Maintaining your personal workspace in the office is part of maintaining your professionalism. A cluttered, messy workspace filled with trinkets and scattered documents presents a messy worker who is not only disorganized, but is also easily distracted. This is, understandably, not the kind of work ethic you would want to put forward at work.
There are times when we just can’t help but clutter our workspaces, especially when you’ve got enough on your plate that you can’t spare any time to do the cleaning and organizing. However, these are important aspects for both your work, and your health.
A dirty, messy office space can easily harbor germs and viruses that could make you sick. As you go about touching every other surface in the office, you can spread those germs to the rest of the workforce. Plus, working with papers scattered around will surely mess up your work as you scramble to find those documents important to your current project.
1. Clean Your Desk
Keep your desk clean at all times, and remove any clutter that may be distracting you from your work. Remember that a clear desk nurtures a clear mind, and that your desk should reflect your work ethics. Keep your items organized, and you’ll find yourself to be more productive at work, less stressed, and more professional as well.
Remove all the items that have no significance to your work, such as trinkets, fidget toys, empty food containers, and the like. Take time to organize your items one by one to prevent accidentally shredding files or throwing items that are still important to you. Keep your personal items at home, and only bring necessary items to work to keep a minimalist look.
2. Organize Your Files
Organize your files and documents – both physical and digital. Keep your files in folders, properly labeled with the necessary information such as the date, project title, completion status, and the like. Store finished documents away from those that are still needed from time to time, and keep a record of where you stored those documents for faster searching in the future.
Keep digital files in a secured, safe cloud storage to prevent prying eyes from accessing them. For sensitive files that deal with your, your company’s, or your clients’ information, encrypt digital files, and store physical files in the office. These sensitive files should never leave the security of your office. Once no longer needed, shred the documents until the information is blurred out.
3. Keep Cables in Place
In the era where we work mostly on our devices, chargers and cables are sure to run amok in the office. While you can’t safely secure all the cables in your office to keep them from getting tangled – not without proper permissions at least, you can always keep your cables in place using cable clips, cable organizers, or even binder clips to prevent the wires from tangling.
4. Sanitize Your Supplies
Ever use those communal office supplies like staplers, scissors, and more? Those supplies have been touched by many different hands, and you have no idea whether they are clean or not. Protect yourself from germs and viruses by sanitizing your office supplies before and after you use them. This will help maintain the cleanliness of your workspace.
You’ll be able to keep your office supplies clean as well, even if you’re the one carrying germs. Sanitizing the office supplies before and after using them will help promote an overall cleaner, healthier office environment for everyone. Do the same for your personal office supplies to keep them clean daily.
5. Deodorize Your Office Chair
Those mesh, fabric, leather, and polyester office chairs can absorb your sweat, food spills, beverage spills, and dirt. These chairs harbor bacteria that release foul odors, which are embarrassing to come out of your office chair to say the least. The bacteria can be harmful to your health as well, and can give you food poisoning, colds, or other illnesses.
Deodorize your office chair with a good amount of baking soda. Let the baking soda sit on the chair for 30 minutes to an hour, then vacuum away the excess powder. Use an alcohol spray, a disinfectant wipe, or diluted dish soap to sanitize the surface of the chair.
