Tidy up: Cleaning your workspace can bring a fresh outlook
Working from home may have its perks but a clean workspace isn’t necessarily one of them.
If you’re like most people who work in a home office, you’ve probably grown accustomed to a continuous flow of paper, random utensils, your child’s favorite toys and half-eaten bagels making their way across your workspace.
As the days get longer and the thermometer begins to climb, it may be a good time to get a jump-start on cleaning and organizing your workspace. Sprucing up and organizing your workspace is an excellent way to shed the winter blahs and get a leg-up on spring.
The payoffs can be great, such as increased productivity and an improved sense of well-being while avoiding the stress and frustration that results from being unorganized.
Here are some tips to get your spring cleaning started:
Remove everything and give your desk a good cleaning
Remember that thing under a huge paper pile? It’s called your desk. Before you begin reorganizing anything, give the desktop a good once-over with a rag, and clean out all the nooks and crannies.
Keep only supplies you need on a daily basis on your desktop
Decide what you need at your fingertips each day, then put the rest away in drawers or other storage area. Get rid of things that no longer work or have been gathering dust for years.
Create a paper-flow system for incoming documents
Designate an inbox on your desk that is only used for documents you haven’t yet reviewed. Avoid looking at documents and placing them back on the desk. Instead, make a decision about the importance of each document and follow through with it. Create a filing system that allows you to sort, file and purge documents regularly.
Think before you print
With so much information at your fingertips, it can be tempting to print every interesting thing you find. Unfortunately, this creates unnecessary piles of paper that probably won’t be read more than once.
Limit the number of desktop knickknacks and decorations
It’s nice to adorn your workspace with photos, figurines and other bric-a-brac, but be wary of going overboard with too much random stuff. Place the items you’re keeping on or above your desk in a place that won’t interfere with your work.
Purge all drawers and shelves
It’s easy to clear off your desk by shoving papers and other items into drawers, but eventually your drawers will be overflowing. Try cleaning out your drawers every week or so to avoid garbage piling up.