It’s been several months now since a large number of us had to start working from home, and most of us were not prepared for such a drastic shift in our work life. While many adapted to the change easily, others struggled to find the right balance and working environment at home. If you’re lucky enough to have ample space, then you might have a workspace that you desire, or else your desk could be piled high with general clutter and a lot of dust right now. And it’s not just about cleanliness and organisation, clutter affects you negatively, more than you know.
Even though we are starting our way back to work, working from home periodically will be the new norm. Organising your things and reimagining your ideal workspace could be the trick you need to make work more enjoyable. Let’s dive into the science of de-cluttering and the art of sparking joy.
Stress breeds clutterFor a long time, many thinkers and leaders have linked success with fastidiousness. In the recent past, neuroscientists and psychologists have studied the effect of clutter on our cognition, emotion, mental health, behaviour, and decision-making skills. Disorganised or cluttered workspaces, specifically, seem to increase levels of stress and anxiety.
But it’s not the same for everybody. For others, the mess is a mark of creativity. Sometimes people working in disorderly spaces come up with more creative ideas than their counterparts in clean areas. Clearly, clutter causes more stress for some people than it does for others. There is no one size that fits all.
As we find ourselves spending hours each day on Zoom or Teams, we’re finding the state of our home offices seriously interfering in our work. Also, our laptop and phone cameras are revealing our home environments to our clients and colleagues like never before, which may also be stressful.
While keeping the workplace tidy seems like an obvious starting point to be more productive, most employees find it the hardest to follow—especially in their home workspaces which do not have the structure of the modern office spaces. This switch is anything but easy—especially for those who have never worked from home before—and requires some rethinking of what a productive work area should be.
Create a space that feels goodHaving a workspace where you enjoy working and that is comfortable, irrespective of where it is in the home, makes working so much more enjoyable. Make the space inviting, and by keeping it clutter-free, you can be more productive and showcase your favourite items. Choose a space inside your home, which makes you feel good.
Your desktop is a work surface, not a storage cupboard, so the rule of thumb is to store nothing on it. Keep this image of a clear desktop in your mind when you start storing it. People who do so usually finish with only a laptop and an ornament or potted plant on their desk. You should then add one item to your workspace that makes you happy you when you look at it.
Place items that you love and needSort through stuff and divide them into at least three groups: items for keeping, items for discarding, and items you are undecided about. Pick them up, examine them closely, and ask yourself: “What is this item’s purpose? Does it make me happy?” Letting go of items you no longer need can be therapeutic. A calm and orderly work environment can bring calm and order to everything else.
If you’re in a bedroom or front room where you don’t have a designated home office, then storing your essential work items in a designated box or basket is crucial to helping you stay organised. While working, you can also move the box anywhere with you and keep it out of sight when not working. It will make it easier for you to find things when they’re needed.
If you have the space in your home then invest in a storage unit. Offering versatile and practical solutions, universal cube wooden storage from Dams has been designed to keep your home office organised and looking neat and tidy. Specifically designed for the home worker market with clean cut lines, modern styling and new colour trends including Onyx Grey, Kendal Oak and White, the cube storage is available with doors, drawers and shelves which can be ordered in any of the 3 wood finishes and can be positioned in any cube – so you can mix and match storage options and finishes to suit any home working space.
De-clutter your mindOnce you have managed to organise your items in the office, remember to tidy up a little bit each day. Return things to their proper places after each use to avoid misplacing the items. Constantly maintain your upkeep, and you don’t have to spend days cleaning thoroughly any time soon. Use your drawers to store things based on your need and the frequency of usage.
Limit your desktop to urgent documents only, which will only be there temporarily. And last but not least, remember to take breaks. It’s important to make room for downtime throughout the day in order to avoid burnout. By tidying up and making room for downtime, your creativity will be re-plenished and your brain will be sharper.
