Offices tend to accumulate clutter in every conceivable area! Come on now; own up, you know your desk is a mess! On top of our desks, in our drawers, on our shelves, in our closets, on our computers — you name it– we horde it!
However, having a simple, uncluttered office life is possible. We’re not just talking about our own business storage options (which are always a good solution in this case if we don’t mind saying so ourselves). Right now, we’re just talking about basic, essential tips on how to keep your office clean and carefree.
All it takes is a little time dedicated to improving your work conditions in order to lead to a better environment and higher productivity.
Let’s start with…
The desks…
Usually the worst offender in the whole place! Desks are like magnets for clutter and mess.
Clear it EVERYTHING off of it and put it in a pile on the floor to one side. This includes clearing out the drawers. For safety reasons keep your computer and phone on the desk (don’t want to risk damage or breaking these things). Wipe down your desk, and clean your drawers with a fresh flannel and cleaning spray.
Once you’ve got clean surfaces it’s time to start sorting through your stuff – one item at a time! This is where you have to get ruthless with yourself. Chuck out the rubbish you simply don’t need! We are a nation of hoarders so it is expected that you will have 101 different things stuffed in your drawers and scattered on your desks that have no value or practical purpose for work. You want to minimise the amount of items you have on you full-stop.
Designate areas on and inside your desk where you can partition everything into specific places, which means you will never have to root through your desk to find a pen again! Feel free to label away if it helps you.
Keep all your flat surfaces clear so you avoid piling up things on your desk. All you need on top is the essential office equipment that you need to do your job. Tidy workstation, tidy mind.
Become Lord of the Files…
All it takes to be the Lord is to arrange your filing system so that it makes sense. Alphabetical works best. If possible, have everything put in one drawer. Purge the files you don’t need. Purging is always a helpful method when it comes to getting rid of the non-essentials (including other bits of information).
Computer check…
Purge your computer files, getting rid of stuff you don’t need. Clear your desktop of icons — they slow your computer down, create visual clutter, and are an inefficient way to access files, programs or folders.
Taking care of the closets/cupboards…
Use the same above method for your closets/cupboards as you did with your desk.
This is just the beginning too… We’ll be back with a follow-up blog from City of London Storage to help you go to the next stage of office maintenance and sorting what you need from what you don’t. In the meantime, for information about business storage or commercial storage please contact us.
