You'd think that setting up your home office desktop is easy. After all, you have years of experience using a workplace desk.
In many ways, for the undisciplined, a home office desk is an open invitation to generate a mess. There are no work colleagues to see what's on your desk and pass comments, so you're less likely to tidy personal documents away. It's a handy place to pile up household mail to deal with during the week. And generally, you don't have someone to take away your empty coffee mugs, and wipe down and sanitise your desk surface. Plus, as it's at home, your desk is prone to being 'shared' by other household members.
Did you know that clutter affects your brain and your work?
Not only does a cluttered desk look untidy, but scientists at the Princeton University Neuroscience Institute have used fMRI and other approaches to demonstrate that our brains like order. They found that 'constant visual reminders of disorganisation drain our cognitive resources and reduce our ability to focus'. When participants in their study cleared away the clutter from their work environment, they became more productive, and more able to concentrate and process information.
These are all good reasons to carefully consider what you need on your home office desk, and what's best stored nearby – or not at all.
The yes-on-or-near-my-desk list
If you're keen to add personalised items like family photos, go for it. But rationalise how many – or consider scanning them and turning them into screen savers instead.
The not-on-my-desk thanks list!
Lisa Zaslow, a professional organiser in New York City, says: "Surveys show the average person loses an hour a day to disorganisation. It takes much less time to get and stay organised. Think about how frantic and stressed you are when you can't find something."
And in the words of best-selling Japanese organisaton consultant and tidying legend Marie Kondo: "Visible mess helps distract us from the true source of the disorder."
If you’re ready to update your workspace from office to home, view our work from home desk range today.