It feels like there’s been nothing but rain for the last few weeks, but March 1 officially signals the start of spring. That means its time to freshen things up with a bit of spring cleaning, including your home office.
It’s been a relatively mild but very wet and windy winter. But the first strains of the dawn chorus, along with the emerging daffodil shoots signal that springtime is well on its way.
So, what better time to shake things up around the home and give that much needed home office a spring clean.
How to tidy your home office
Check these jobs of your list, to ensure a tidy workspace to see you into spring and beyond:
Tidy your desk
No matter how tidy you are, clutter can quickly accumulate on your desk – from stacks of stationary to piles of opened (and unopened) letters to mugs and trinkets from the kids, any mess on your desk can be bad for productivity. So, the first thing you need to do is get rid of all but the essentials (do you need that many pens), paying particular attention to any old paperwork you no longer need.
With everything cleared, give the whole area a good wipe down, including your computer and keyboard, which can be a real gathering ground for dust and crumbs. To clean in between the keys, tip the keyboard upside down and give it a good shake (ideally over a bin, to collect the debris) and then fold a Post-It not in half, with the sticky part on the outside, then run it between the keys to pick up any lingering dust. Alternatively, use a can of compressed air to blast it all away.
Give everywhere a final wipe down before putting all the essential equipment back in its right place. If you’ve any knick-knacks , these can also be returned to their rightful place, just don’t overdo it – a clear workspace is best for a clear mind.
Empty your drawers
If you have desk drawers, you’ll be amazed at the amount of rubbish they collect. When spring cleaning your home office you need to be brutal and tip everything out – including those papers and unopened letters you just relocated from your desk.
With the drawers emptied, give the inside a good wipe down and then allocate each one a specific purpose, such as one for stationary, one for important invoices or documents and one for unopened letters.
Tidy up everywhere else
With your workspace taken care of, it’s time to tidy up the rest of the room, getting rid of any old books, unused headsets, old power cables and equipment, as well as anything else that might be lying round, unused. You should also tend to any plants you have by getting rid of any dead leaves, wiping down the rest, tidying up the plantpots and making sure they’re watered.
With all that taken care of, get to work with the surface cleaner and hoover and you’ll have a beautifully clean office in no time. At this point, it might also be worth updating the lighting and getting some lightly scented candles in, to make things a little more zen.
Spring clean the way you work
While your in the mood for cleaning, it makes sense to make a few changes to the way you work.
- Start by making sure you have all the software and hardware you need to do your job, and then de-clutter the desktop on your computer.
- If productivity is an issue, think about using something like the Pomodoro Technique that sees you work in bursts of 25 minutes. Find out more at our blog 5 tips to beat work from home burnout.
- Get a cost-effective and reliable conference call provider in place. This means you can still work from home and never miss another meeting.
All that’s left is to do then is de-clutter your email inbox…
