Why Should Our Homes Get All the Spring Cleaning Fun?
Now that spring seems to really be on the way, we are getting out our best eco-friendly supplies and tools in preparation for giving our homes a deep spring clean. But why should our homes get all the spring cleaning fun? While spring cleaning your entire office may seem like a daunting task, we challenge you to just start with your desk. Here are 5 tips for giving your office desk a quick spring clean:
Get It Clean (& Healthy)
Clear all items from your desk and, using an all-purpose, eco-friendly cleaner like our Ecospirit brand, wipe down your desktop, phone and shelving. For your tech tools, make an easy, eco-friendly cleaner mixing a 50/50 combination of alcohol and distilled water in a spray bottle. This solution is great for removing smudges on screens and can be used to wipe down your keyboard, mouse, and tablet. Click here for more eco-friendly tech cleaning tips.
Keep It Clear
An OfficeMax study found that a clear desk actually improves your productivity and motivation. The only things you should have on the top of your desk are things you are actually using. For most people, those things can be narrowed down to a computer, a phone, a writing utensil (or 2), a pad of paper and possibly a lamp. Other items such as file folders, paper clips, and binders should be put in drawers and/or on shelves. If you must keep something personal on your desk, limit yourself to one thing—such as a framed family photo or a small inspirational quote plaque.
Organize Your Drawer
While you were clearing off your desk, did you just dump those paper clips and sticky notes into your “catch all” drawer? We knew it! Purchase drawer organizers like this one from Bed, Bath and Beyond that will help you create compartments and individual spaces for all of your supplies. Organize what is currently in your drawer—finding a new home for things that just don’t belong. This will also help you keep an eye on your supplies allowing you to proactively purchase things that are running low.
Get Rid of Paper
As an eco-friendly cleaning company, we encourage our clients to limit their use of paper; however, we have yet to find a completely paperless office. Go through the piles of papers on your desk and file them, toss them or scan them. Recycle paper you no longer need and create an easy-to-use filing system such as To Read, To Do and To File for organizing what is left. Consider scanning all those papers that end up in your To File folder. This will eliminate your paper clutter and make it easy for you to find those documents when they are most needed.
Clean Your Desktop
Even if your desk is spotless and clean, you may still feel the sting of clutter when you turn on your computer desktop and see a screen filled with images, folders, and documents. Delete items you no longer need and organize everything else into a digital filing system that is not only easy for you to use and maintain but will not clutter your desktop screen. Click here for more ideas on how to quickly clean & organize your computer.
Talk to us: What tips do you have for getting—and keeping—your office desk clean and organized?
image courtesy of flickr cc/Lindsay Holmwood