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Two special days this week are dedicated to tidying up: “Clean Your Desk” and “Create Order in Your Home Day”. In keeping with the New Year and good intentions, we are using these days as an opportunity to tidy up properly and to motivate you to have a tidy-up day too. So get your feather duster out of the cupboard and pay attention!
Finally tidying up your own four walls thoroughly again – thanks to the American-inspired “Organise your home day”, today we are reminded and encouraged to bring order to “the chaos” and perhaps already start a spring cleaning! However, tidying up at the beginning of the year is originally based on a tradition that goes back many years: because in the past, farmers often did not have enough time during the year to make an effort to clean their house thoroughly. So they took on this task right at the beginning of the year. We want to follow this example, because a tidy flat and a tidy desk not only look nicer, they can also increase work efficiency.
Being tidy is trendy
Being tidy and structuring oneself and one’s everyday life more has long been a popular trend that people are excited about. Through social media, we get glimpses of the cleanest drawers, workspaces and closets in the world. Also, spending a lot of time in the home office invites us to transform our own home and workspace into a feel-good oasis, strongly influenced by the Japanese tidying expert Marie Kondo. These and many other inspirations tempt us to confront our inner pig dog in order to finally create more space, air and order. And who knows, maybe this time we really will succeed in implementing some new and firm structures. But where is the best place to start? We take on our workplaces and then work our way forward.
5 tips for tidying up your workplace
- Why is tidying important? Find reasons to tidy up to increase your motivation. “I tidy my workplace because I can concentrate better in an organised environment.” Because a tidy workspace also creates space in your mind and helps you get a good start to the working day!
- Separate your work and private space! For many people, home office time means that their private and professional lives get mixed up. Try to prepare your “clean desk” before and after work in order to set a clear start and end to your working hours at home.
- Set fixed dates in your calendar! If the deadline for tidying up is set, it will (hopefully) be postponed less frequently. 😉
- Create a new system of order: does every object have a fixed place? What system do you want to use to sort your items? By theme, colour, size or priority? Don’t forget either: Every organisational system needs enough storage space – so get cracking on cleaning out!
- Have staying power! Try to stay organised in order to stay tidy in the long run. Set days in the week to help you do this: Always clear your desk at the end of the week? Continuity is the key!
Therefore, make sure your desk is free and clear, sort away important documents and dispose of things that are no longer needed. Many of the tips can also be applied to other areas of the home. Just try it out!
And as far as keeping your desk tidy is concerned, this also applies to your digital workplace: get an overview of your files and folders and tidy them up too. Because sometimes files are hiding there that you no longer even know about: dark data. Tidying up your digital workspace is also a good opportunity to rethink your filing system and develop new structures for creating files on your computer.
So what are you waiting for? With these tips, nothing will stand in the way of your spring cleaning! We hope you enjoy tidying up and, above all, keeping tidy 😉
Responsible for the content of this article are Marlen Helms and Lina-Louise Kaulbach.
