe, you can breathe. Your time will prove more productive and a new sense of liberation will waft its way into your three feet workstead .

Now let's poke at the Chinese art of feng shui, the practice of balancing the natural and the metaphysical into a life-sustaining whole, and find simple ways to apply those principles. The words themselves mean “wind” and “water.” Wind and water flow in patterns that sigh around us, leaving the world refreshed. When out of balance, destruction lies in their wake. So what are the implications for your workspace? Believe it or not, you can tweak your own situation to make it healthier and more enjoyable.

Let’s lay aside the advanced principles of commanding positions and intricate details and focus on the small things you can control. Begin with the three feet around you. Find a space for a small plant to breathe cleansing oxygen into your air. Air within a closed space contains more impurities than air outside the office. It doesn’t have to be large. You can always approach your supervisor with a suggestion for larger plants in low traffic areas, but today we are focused on your fiefdom, three feet you call your own. If you want to delve into the deeper principles, these ten tips can spur your imagination.

Add a personal touch. Choose an energizing or soothing color and work it into you view. It may be a colorful paper tray or file folder, a ribbon you clip onto work projects, or the cover of your planner. Simple Post-It notes are utilitarian, but they can add a spark of color--begin with what you have available. The color you choose needs to feed your soul. Color theory revolves around sensations evoked and believe it or not, it affects your day. Warm colors energize while cool colors soothe. If you need to stoke productivity into your day, a vibrant splash of color will spur you forward. If you need to retreat from consistent toxicity, a cool color will be your oasis. The less space you control, the more vital it is that you choose what you see and touch in a meaningful way.

Open a closed space with a mirror. Add a picture of thescene you wish you could view from an office window. Bring the outdoors intoyour workspace in small ways. Small talismans from past vacations will evokethe feelings you experienced while you were there, and just a moment spentreliving time in the Grand Canyon, for example, can open a vista within yoursoul. The important point is to open a portal to another time, another place inwhich you may retreat, refresh yourself, and return in a better state of mind.

Your three feet at work is like your personal space in a supermarket or crowd of people. There may be some intrusions into your space, but you wield far more personal power than you realize. To improve your situation, do so in a more meaningful way.