A tidy Office! Healthy Activity!

Get that Office Tidy!

Some believe that a desk full of strewn papers and all sort of stationery items is actually a sign of a person working especially hard on the job. However, having excess clutter on your desk is mostly indicative of a mess that you cannot or do not want to control, i.e. there is nothing positive about it. A cluttered desk most often leads to decreased productivity.

What you need to know about office hygiene and cleanliness is that it can significantly boost productivity and health. You have to consider at least some of the top benefits of keeping a tidy workspace.

Make sure to note the following:

• Higher motivation to come to work – it is no secret that at times you may feel like the last place you want to be right now is the office. Other than having a difficult job, part of the reason for this might be the general chaos surrounding your workplace. It is not fun going back to your desk day after day, only to find it is in the same state of chaos as always. Not allowing this to happen is key. Maintaining clutter to a minimum is an excellent way to keep your motivation for work high.
• Less workplace stress – working some tough job is hard enough, but keeping the area full of clutter contributes to stress even more. It has been proven time and time again that excess clutter adds to a high-stress level in office staff. There are multiple reasons for this. One, excess clutter means you need to go through more stuff till you find what you need. Second, excess clutter means your brain will constantly get distracted and thus experience more difficulty with the task at hand. Workplace stress is one of the greatest causes for loss of productivity, so therefore it makes sense to eliminate it. Clutter is a good place to start.
• No more waste of time – remember when you need to find that one specific print you have to check, and you have to dig through piles of paper? How much does it take you to do that? Time wasted digging through your stuff is not a time you spend working and is therefore quite unproductive. To minimise it, you should see to it that you tidy up your desk. That way you will be able to find what you are looking for with ease. Being untidy in your workplace is nothing more but lost money.
• Better focus – another major drawback that comes with excess clutter is the fact that your mind will wander and you will have a difficult time concentrating on the job. Getting distracted constantly is hardly ideal for your productivity, whereas being able to focus on the task at hand is crucial. Naturally, you will be able to concentrate better on your work when there aren’t too many items lying around and fighting for your attention.  
• You can get more praise for your work – a productive worker is someone who gets praise for their work. After all, it is in human nature to strive for acknowledgement, and one of the ways to get more of it is to keep a clean workspace. A messy area will only get the opposite – people will think you are a messy person and that you cannot be trusted to accomplish anything. If you cannot keep your own desk in order, how will you handle a client or work for the company’s best interests?

Evidently, there is a lot you can gain in terms of productivity when it comes to keeping your workspace free of clutter. Make sure you tidy up to reap all of the rewards.