You can find a day for every occasion in the American calendar. And not just an occasion, like ‘take your Christmas tree down day’, but celebration of food, for example the national hot sauce day, apple day or an oddly specific pineapple upside-down cake day. Later this month the Americans will observe a ‘yodel for your neighbours day’, something I’m sure you’ve never once thought of doing.
And as much as there aren’t enough days in the year to celebrate every little activity, snack, drink, profession or person, occasionally it might be an interesting thing to check that calendar for inspiration. We decided to do just that and bring you some encouragement.
Second Monday in January marks ‘clean your desk’ day. So, let’s do this together on Monday 9th January and let’s start the year with a clean desk and a clean mind- ready for the challenges ahead:
- Ready, steady, GO!
This may take some time, don’t start the task if you are due to go into a meeting in the next 5 minutes. Allow yourself enough time. Get the cleaning products ready, maybe gloves, too.
- Remove EVERYTHING off your desk.
Yes, everything. Give the desk a good scrub before putting anything back on it. You might be surprised how filthy the desk got.
- Shred or bin anything unnecessary.
Do you still have a post-it from October reminding you to collect dry-cleaning? Or maybe a printed memo or minutes from a team meeting from 2021? Get shredding. It will feel very satisfying. This is no family photo album- so no time to get emotional and start reminiscing- just get rid of anything that’s no longer needed.
- Don’t forget your computer.
Your screen, mouse and your PC need your attention, too. If you have a phone handset on your desk- give it a good wash too. The best thing to use is a microfibre cloth and a disinfectant for electronics, but using a very small amount of a multipurpose disinfecting spray works well, too. Make sure everything is powered off. Treat yourself to a new mouse mat if the one you have is past its prime.
- Check your drawers and re-stock.
This is a perfect opportunity to restock staples, pins, paper clips, pens, post-it notes, markers and anything else you might need. Why not make a list? Did you add a new mouse mat to it? If not, maybe you can treat yourself to a new pencil case or a picture frame- just a little something to give your desk a fresh new look for the year ahead. Guess what? 10th January is national houseplant appreciation day.
- And now… keep it.
Is your desk looking good? Here’s the challenge- keep it this way. The easiest practice is to allow 2 minutes at the end of every working day for putting things away where they belong. It really is that simple.
We hope you had fun. Enjoy your fresh, clean desk and happy New Year!
