Spring brings thoughts of warm weather, outdoor
activities ... and cleaning. Although few people truly look forward to
the last item on this list, almost everyone understands it needs to get
done.
Don't concentrate solely on your closet, dining-room
table or other household areas. Also look to your workspace. Chances are
your desk and computer could use some freshening up, too.
Here are some of the benefits of cleaning around the office.
It increases your efficiency.
Filing emails about the training session you organized six months ago,
deleting outdated messages that clog your inbox and going through papers
crowding your desk will make it easier to find necessary information.
This can be especially important when under a tight deadline or if
you're out of the office unexpectedly and need a colleague to fill in
for you.
It reduces your stress. Having a cluttered
workspace can be stressful. Just think of the last time you had to rifle
through a stack of papers or a mountain of emails for a single buried
document. Tidying up can reduce your feelings of pressure and
constraint.
Enhance your image at work. When you entertain
guests at home, you usually straighten up beforehand so people feel
welcome -- and impressed. Take the same approach with your workspace.
Why? Because appearances matter. According to a Robert Half survey, 83
percent of human resource managers surveyed said the appearance of a person's workspace affects their perception of that person's professionalism. The tidier your desk, the more put together you'll seem.
Uncover forgotten items. One immediate impact of cleaning
your workspace is discovering forgotten ideas from past brainstorming
sessions, assignments that never made it to your to-do list or emails
that have gotten lost among other unread items. Even if you don't
consider yourself particularly messy or unorganized, it's easy for any
number of things to slip through the cracks during a busy workday.
Gain a sense of accomplishment.
Don't forget that cleaning up simply feels good. Unlike other items on
your to-do list, giving your desk a good once-over can be crossed off
relatively quickly, and you can see tangible results afterward.
Even
if these benefits sound great, you may be wondering where you'll find
the time to actually clean up. Don't worry -- you don't have to invest
several hours to make a noticeable impact. By taking just a few minutes
each day to organize your space, you can gradually clean the clutter and
keep it at bay.
The key is to set small goals. If you have
thousands of messages in your email inbox, yes, it will take a while to
put everything in order. But organizing your emails from last October
may only take a half-hour. The next day, you can tackle November and
slowly work your way toward present day.
Also, be prepared to make
some tough decisions. Do you really need to keep a report from 2008? A
good rule of thumb is to ask yourself if you have referenced a certain
document or email in the past six months. If you haven't, there's a good
chance you can toss it or, at the very least, file it away. Just be
sure you understand your company's policies on handling confidential or
sensitive information. You may need to retain certain documents, even if
they've been collecting dust at the bottom of your file drawer for
months.