Many of us can agree that we become more productive when working in a clean and tidy office space. Not only does a neat workspace increase your motivation but it also is better for your mental health. A disorganized office has more distractions which disrupt your mental state of mind. These disruptions may be a subconscious reaction that may not even realize.
If your workspace has pieces of paper shoved all around the room; on chairs and on desks, this image immediately triggers your stress levels. Once stress levels are high, it becomes difficult to focus and get anything done. Seeing a pile of papers on your desk may also reduce your motivation levels, creating a negative mindset of your job and yourself. Furthermore, an office space is where many of us spend 8-10 hours a day for 5 or 6 days a week. If this area is unsanitary, filled with a build-up of dust and dirt, the effect that has on both your physical and mental health can be harmful.
Yes, cleaning the office can be a tedious and difficult job. Sometimes we find ourselves spending hours cleaning up the room on days we should be relaxing and enjoying ourselves. However, making sure your office is tidy and well-arranged doesn’t have to be difficult. This article will be discussing the one secret you need to a well-kept office.
A proactive mindset
The secret you need to learn is a change in your mental state of mind: developing and maintaining a proactive mindset. This mindset is an “act now or pay later” mindset where you realize that if you don’t clean your office regularly, in 6 months you will be spending hours trying to. It is the realization that 10-20 minutes of maintaining the office space once a week beats over 3 hours of cleaning it up on a Sunday afternoon. Once you get into this habit you will be programming your mind to be proactive. Cleaning won’t end up being a hassle at all. Before you know it you’ll be spending a couple of minutes every day tidying up in order to come back to a clean space in the morning.
This proactive mindset will also become useful in your day-to-day life. You will get to thinking ahead and creating a contingency plan in case anything goes wrong. Your next family trip will be as easy as pie because you will have packed the necessary things for any emergency.
Now that we know the secret to a well-kept office, the question is how do we achieve it.
How to become a proactive person
- Think big picture: shift your mindset to focus more on the future. If you catch yourself trying to find the easy way out of a task or procrastinating remind yourself that in the long run taking action now will only benefit you. Attempt to remind yourself of your own long-term goals. Where you want to end up, what you are really trying to accomplish. A great way to do this is to begin journaling, it allows you time to reflect on yourself and reminds you of the things you find important in your life.
- Own up to your mistakes: often we find ourselves and others complaining about others lack of motivation, lack of opportunities, etc. These complaints are an unhealthy habit; trying to convince yourself you are not responsible for a certain situation or outcome within your control.
- Focus on what you can control: sometimes we don’t realize that we are getting wound up in situations we can’t control. This creates feelings of anger, stress, and disappointment. However, if we accept that certain situations are not in our hands we begin to focus on things that we can change. This leads to feelings of confidence, empowerment, and achievement. You may not be able to control how bad the traffic is one day but you can make sure that you step into a clean office and ready to work.
- Prioritize: being able to prioritize certain tasks aids us in getting things done. Completing every task at once is impossible. However, if you can decide on which task to complete first you will get it done well and be motivated to carry on to the next task. Holding yourself accountable is an action you must take. Don’t be the person waiting for something to happen but be someone who gets tasks done. Actions like this will also motivate and drive other employees to act similarly.
Steps you can take now
- Restart
if the thought of going into your office makes you shudder because of how unorganized it feels then your first step is going to be to restart. To begin a new habit of becoming proactive in keeping your desk clean, you need to begin with it clean. Spending a day tidying up and reorganizing the files and papers is worth it when you remind yourself after this you won’t have to do it again. You can also use this opportunity to rearrange your workplace in a way that you think might suit you more, you may even consider finding a new office space. Working in a new area might create more motivation since you will be viewing a different perspective. If you stay proactive about keeping your office organized, this will be the last time you spend hours tidying up.
- Create more storage space
After completing the first step you should have cleared out some drawers, cabinets, and files. This has already increased your available storage space. In order to keep your desk clutter-free, you must use your storage space to the biggest advantage. If you would like to invest, you can purchase storage boxes place old files that you still need.
- Keep essentials items close
Everyone wishes for a clean and organized desk. The best way to achieve this is to minimize. You should aim to identify the tools you need most to complete your work on a day-to-day basis. These items should be the ones that are kept on your desk. Any item that will be redundant or isn’t needed most of the time should be kept in a drawer or separate cabinet in order not to create clutter.
- Create work zones
If your office is spacious enough you should consider creating work zones, this will minimize work that is done at your desk. An option would be if you have a chair or sofa next to a coffee table. This could be assigned as the area to look over paperwork and do some reading. One section or side of your office could be where you keep all of your supplies. This section should preferably have a closet or shelving space to help you stay organized. Once you end up creating these work zones and using them, they will eventually become a habit. You will find your office will be neater because you are not doing all of your work in one space.
- Find a filing system that you like
If you are someone that doesn’t have to do any filing for your job you are in luck. Yes, filing is extremely tedious but thankfully we live in an age where a lot of things are online. The main filing we need to worry about is all of the paperwork – this still needs to be organized efficiently. It is useful to research different types of filing systems that will be most helpful to you. If you are lucky and you don’t need to file paperwork, but need to keep track of digital documents, make sure you develop an easy-to-use system so you won’t lose important documents.
And if all this does not help and you want to find a new office you can start from scratch with, contact us and we can help.