How clean is your desk? Very, actually

British workers have been cleaning up their desks, according to a poll by national staffing services company, Select Appointments. Of the 800 poll participants, 85 per cent make an effort to tidy up at the end of the office day, which includes eight per cent who claim to polish their PCs.

Other clean-up regimes include filing paperwork before going home and stashing papers on the corner of the desk to clear their main working area.

However, before Kim and Aggie of the Channel 4 series How Clean Is Your House become too proud of the nation, 58 respondents still had last week’s sandwiches in their desk drawers.

Rachael Moss, head of marketing and communications, Select Appointments, said: It’s good news for business that the majority of people are taking an interest in their workspaces. A lot of people eat at their desks, and the bits that are left behind can create prime habitats for the viruses that cause colds and flu. A small amount of time cleaning up at the end of the day can help to prevent this and keep the workforce operational.

Workers are also becoming much more aware of what their desk says about them. A boss might perceive the owner of a desk swamped under paper as disorganised and likely to lose important documents, which could in the long-term hamper the chances of a promotion.

Ten Tips for a clean, clear desk:
1. Remove everything from your desk and out of your drawers.

2. Give your desk a good polish.

3. Get a large, strong bin bag and start dumping!
The only papers you should keep on your desk are the ones that you are actively working on, so make a file for each topic and keep all the papers together. Anything else should be thrown out or filed for future reference/ audit purposes.

4. Start putting the equipment back on your desk. PC, Printer, telephone, fresh pad of paper and a holder with your pens, pencils, stapler, paperclips, etc. Keep only what you use every day - the rest can be put in a drawer or filing cabinet within easy reach. Get rid of everything that doesn’t work, is broken or that you never use. How many pens and pencils do you have on your desk? How many can you use at any one time? Ask yourself the following questions:

- Do I like this item?
- Is this item useful?
- Does it belong on my desk?

5. How many calendars and address books do you have?
If possible, you should have just one place where you keep your contacts and appointments. It could be on your PC (Outlook, ACT, Goldmine, etc.), personal organiser or a paper-based system. Use whatever works for you and your organisation.

6. Personal items. How many photos, toys, desk gimmicks and awards do you have on your desk? Keep them to a minimum, as they can be distractions and can lower your credibility with your manager or peer group - restrict to one or two at the most.

7. The surface of your desk is NOT a storage area. Keep it clear apart from the few things that you use on a daily basis.

8. Always have a waste paper basket by your desk. When printed matter arrives on your desk, ask yourself the following questions:

- Do I need / want this?
- Is it too late to action this?
- Could someone else use this information?
- Will I ever get round to reading this?
80% of papers that you file will never be looked at again. Throw things away instead of filing them where possible.

9. Create a simple filing system: a. ACTION - ongoing work should be categorised into topics, with one file per topic to keep papers together. b. TODAY - things to work on today c. TO FILE - this can be kept under your desk and out of the way. Set aside time to file each week, and only file papers that you really need to keep. Bin the rest. d. TO READ - magazines, articles, etc., that you want to read. Set aside time each week for reading. If the pile just keeps on getting bigger, set a time limit for keeping these items, and then bin them. If it is important information, you will find the time to read it. (Stop re-cluttering areas that you have already cleared, and you will soon limit the spaces where clutter gathers.) e. BIN - before throwing junk mail away, get yourself removed from the mailing list if you no longer need to receive the information.

10. By now, your desk should be looking pretty empty - good work!

That was the easy bit. At the end of every day, allow yourself 10 minutes to tidy your desk. When you arrive at your clean desk each morning, you will no longer waste time looking for things or rearranging the mess and will feel so morally superior to those colleagues who are still harbouring last week’s sandwiches.