National Clean Off Your Desk Day

Join us in celebrating National Clean Your Desk Day!

As we return to working from home, what better way to ensure a safe and clean environment than to give your desk a clean?

January 10th is National Clean Off Your Desk Day (Occurring the second Monday in January – today! ), and with all the work and life that happens at our desks, it couldn’t come at a better time. A clear surface and organized space means lower stress, easier transitions, and fewer steps needed to get your work done.

Part of the reason our desks get so cluttered to begin with is that, sometimes, leaving clutter sitting is easier than putting it away. So National Clean Off Your Desk Day isn’t just about clearing the surface — it’s about creating a system to prevent clutter in the future. (But it’s okay if you need to do a thorough clean again next year!)

We’ve split the process into three steps, from planning to organizing, to a clean workspace:

Prioritize what you use most

Firstly, clear your desk. Remove all food, plates, rubbish, and mugs from your desk. Cull your stationary, binning anything that’s broken or you simply just don’t use. No better way to observe National Clean Off Your Desk Day other than cleaning your desk! Take some time out, put away all the unwanted things for a spic, and span workspace at the office as well as at home!

Keep your workspace clean and organized by shredding sensitive and personal information. It is also recommended to shred duplicate copies and file away the important ones!

Since you work mostly on your computer, make sure your files are not cluttered there too. Create separate folders for different tasks and organize them in a way that you or your team can easily access them! Keep important emails and delete the unwanted ones.

Items you pick up every few minutes, like a calculator or pencil, belong on top of your desk. Items you use several times every day belong in your easiest-to-access drawers, and items you rarely use at all belong in your desk’s least convenient drawer: that one at the very bottom, or maybe the one that jams upon opening. Think about ease of use, and also think about saving your back from bending over twenty times a day just for a fresh sheet of paper!

If you’re needing some extra motivation, take a look at these facts:

Improve your productivity – according to a recent survey, a cluttered workspace can overwhelm you, meaning you spend longer on every task.

You’ll have less stress – people with cluttered desks tend to be more fatigued and have higher levels of cortisol – the body’s stress hormone. It’s hard to feel restful at an untidy desk, so as soon as your desk is cleared out, you’ll start to feel more relaxed.

Get a clearer mind – It’s hard to make big decisions when your mind is distracted by that pile of files in the corner, or the post-it notes decorating your screen. When everything around you is neat and clean you’ll find yourself with greater clarity of mind, helping you focus on tasks at hand and make important decisions with confidence.

Be well, take care of yourselves and each other!

Soroush Ebrahimi