Researchers at Yale School of Medicine found that people feel pain in the anterior cingulate cortex and insula areas of the brain when they are decluttering. In reality, too much stuff, too many choices, and too much clutter causes you momentary pain. It is the reason that many people claim that working at a messy desk raises their productivity. Researchers know that getting rid of clutter helps you in many ways. Surrounding yourself with clutter causes mental anxiety, so you need to keep your workspace clutter-free. As the old saying goes, no pain equals no gain.
When you work in a messy environment, your brain is continuously being bombarded by different stimuli that pull its power away from your assigned work. Clutter attempts to draw the mind away from important tasks. The mess makes it difficult for you to relax mentally and physically, meaning that each day at work seems even longer. Clutter also says that you never complete your work, so you are mentally unprepared to take on the next task. It creates anxiety because you never feel like you are going to reach the end of the pile before quitting time. People spend more than a year of their lives looking for lost items, so they have less time to enjoy the benefits that come from working.
There are several steps you can take to eliminate clutter in your workplace.
Talk to management and have them schedule a time for everyone to unclutter their workspaces. You may need to convince them that this is time well spent, so use the facts above to show the benefits of working in a clutter-free zone.
When you are decluttering your workspace, keep only those things that you need. Throw the rest away, take it home, or donate it to your favorite charity. Once you have carefully selected the items that you will keep, find a closed storage area for them so that you are not distracted by them.
You can also be distracted by clutter on your work computer. Store files that you will need shortly in a pending folder. That way, your computer stays organized, and you can easily access the files that you need when it comes time to work with them. Once they are complete, then move them to a different location or remove them altogether.
Spend a few minutes at the end of the day where everyone has time to declutter their work areas. You may even want to create a contest to see who can have the cleanest desk. Work with management to come up with a prize for the person who has the cleanest workstation every month.
While a janitorial service in Commerce, CA will not usually clean your workstations, they can help keep the rest of your workspace clutter-free. Contact S & W Janitorial Service to be your janitorial service in Commerce, CA today.
