You woke up right on time, on the right side of the bed this morning. You had your favorite coffee and a clear morning commute. You’re feeling motivated and powerful, ready to start a productive workday.
But as you come into the office, you trip over a file box.
While this hypothetical may feel a little exaggerated, it’s no secret that clutter in the workplace decreases morale, motivation, and productivity. Whether your personal office suffers from over-stuffing or your main office space feels like your mom’s attic, use these six “D”s to reinvigorate your workplace.
Decorate
Want a cleaner workplace? Add some decorations. Silly as it may seem, beautifying a space changes the way you feel about it. Placing some of your favorite art prints or photographs in an area makes it feel more like “your own.”
When you care about a space, you take better care of it. You’ll also find yourself moving any clutter that corrects to ensure that your clients and coworkers can appreciate your design savvy.
Decrease
Look around your office. If you don’t know where to start cleaning, you probably have too much stuff in the immediate area. Perform a purge.
Move every item you don’t use on a regular basis (at least once a week) to a storage room. Or, better yet, a useful storage unit from places like
Missouri City, TX self-storage company, US Storage Centers. If you put these items in a storage unit that’s a little distance from the workplace itself, the clutter’s less likely to find its way back into the main space.
Designate
Once you move the less-than-useful objects out of your office, look through what’s left. Begin organizing items by type, use, or priority.
You may find it useful to create a new filing system (or just add a paper tray to your desk) so you can designate where each item belongs.
Digitize
If most of your clutter consists of paperwork, it’s time to bring your business out of the dark ages. Assign a small team the task of turning your paper records into digital ones. Then those stacks of paper can join the items in your storage unit, without limiting your access to them.
Direct
Once the office becomes clean and organized, make a plan. Schedule future purges to stave off another wave of clutter.
Dispose
In addition to your new cleaning plan, get a bigger trash can and invest in a recycling can. Dispose of waste as fast as possible to avoid any buildup.
Start with the six tips listed above to get your entire workplace on a course to freedom from clutter.
