Is the clutter in your workspace affecting your success? Research shows that productivity and clutter are directly related. Productivity and profits are reduced when piles of paper and disorganization increase.
According to the National Association of Professional Organizations, paper clutter is the No. 1 problem for most businesses. Studies show the average person wastes more than 4 hours every week searching for papers. This can add stress and frustration in the workplace and reduce concentration and creative thinking.
Spring is the perfect time of year to make a fresh, clean start and revitalize your office. Employee’s stress and anxiety levels will go down because they will be able to find everything they need at a moment’s notice. Productivity will go up which in turn makes the business more profitable and potentially insures the company’s sustainability and job security.
Here are great tips for spring cleaning your company office.
- Organize your desk at the end of the day. If at least 80 percent of the desktop is visible, you can start the following workday with reduced stress and mental overload.
- Eliminate unused desk items. Put everything else into drawers or containers that are easily accessible. Your efficiency will double and your fatigue will decrease.
- One job at a time. Any task can seem unmanageable if you try to do it all at once. Take it in sections. Even if you only clean a little bit of your office space, you’ll feel better than if you don’t clean at all.
- Computers and electronics need cleaning too. These items are used all day long. We spill on them, touch them with dirty hands and sometimes bring them on our bathroom breaks. Take a few minutes and wipe down your electronics. Use special wipes for your screens, a keyboard cleaner that removes grime and crumbs from between the keys, and even a can of air can eliminate unwanted dust.
- Contain the cords. At the very least, find a way to contain all of the cords that are running from your various (newly cleaned) electronic devices. Try this “life-hack” and use binder clips to keep cord together.
- Organize your e-mails. The inbox on your desk only gets filled with papers every so often. But every day, you are welcomed with hundreds of new e-mails that require your attention. Keep this organized, even if you’re the only one who sees it.
- Start cleaning regularly. Don’t limit this process to just spring. Schedule a day every few months and repeat as needed. At minimum, try to get organized once a year.