Monday 14th January is officially recognised as Clean Off Your Desk Day. A day when we can all start a fresh with a clean and tidy desk.
The Christmas decorations have long since been packed away and everybody is slowly getting back in to the early starts, so this is really the chance to begin the New Year as you mean to go and have a good old clear out.
Shred the mountains of paper that you haven’t touched for months, tidy away all the loose pens, paper clips and staples, wash and put away all the dirty mugs, plates and crockery left growing cultures Alexander Fleming would be proud of, and organise all those loose cables that hang down like spaghetti from computers, printers and telephones.
In fact, no matter whether you work in a large, well populated office, you work from home on your own, you work from a portacabin on a building site, or you are a sales rep and your office is your car, now is the time to get organised, declutter and commit to a new personal mandate of remaining neat and tidy in your work.
It might seem like a thankless task, but you will soon feel the benefits of Clean Off Your Desk Day, and moreover, these benefits can be particularly profound! Want to find out more? Read on….
The Benefits of Clean Off Your Desk Day
Having a clean and tidy work station has many benefits, not least of all that you will be able to find things far more easily and quite frankly, the aesthetics are far more appealing!
In addition, having a tidy desk means that you are contributing to improved security. Aside from all the post-its and pens that go missing on a daily basis, leaving papers and files on top of your desk is a sure fire way for a breach of data to occur, and with the increased measures to protect everybody’s data set out in last years GDPR laws, nobody wants to be subjected to a hefty fine because of carelessly leaving a load of sensitive information lying around!
The main benefit that we are particularly interested in here at Your Wellspacehowever is that of the positive impact a tidy desk can have on a person’s wellbeing.
Being organised in your daily work is one of the simplest and quickest ways to reduce workplace stress and anxiety, and as stress related illness is a leading cause of workplace absenteeism, it is a good idea to keep on top of your housekeeping.
Being orderly at work reduces the chance of those last minute searches through reams of disorganised paper when you really need a document to take to a meeting or you are looking for information for a client to push that final sale over the line.
Knowing you can immediately lay your hands on the facts and figures that you require can become an empowering situation rather than a stressful one, and will use up less physical and mental energy, giving you more drive to complete the things you want to do and will leave you feeling less tired at the end of the day.
Reducing Stress with Less Mess
By clearing your clutter and de-junking your desk this can actually have quite an impact on how you live your life and ultimately benefit your overall health and wellbeing.
When you are organised in your work you almost always certainly see a reduction in your levels of stress. This gives you more time to think clearly and makes you feel like you are ultimately in control of your own activities. Life seems less rushed and you have more time to dedicate to the more positive aspects of your work schedule and your daily routine.
In addition, you will begin to feel like you have more time to dedicate to other aspects of your life such as spending quality time with your family, undertaking more exercise, improving your diet and making positive changes in general to your lifestyle.
The long-term impact of these improvements on your health means less risk of life limiting diseases such as hypertension, stroke, cancer and heart disease
So, believe it or not, Clean Off Your Desk Day and being organised at work has more personal value than you first imagine.
Maintain the New You
Once you’ve had a good clear out and you can see the top of your work station again, naturally it makes sense to keep it that way. Don’t fall in to your old habits of rushing out the door at the end of your working day thinking you will clear the clutter in the morning before you start as it generally doesn’t happen. Clean desks are for life, not just for Clean Off Your Desk Day!
Utilise your paper trays effectively and make sure when you get a new document on your desk it is dealt with first time, either by filing in under pending, ongoing work or shredding! Much of the information we receive on a daily basis is surplus to requirements anyway, and it really is good practice to be a little bit more ruthless with what we keep and needs action, and what we decide to dispose of because it really doesn’t demand our attention.
Take your cups in to the kitchen and wash ready for your morning coffee, dispose of any sandwich wrappers or half eaten food, and remember to switch off your computer. This is a very satisfying process and helps to support a clear mind.
Then when you are on the bus or the train on the way home you can read your favourite book or take yourself off to the gym without having the constant distraction of work you may not have completed.
Contact us
So, if you are ready to start the new year as you mean to go on and want to use Clean Off Your Desk Day to do it, here’s your chance, you will definitely benefit in more ways than one! And if you are interested in maintaining a healthy, stress free lifestyle, with a better diet and a new exercise plan, why not contact us here, or you can call us on 0808 178 0748 where one of our expert team will be delighted to chat to you about the benefits of reducing workplace stress, starting with a good clear out!
