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Tidying expert Marie Kondo has taken the world by storm with her signature KonMari Method, which advocates decluttering by category, such as clothes, then books, and so on, rather than by location. What’s also unique is her approach to deciding which items stay and go – keep only the items which “spark joy” and let go of those that no longer do so.
Kondo is one of many who sees the benefit to a clutter-free space. Psychology Today* highlights that “physical and mental clutter can interrupt your flow — both your ability to move and your ability to think.” Simply put, an organised workspace means less time spent searching for things and more time being productive at work.
With a growing number of social media posts showing how a neat and tidy space can create a calmer, more efficient environment, we decided to jump on the decluttering bandwagon to organise the space that we use almost every day – our workspace.
We put some tidying techniques to the test and compiled this cheat sheet for you:
1) Purge, sort and declutter
Gather all the items on your desk and sort them into categories, e.g. books, magazines, papers, miscellaneous (such as stationery). Tackle each category of items by determining if they are essential for your work.
Tips for… Books
…Papers & documents
…Miscellaneous (e.g. stationery)
Psst! Here’s a helpful hack: Upcycle food takeaway boxes as drawer organisers.
2) Visualise your workflow and organise accordingly
3) Start off with a clean slate
Psst! Here’s a helpful hack: To clean between the keys on your keyboard, simply unfold a paperclip, wrap some sticky tape around it (sticky side up!) then run it between the gaps to pick up dust and food crumbs. Easy peasy!
4) Five minutes is all it takes to stay clutter-free forever
Take five minutes at the end of the day to go through your desk and remove items that do not have a daily purpose (e.g. used coffee cups, lunch box, and loose pieces of paper). Where possible, give all your items a permanent home so your desk can stay clutter-free.
Trust us, you will feel good to come to work and see a clean desk first thing in the morning.
5) Give away or recycle items that you no longer need
Have items that you wish to give away or sell? Join the “Sustainable Green Hall” group on Workplace by Facebook! This platform allows you to buy, sell or trade preloved, never-used-before or gently-used items with fellow SingHealth colleagues.
For items that cannot be reused and have to be thrown away, consider recycling them. Simply sort and throw them to the respective recycling bins found in and around our offices.
We applied this cheat sheet to our workstation and here are the results!
Before
After
Have any hacks you’d like us to try? Let us know at joyatwork@singhealth.com.sg!
*References:
https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/blog/fulfillment-any-age/201705/5-reasons-clear-the-clutter-out-your-life
https://geekgirlweb.com/blog/2018/03/01/how-to-organize-your-desk-applying-the-konmari-method
https://info.debgroup.com/blog/bid/270143/bacteria-and-viruses-at-work
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