April is here and with it spring in Austin will become more consistently warm. With warm weather often comes spring cleaning at home but have you thought about spring cleaning in your office? More 80 degree days make it easy easy to wish you were enjoying outdoor activities instead of working. Cleaning up the work space around you can declutter your mind and help you feel rejuvenated and more productive at the office, which might mean you and your team get to leave early!
Clean and sanitize your work space and electronics. How long has it been since you actually cleaned your keyboard? Monitor? Under and behind your computer tower? It's time to catch all of the dust bunnies that have accumulated. (Dust bunnies are a distant cousin to the Easter bunny. That's why we find more of them in the spring time!) Don’t forget your desk, chair, decorations, and other surfaces.
Fill 'em up. Refill and restock anything that could become empty: stapler, paper clips, printer paper, fax. Check your inventory of ink cartridges, toner, and replacement for less often used items like file folders, envelopes, letterhead, pens, etc.
Throw it out. Do you have a "later pile" on your desk? Does it have files, papers, and articles from last year? Chances are that if you haven't missed them or read them by now, you never will. Either toss them in the recycle bin or file them where they belong.
What else is old and outdated? If you have old notes on post its or last year's calendar, those have to go, too. Find a way to dispose of promotional items from past campaigns and anything else that is outdated and taking up space.
Oh, email. Make time to sort through your email. Nothing drags down your productivity first thing in the morning like seeing that you have 58 new messages and just as many old ones that you haven't done anything with. Do the same thing you did with your "later pile" and either delete them, file them, or respond to them.
Subscribe or check back often for more articles on spring cleaning for better productivity at work.
Comments