You might have heard that sitting at a desk all day isn’t the most helpful when it comes to our heath, but have you ever thought about the role that organization can play in your overall well-being? Every individual has their ideal work environment, but whether you need everything perfectly organized, or typically work in a pile of papers and chaos, finding some balance in between has benefits:
- Decreases stress: chronic stress is known to have a negative impact on or health, and I am sure you can personally reflect on a time in your life that you felt this way. When we have stress in one area of our lives, like work, it tends to ripple into other areas of our life and interfere with relationships, health etc. When you enjoy your work environment and aren’t dealing with clutter, it can help you to act proactively and work more productively.
- Boosts energy/efficiency: walking in to your office and dreading what you are going to see can slow us down, and searching through piles of papers or filing cabinets can make the simplest of tasks take longer. This constant state of clutter can make a person feel exhausted. Taking a few minutes at the end of the day to clear your work space can completely change how you begin the next day!
- Enjoy more personal time: Everyone is guilty of cancelling plans or staying up too late in order to meet a deadline, but if you don’t have tools in place to prevent this, it can become a lot more frequent and negatively impact your quality of life. Although it might look different for different people, we all deserve to find work life balance!
3 Quick Tips for Office Organization
- Keep a To Do List (in one place!)
It can be very helpful for productivity to have a prioritized to-do list, but it can be easy to end up with sticky notes all over your office. I prefer having an electronic to-do list that is easier to change, but paper also works! If you have to write something down on a sticky note, transfer it to your master to-do list when you get a chance to avoid losing it or ending up with a cluttered office.
- Control Your Inbox
Although emails are important, you can end up spending hours responding. If your inbox is full, spend some time organizing it to help you get into a routine. After that, have a designated time during the day when you check emails, but save or dispose of them accordingly during this designated time to avoid build up. If you decide to check emails in the morning or at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter, but try to avoid responding constantly throughout the day!
- Add Personal Items (but not too much)
Making your office space your own can help you feel more comfortable, but it can be easy to overfill your desk with photos, notes from your family and homemade gifts. Try to have a maximum of 2 or 3 items like this on your desk, and if you have other spaces in your office, optimize those for personal items.
