Here at Vale Office Interiors, our focus is to create and optimise your ideal workplace. We mentioned in a previous blog that a cluttered work space equals a cluttered mind, so it’s good to have systems in place to stay organised and continue with productive momentum.
We know that piles of receipts, paperwork and files can build up quickly and then suddenly become overwhelming. This becomes a distraction whilst trying to work and wastes valuable time rummaging through stuff to find what you need.
Interesting workplace facts
A few more reasons to encourage you to keep your office organised, tidy and clean…
- According to CleaningServicesGroup.co.uk, one person carrying a virus in the workplace will infect 50% of colleagues in four hours
- Out of 1,481 people surveyed by Brigham Young University, 88% said that concentration, productivity and learning were all impacted by the cleanliness of their environment at work
- Exeter University conducted a study that revealed employees are 15% more productive when workspaces are uncluttered, clean and have a houseplant
What can you do?
A messy work area can create stress, negative energy, reduce productivity, seem unorganised and look unprofessional. Here are our top tips to help turn this around:
- The best thing to do is remove everything from your desk and only put back what is needed once reviewed and cleaned. If this is not possible or is going to over face you then do it in short bursts, one area at a time
- Clean everything on your desk – you’ll be more inclined to keep it neat and tidy once you’ve done this
- Do you need all that stationery on your desk? If not, put neatly into a designated drawer or even take it back to the stationery cupboard so someone else can make good use of it
- Take advantage of office boards and attach notes so they don’t clutter flat working space
- Document trays – all you really need is three trays on your desk. One for incoming post/documents, one for documents you’re currently working on, and one for outgoing post/finished work/anything that needs filing
- Make a pile of anything you’ve finished with and file it back in the correct place so it can be found easily again next time
- Do you need a paper copy of everything or can it be saved on your computer to save space?
- Organise your drawers
- Labelling or colour coding items may help to keep them organised
- One cup rule – this way it’ll look neat and lower the chance of you knocking multiple drinks over
- Use your bin and recycle items too – find out where these can be located if you don’t know
- Shred anything not needed, or at least put it next to the shredder for when you have the time
- Declutter your laptop/desktop too
- Keep a ‘to do’ list rather than having lots of post-it notes floating around
- Dedicate time each week to keep on top of things so it doesn’t get out of control again
- Take a photo – bit extreme but maybe take a before and after photo as a reminder!
- Work as a team. If it’s a shared space then help and encourage others. Some people may love
- tidying and organising, some may not. Use your strengths and work together to make your office a nice, tidy, inspiring space. You may all decide that a tidying rota would be good
We hope once you’ve tried some of our top tips for organising your office that you feel relaxed, positive, productive, organised and professional.
Whether you’re thinking about storage solutions, desks or office screens, contact us today to discuss.
