How many times in the last year have you walked into your office and thought it was a bit of a mess? Maybe not even that bad, just full of lots of clutter that could stand to be tidied up? Unfortunately, you aren’t alone. Thousands of offices across the country have the clutter bug, and it can sometimes be a bit difficult to clear, especially if it’s not all your mess. But did you know that a cleaner, clutter free working environment can actually lead to better performance and productivity in staff? So fi you’ve been struggling to find inspiration to have a big sort out, here are 5 reasons you should do it this week.
Less Stress
Everyone likes to work differently, and before we start bashing everyone with a slightly untidy desk, it’s important to recognise that fact. Some people work better with their desk a certain way, and that doesn’t always include ‘a place for everything’. However, it starts becoming a problem when you can’t find the keyboard under all the paperwork, post it notes and other bits and pieces. Too much clutter in your workspace can be incredibly stressful, as it’s often a reminder that you still have all those things to do – even the things you’ve been putting off. Be tackling the clutter, you can remove the stressful reminders and get back to focussing on one task at a time.
Fewer Distractions
Clutter is also an amazing distraction. This can be great for procrastinators who don’t want to do much in the office, but for those who want or need to work hard, it’s a nightmare. Clutter on your desk is essentially a lot of things all competing for your attention, and it makes it harder to focus on any one at a time. It’s like putting you in a room with 50 people who all desperately want to talk to you at the same time, but you only want to talk to one. It’s impossible to have just that one conversation, and eventually it all just becomes noise.
Blitz Your To Do List
Let’s face it, 9% of office clutter isn’t just random things lying around. It’s projects, tasks or errands you need to deal with but aren’t quite urgent enough to have been done yet. When you’re busy, you might not have time to file all of that paperwork away or go through that stack of documents to figure out what needs to be shredded. By putting aside an hour to two to just go through your desk clutter, you will find a lot of things ticked off your to do list in one go.
Reduce ‘Finding Time’
Have you ever been on the phone with a client and needed to reference a document or note you’ve made, only to discover it’s hidden under a pile of other papers and clutter? It’s the sales persons worst nightmare, and means you need to stall while you try to find it. While you don’t have to be relentlessly organised, having a system in place does help you to find things quickly, and reducing the clutter on your desk is a great way to do this.
Give The Right Impression
This one is pretty simple. Who seems more able and together – the company with the trim, organised inbox, or the one with a desk piled high with paperwork? First impressions have a long lasting effect, so it’s important to make sure you get it right. Even if your filing cabinets are a mess inside and your cupboards are bursting with decades of stationary, if your desks are tidy and your office looks neat, it can make a real difference.
If you have a big clear out, odds are you will find lots of things that need to be disposed of securely. So instead of wasting an employee’s time by sitting them over the shredder, why not hire someone like us to deal with your shredding and disposal for you? Our on and off site shredding services mean you can always be sure your documents have been destroyed securely, and you never need to store that paperwork again!
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