National Clean Your Desk Day
Posted by Cynthia Spillane on
National Clean Your Desk Day might not be a federal holiday, but this messy packrat decided to use it to push me into the new year with a clean desk. The holiday season as a small business owner who also works a full-time job as a Covid nurse resulted in disaster. Desk disaster!
Piles of papers, stacks of receipts, food wrappers, miscellaneous office supplies, and stained coffee cups greet me every time I sit down at my desk. I think there is a desk under it all anyway!
Here are some tips I collected to make the job easier. Won't you clean your desk with me?
Ditch the trash. Throw away any trash that has collected – coffee cups, candy wrappers, old post-It notes, and pens that no longer work.- Tackle the paper. Gather all the assorted paper and sort through it one sheet at a time. Trash and shred what you can. Sort the remaining paper into categories and file them...NOW! Don't be a stacker like me, the stacks only get bigger. File those papers NOW.
- Reduce distractions. How many bobble heads do you need on your desk? I refuse to give up the plants though. They bring me joy (thanks Marie Kondo). Keep a notebook on your desk to make those notes to yourself (get cat food, order printer paper, etc.) instead of a zillion post-it notes!
- Once you get those piles off your desk, get some disinfecting wipes and clean those surfaces. Germs! Germs have been living and breeding under all that trash.
Congratulations! We did it! You now have a clean and uncluttered workspace. The best way to keep it like this? Create a routine. Spend 5 minutes at the end of each day to put things away. Return papers to their appropriate files. Throw away any trash. You'll be able to start each day with a clean slate and a clean desk!
Post before and after pictures of your messy desk on instagram and tag me @runningfrogstudio and/or use the hashtag #nationalcleanyourdeskday Lets do this!