10 Steps to Insta-Cleaning Your Office So Your Life Feels Like Less of a Sh*tshow
Once upon a time, someone left a sticky note on our work lamp. It said, “We get that you’re creative but you gotta clean this desk.” Also…
Once upon a time, someone left a sticky note on our work lamp. It said, “We get that you’re creative but you gotta clean this desk.” Also, we’ve been accused of sitting in so many crumbs that squirrels live in our desk drawers. (We can neither confirm nor deny.)
It’s hard to work when your workspace is a mess. Obviously. But it’s also hard to find the time to clean up. Life isn’t all rainbows and Marie Kondo kneeling in your foyer.
Luckily, since we discovered #consultantlife, we’ve also discovered some instant, surefire ways to clean up our space and free our minds in the process.
Plug in your phone in another room. Instagram is a rabbit hole. And if you had willpower, we wouldn’t be here. (It’s ok, you have many other strengths.)
Cull your to-dos. Do you scribble to-dos on post-its, slips of paper, sometimes have a few in your iPhone notes? (Same.) Get one giant piece of paper and put them all there. Stick that to a wall. Then toss the scraps.
Make piles by project. Clip each together with a binder or paper clip. Put a post-it on top labeling what it is.
Marry like with like. Stack all the scrap paper, notebooks, anything blank you can write on. Put that in a shoe box. Corral all writing utencils in a cup. Put paperclips in a jewelry gift box. Put all the snacks in a zipper pouch. Our animal friends have limited fine motor skills.
Deal with your “misc” paper. Anything you can get again digitally, recycle or add to your scrap paper. The rest stays “misc” for now, but it gets joined with its own binder clip and you add “go through misc” to your to dos.
Clear + clean surfaces. Move stuff off one surface. Spritz some all-purpose cleaner that doesn’t kill your nose and the planet. (Hi Blueland, we ❤ you.) Replace stuff. Move stuff off second surface. Repeat.
Notice your environment. Because #mindfulness. Also, if you see anything out of the corner of your eye that needs attention but isn’t in your immediate workspace, add that to your to-do list. Put it in the “Parking Lot” if you prefer the biz parlance. (JK, no one does.) It’s time to get back to werq.