Are you losing ground at work because you don’t have enough work space? Recent studies indicate that most people are attempting to do their jobs in less than 40 square feet of space. Being crammed in to a cubicle or stuffed into a shared work space is not exactly most people’s idea of a good work day: increasingly, home-based workers are turning to steel shipping containers as a way to expand their home offices into a larger, more workable space. We work best when we can spread our ideas out on a desk, pace up and down our home offices, and have a little space from challenging projects. Used steel storage containers for sale make sense as a new model for effective office space.
There are actually more than 15 million shipping containers in use around the world, and they can last for more than two decades if taken care of properly. The average office container for sale is about 400 square feet and can hold more than 3,000 shoe boxes. Only about 5 million mobile office containers are being used to transport goods, so that leaves more than 10 million available for offices or even for housing. The steel container movement is trending around the world as individuals and business owners seek to maximize their available space while minimizing their budgets.
If you decide to buy used shipping containers, you will want to have it wired and insulated. We don’t realize that we are losing momentum at work due to our sedentary lifestyles: the decision to buy used shipping containers means that we will have room for a work space as well as a place to sit and think besides our desks. Experts agree that a person’s work flow can be affected by the space they work in — we’ve all experienced the work version of writer’s block — and lack of space can be damaging to the part of our brains that generates insight and powerful decision-making.
Every time a home-based worker decides to buy used shipping containers they are making a powerful choice to help our environment. Reusing metal containers for offices or for living space means that we are rescuing more than 5,000 pounds of steel from landfills. We are saving trees and we are able to install shipping container offices in a fraction of the time it would take to build a brick and mortar office or store. Customers want to purchase goods and services from business owners with a clear vision and with a strong commitment to our environment. Every day, millions of American consumers make purchasing choices that are based on their values. Businesses that buy used shipping containers for office space should expect a positive customer response.
Another benefit of establishing office space in portable office containers is the chance for employees to have privacy and work uninterrupted. Recent studies show that we are interrupted at least once every ten minutes. If your business requires employees to share office space, the rate of interruption grows worse: how can we expect productivity and creativity in an environment that can be chaotic? Private offices can help employees focus on their work, acquire new customers, and give the existing ones better service. Customers notice background noise when they call a business, and making the decision to invest in climate controlled containers can help boost struggling sales.

In the last 20 years, American workers have had to rebound from aggressive outsourcing; in fact, they have rebounded so strongly that small business owners now employ more than half of all American workers. We read study after study that shows us how our sedentary lifestyles are costing us: less productivity at work, increased risk of heart attacks, and other serious costs to staying inactive. Business owners want to break through their employees’ apathetic approach to their work, but may not realize the solution is at their fingertips. Give people more space to work and you may find that they solve problems more creatively. Work can be fun, but we all need space to do it correctly.