It may not seem that big of a deal, but the clutter in and around your desk can be a cause for a loss of productivity and even health problems. Our collective messy desks and time spent looking for misplaced items costs corporate America $177 billion annually, according to a 2010 study by Brother International, an office products company.
That price tag figures those minutes spent daily hunting for misplaced files, staplers or documents added up to 76 hours — or nearly two work weeks — a year.
It also is taking a toll on employees’ pocketbooks. Nearly one-third of office workers failed to get reimbursed for a business or travel expense because they misplaced or lost a receipt, according to the study.
In another study by researchers at NEC-Mitsubishi cluttered desks have actually shown to make workers sick:
Researchers at NEC-Mitsubishi say the nation’s office workers are being hit by “Irritable Desk Syndrome”.
They say long working hours, cluttered desks and poor posture are making many people ill.
The company, which makes computer monitors, says regular breaks and making desks more personal could reduce the symptoms of this condition.
So the evidence is strong that having an un-cluttered desk should be a priority, but how do you do so with a small desk space? Well the writers over at The Closet Entrepreneur have come with a whole series on how to best declutter those sometimes small spaces we have to work out of.
See Swingline’s full line of office products to help you declutter your office here>>
Declutter The Mess Under Your Desk!
The Closet Entrepreneur:
http://theclosetentrepreneur.com/declutter-the-mess-under-your-desk
Studies show that the clutter underneath your desk is to blame for all the failures in your life! Okay, so maybe that statement is completely false but it is a fact that cluttercan leadto issues. One way to combat these issues is to head in the polar opposite direction by practicing some extreme OCD clutter control under your desk!
You honestly won’t believe the intense satisfaction and feeling of accomplishment when your friends and loved ones see how neat and tidy the space under your desk really is! Of course, you may be criticized for wasting time that could be better spent on your business or with family and friends. However, such criticism is simply due to the fact that they are jealous of your mad decluttering skills and probably have a tangled mess of power cords and cables living below the surface of their desks! Anyway, eliminating the clutter under your desk is simple and easy, just follow these examples…
The Closet Entrepreneur’s Home Office Desk
What self-serving megalomaniac blogger wouldn’t start by showing off his own decluttered setup first? To be honest, my setup isn’t as nice as the other setups shown below, but there is a reason why I’m including it as an example. The issue with my Palermo desk (by Cost Plus World Market) is that it has a sliding shelf that holds the keyboard and mouse, so mounting anything to the underside of the desktop is nearly impossible. To get around the issue, two “L” brackets and plywood strips were used to mount a piece of pegboard below the sliding shelf unit (click on the photos to see notes on the installation). Seven and three quarter inch nylon cable ties attach the power strip, backup hard drive, and power brick to the pegboard; there is also some spare room on top of the pegboard for additional items.
Adhesive backed nylon mounting bases hide all cables from view, while wire loom is used to gather all cables running to the computer tower into a single unit. By the way, all the cable organizing accessories were found at The Home Depot and Fry’s Electronics, but you can easily find them on Amazon and other online retailers.
