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Time for an office spring clean?

Blog
Sam Watling
14 Apr 2022

As the bank holiday weekend is fast approaching, I am looking forward to a spring clean in my own work from home office. A chance to recycle any old paperwork, bin the dried out pens, give the desk and keyboard a good clean and my favourite thing... buy new, colourful and fancy stationery!

Here are a few handy tips from a tidy desk lover (and stationery geek), to help create a calming and tidy desk space that you’ll look forward to sitting at every day.

Leave as much free space on your desk as possible

By ensuring your desk is less cluttered, it will aid your working day and it’s true what they say – ‘a tidy desk equals a tidy mind’. When there is too much clutter at a working desk, it becomes difficult to find the paperwork you’re looking for and can even be a huge distraction for many people. Try to keep stationery/in-trays/accessories towards the back of the desk so that you only have your laptop/monitor and daily note pad within your close working space.

Try not to include too many accessories as these too can become distracting.

Create a calming space

It is common knowledge that the calmer we are, the happier and more positive we feel. When creating a working area, using a small section of the desk to place accessories such as candles or flowers can really brighten a desk up and provide a more calming atmosphere.

Desk/office plants also have many benefits such as:

Reducing sickness through naturally filtering toxins from the room
Increased productivity through an increased engagement in your surroundings
A boost in creativity through increased stimulation of your senses
Absorbing some background noise
Reducing anxiety, fatigue, and depression

Work desk

Colour theory and coordination of accessories

As well as being a stationery geek, I also love to colour coordinate décor and accessories. Psychologically, colour can have a huge effect on our feelings and how we feel within our working surroundings. Whilst white tones can create a calming, non-invasive, bright and positive atmosphere, grey tones can seem dull, bland and uninspiring. Colour coordination is a great tool to make a space look well put together and emanate a feeling of fulfilment.

Bright stationery and beautiful notebooks

Since high school I have always looked forward to buying new stationery for a new term. To keep my day positive and mental health in check, one of my favourite tips is to use beautiful stationery when working. Funky coloured pens and beautifully designed notebooks can sometimes be the just the pick me up you need on a Monday morning!

Stationery

Keep paper use to a minimum

We are all aware that we need to be doing our bit for the environment and many workplaces are making attempts to go paperless wherever possible. For any paperwork that is used, if possible it is always better to keep within an in-tray/storage file away from the main working desk. It is also a good idea to go through any paperwork at the end of each week and see whether anything is no longer needed and can be recycled.

So, this bank holiday why not plan in some time for a spring clean or desk tidy, ready for a more exciting return to the office? It could easily increase your motivation and productivity.

Useful blogs:

How to effectively work from home

Top tips for working from home from the ICT team

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Author

Sam Watling

Project Manager

YPO