With summer in the rear view and autumn in the passenger seat, we’re all gearing up for a long trip to the next vacation season. Everyone knows what it’s like to arrive at a destination, gather their things, and realize that the car has a few too many empty bottles, used bags and discarded papers for their liking. In that moment, we’re faced with a dilemma: Should I take out the trash now, or can it wait until later? More often than not, the latter seems more in line with the anticipation we have for what lies ahead. So, when the trip is over and we’re loading up the car to head home, we find ourselves shoving trash into piles and stacking things on top of themselves, thinking, “I should’ve cleaned up when I got here.”
It’s easy to get caught up in the day-to-day grind of the work week, just like it’s easy to zone out watching road signs and trees fly by. On the road, we take sips of this and bites of that, and we “put those things aside” when we’re done with them. At work, most of us find ourselves picking things up on one side of our desks and leaving them on the other, shuffling through files, and getting bogged down in emails and meeting agendas. Then one day in late November, in the final hours before a four-day vacation, we find ourselves finished with our work, counting down the minutes until it’s time to head out.
Have you ever taken a look around in those long, excruciating final moments before a vacation and realized that your workspace is in utter disarray? If you haven’t, you probably know someone who has. In that situation, two things come to mind:
- 1. Clean up now
- 2. Come in early next Monday and straighten up.
Is there a way to avoid making this choice altogether? Of course there is: Don’t choose! And when March rolls around and we’re in the throes of Spring Cleaning, we find bite-sized candy wrappers, holiday cards and other festive paraphernalia mixed in with our files and meeting agendas. If only we could avoid all of the above. Well, there is a way! So buckle up and steer clear of clutter by taking the following precautions this fall!
1. Recycle: Green is the new black. We live in a digital time on a planet that needs its trees, and you work in an area that needs its space! Avoid piles of paper altogether and toss those sheets when you’re done with them.
2. Go paperless (whenever possible): In the same breath, why not use that scanner? Creating a desktop folder to store all of those files your inner hoarder can’t seem to let go of is a great way to keep records and a neat workspace.
3. Designate spaces: You probably have access to a file cabinet. Maybe your office has a library or community kitchen. Would you dare disrespect the sanctity of those shared spaces by leaving the milk out or the drawers open? Probably not! Why not treat your own personal workplace with the same reverence and return your writing utensils to the adorable coffee mug on your desk that you’re too embarrassed to drink from? Perhaps those reports you’ve been meaning to pass along belong in a physical outbox. Save space and designate!
4. Put things back when you’re done with them: How often do you “borrow” something from a coworker or a community space in the office? When you do bring something to your desk that isn’t yours to keep, how long does it take you to return it to its rightful place or owner? You probably think, “I’ll bring it back at the end of the day,” or something like that. It’s too easy to leave those kinds of things at your desk until someone else needs them. Why not just bring it back when you’ve finished with it and avoid losing the space it takes up, or worse: Looking like someone who takes things and doesn’t return them! Gasp.
4. Take YOUR stuff home: You felt the biting cold of an autumn morning when you left for work, so you wore a jacket. Eight hours later, you basked in the warmth of an afternoon breeze on your way home, and you left your jacket on the back of your chair. Don’t be cold tomorrow morning, and don’t turn your office into a closet! Grab that jacket and take it with you, even if you don’t need it anymore!
Hopefully, you’ve found these tips practical and useful. But if they’re just not enough, your mess is on an industrial scale, or if you work with people who just don’t have the time to clean and you need some commercial cleaning assistance in the Southern New Jersey or the Greater Philadelphia area, give us a call.
