Does your workplace ‘spark joy’? It’s highly likely that the answer is no, no matter how much you love your job. But Netflix’s latest surprise hit might be able to help you introduce a little joyousness into your professional space.
If you are one of the thousands of people binge-watching Tidying Up with Marie Kondo, you might have been inspired to fold t-shirts up into neat little parcels and compartmentalise all of your drawers. You may also have taken the initiative and thrown away any items which don’t make you joyful. But while your house looks freshly spruced, your workplace may be an entirely different story…
If you’d like your workplace to be highly functional, pleasingly clutter-free and a genuine delight to work in, Marie’s simple rules are easy to apply – and could make a world of difference. The Japanese organisational consultant has been decluttering and streamlining spaces for over a decade, helping her clients feel calmer and more attuned to their everyday environments.
To help you make some joy-sparking changes in your professional space, we’ve adapted some of Marie Kondo’s best tidying tips and applied them to the workspace…
1. Organise by category, not by room
When we approach a big tidying project, we tend to tackle one room at a time. Marie Kondo’s KonMari method advocates taking on one category of items at a time. These categories are:
- Clothing
- Books
- Paper
- Komono (all other miscellaneous items)
- Sentimental items
While your office may not have an abundance of clothing or sentimental items to sort, it is worth treating items within these categories with respect – and giving them their rightful place. Employees’ coats, scarves and bags, for example, should be kept tidily, not slung over the backs of chairs. Perhaps invest in better storage for these items. Sentimental items, meanwhile, such as awards your business may have won, deserve to be displayed – not lost in a sea of desk clutter.
2. Start with a heap, and don’t panic
Putting every piece of paper in your office into one big pile may seem a tad overwhelming, but don’t panic – it’s all part of the process. Marie explains that this is the best way to be certain you appreciate everything you have, and remove anything you don’t need. It’s likely that the clutter will get worse before it gets better, but it’s all part of the process. Keep the bigger picture in mind and you’ll have a beautifully streamlined workplace in no time.
3. Compartmentalise everything
If everything has an obvious and accessible “home,” it’s much more likely to be put back carefully when not in use. Invest in smaller boxes and baskets that can be used to compartmentalise the insides of drawers and cupboards. Marie suggests keeping similar items of similar sizes together, and making sure that you stack or pack boxes in a way which allows you to see exactly what you have – and how many you have. Time to sort out your stationary cupboard!
We may not have Marie Kondo on staff, but The Abbey Cleaning Service’s commercial cleaning team have been keeping the workplaces of South Wales’ nice and tidy for over 40 years. Book a one-off deep clean, enquire about our specialist office cleaning services, or set up a regular rota with our team today. Get in touch on 029 2067 9323.
