Working in conditions where your office desk is full of papers, while cables are spread all around can affect your focus and productivity. It is proven that a minimalistic approach can help people stay on the right track.
Sometimes, it starts with little things, like leaving a coffee mug and papers on the desk, but it often ends in a mess that will drag your attention. Therefore, changing the approach and keeping it clean will surely help you follow your daily tasks. Getting the right table can also make things different. Standing tables are especially popular in recent years. If you want to check some of the best models, check out Porvata.
Besides having a good desk, there are some habits that you should implement. These habits will help you maintain a clean environment in your office, and never get distracted. Here are some tips that will help you keep your production on a higher level.
Install Some Shelves
If you are working with a lot of papers and various documents, it can be challenging to keep them organized. Leaving a single paper for one day can easily turn into having a lot of them, and then even lose a track of what you are keeping.
In that matter, a more organized approach is essential. The best solution for that is to use shelves and drawers under and above the table. In addition to that, you can get a few registers where you will organize the documents by name, date, and other details.
The goal is to always have the ability to find any paper quickly, without having to go through all of them each time. The end result is that you will work in a clean space where everything is transparent and simple to find.
Switch to Wireless Keyboard and Mouse
A lot of cables can also distract and make it more difficult to keep the surface of the desk clean all the time. Using wireless devices is much more convenient. It is common for office desks to have holes where you can keep all cables in one spot, and connect your devices like PC, printer, charger, and more.
The best solution is to tie the cables together and position them in one corner behind the table. You will only have a monitor on the desk, with a single cable behind it that won’t represent a problem. An open space with a wider area where you only keep your wireless mouse and keyboard will be much more satisfying.
Hoarding Can be a Problem
As we already mentioned, keeping a lot of unnecessary things can affect your ability to focus and follow your tasks. An even bigger issue could start when you simply leave a lot of things on the desk. For example, having a snack and leaving a half-empty package next to the monitor.
It usually start by leaving a bag of snacks and a bottle of water. However, the problem starts the next day, when you bring another pack, and more bottles, and leave them all on the table thinking that you will collect all of them and throw in the bin. As days go by, more and more trash will gather, making it difficult to clean it fast.
When you combine that with procrastination or a situation where you simply have a lot of work so you don’t have time to clean it will end in a hoarding problem where your office desk will become a mess. That is another reason to always follow a minimalistic approach and never leave stuff on the table. Use the additional shelves to keep some of your possessions there, such as pictures, important documents, and other materials.
Set a Cleaning Routine
Without a clear plan, the office can easily turn into mess. For instance, if your usual habit is to clean the area after work, skipping this habit for a day or two can become an issue. Therefore, you should choose a strategy where you will determine the days in the week where you will clean different areas of the office.
The biggest advantage of this approach is that most of these tasks will last only for 10 to 15 minutes each time. You can separate different chores for different days. For example, cleaning the dust each Friday, while emptying the bin every day, and throwing unnecessary items each time when the shift is over. You can include vacuuming from time to time, or reorganizing the items on shelves to refresh the area. It will surely make it more comfortable, and you will be more focused on your work during the shift.
Set Some Limits
One of the best ways to avoid the mess all the time is by implementing some simple rules. For example, the one where you will only keep a mug for a coffee or tea on the table, and nothing else. A lot of people prefer having a snack during the shift, like a cookie, or some chocolate bars.
The packs of these items are not the only problem. An even bigger one is related to crumbs that will fall around, or stuck in the keyboard. Also, eating a candy bar and then using a mouse will make it greasy and sticky. It will take some time to clean the mouse each time, or removing the dirt from the keyboard, which will make you lose track from the important tasks.
The Bottom Line
The goal should be to keep the environment clean and more pleasant to work at all the time. Also, it is proven that staying focused on keeping all items in the right order can improve your abilities to do the same with the daily tasks.
Leaving a mess and then having to clean it all in a day will be a waste of time. Many people will tend to leave that for tomorrow, and then do the same again the next day. That level of procrastination will surely lead to a mess.
