National Clean Your Desk Day falls on the second Monday in January every year. It is a prompt to declutter your workspace at the start of the year, and the case for it is practical rather than ceremonial. A workstation carries hundreds of times more germs than a toilet seat, and people who work at clean desks stay focused for longer.
Employers who mark the day often fold it into a broader workplace wellbeing initiative. For example, Vantage Fit can support workplace challenges and track participation, helping employers turn a one-day cleanup into an activity employees can revisit throughout the year.
The timing is deliberate. The Christmas season and New Year often leave behind cluttered desktops, overflowing inboxes, and digital distractions.
This is a chance to start the year fresh, whether you work from home, in an office, or on the road as a sales representative. It may sound like a thankless task, but as the line often attributed to Einstein goes, “A cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind.”
“If a cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind, what, then, is an empty desk a sign of?”
Some people view the mess as evidence of their creativity. However, that creativity signal also reduces productivity for many creatives. On the other hand, an organized workspace can promote a sense of calm, clarity, and control, helping create a more positive work environment. National Clean Your Desk Day is perfect for organizing your workspace for the coming year.
Key Takeaways
- National Clean Your Desk Day is observed on the second Monday in January, and its origin is unknown.
- A workstation carries around 400 times more germs than a toilet seat, and a keyboard can hold up to 7,500 bacteria.
- People working at clean desks stay focused for an extra 7.5 minutes, and the average employee loses 9 days a year to illness that poor workplace hygiene can contribute to.
- The five steps are: assemble and assess your paperwork, discard unused supplies, reorganize drawers, clean and sterilize surfaces and devices, then tidy your computer files.
- Five minutes at the end of each week keeps the desk clear, which matters more than the one-day reset.
History of National Clean your Desk Day
We looked everywhere to find the person who started this day. It appears they were too preoccupied with cleaning to take credit for them.
It is uncertain how National Clean Your Desk Day was started. This holiday, observed on the second Monday in January, is probably the result of cluttered desktops during and after the Christmas season and New Year.
Nonetheless, it was a great idea to celebrate this as a national day. We cannot deny the benefits and positivity of this day.
For you to feel reenergized and motivated in the new year, we give our best advice for organizing your desk. Let’s look at a few ways to celebrate National Clean Your Desk Day in your workspace.
Statistics Regarding Desk Hygiene
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Up to 7,500 bacteria can be found on a workplace keyboard.
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A workstation has 400
times more germs than a toilet seat. -
According to research, tidy, ordered workspaces encourage happier employees.
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Those who work at clean desks can stay focused for an additional 7.5 minutes.
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The average employee misses 9 days due to illness each year, which may be related to poor workplace hygiene.
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A tidy desk boosts output and perseverance by 84%.
Benefits
There are several benefits to keeping your workspace neat and orderly. Not the least: you will find things much more quickly, and, quite frankly, the aesthetics are much better!
It’s a chance to clean your frequently disregarded surfaces and dust them. Additionally, it aids in getting you more organized to begin the year. Also, practicing proper desk hygiene measures for better employee health.
It’s simple to become so preoccupied with your work that you neglect to arrange your functional workspace to maximize efficiency. In addition to giving you more room, a clean, organized desk may make it simpler for you to concentrate, bringing a sense of serenity and clarity.
Let’s have a look at a few more benefits -
1. Better First Impression
Building strong relationships with clients who visit your company depends on making a great first impression. Messy and cluttered designs can make a bad first impression on clients by making the company appear unorganized.
2. Increased Productivity
Your desk will be considerably less distracting without all the extra sticky notes, office supplies, and stacks of documents lying around, allowing you to concentrate on the task at hand.
Maintaining a clean and organized workspace allows you to access important documents easily and quickly. Thus, giving you more time to concentrate on your work during the day.
3. Reduces Tension and Stress
Maintaining a clean desk can considerably lower workplace stress. A crowded desk can distract you and make it harder to concentrate on work, increasing your tension throughout the day.
4. Increase Happiness
A tidy desk is very important. There are no distractions, and your thoughts are clear and content. The process is easy to follow.
5. Reducing Absenteeism
A dirty workspace is detrimental to an employee’s health. There are germs and viruses everywhere. Employees’ health will deteriorate, and they will get sick more frequently if the workplace is not cleaned properly.
You can avoid getting sick frequently by keeping a bottle of hand sanitizer at your desk, thus reducing absenteeism.
Must Read: Importance of Workplace Hygiene and 5 Tips to Improve It
Fun Facts about National Clean off Your Desk Day
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Full-size metal file cabinets with four drawers have a storage capacity of 18,000 documents.
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An average desk worker spends about six weeks of the year looking for things.
The word "desk" is derived from the Modern Latin word "desca," which means "table to write on."
How Do You Celebrate National Clean Your Desk Day at Work?
Do you have a cluttered desk? Do you have too much stuff that you don’t even need? On National Clean Your Desk Day, you should put in some extra effort to declutter your office and make it a cleaner, tidier place.
It is a day to rejoice with others, so don’t hesitate to involve your coworkers and make the event enjoyable. Even though organizing may seem like a very boring task, if everyone is on board, there’s no reason why you can’t add some fun and excitement while you’re at it.
Everyone who works from home has the chance to organize their workspace and implement fresh ideas to increase productivity.
1. Assemble and Assess
Gather all the documents on your work desk and analyze their purpose. Consider the documents that may still be used and throw the others away. Organize all the documents according to their requirement.
Think about the items you frequently use at your desk. Make a list of stationery supplies you need to order.
2. Get Rid of Unused Supplies
Whatever method you choose, get rid of outdated paperwork, dried-out pens, trash, or unwanted stuff. The same is true for your laptops and computers. It’s time to get rid of those outdated screenshots and organize your cluttered desktop.
Additionally, this is the ideal time to switch to digital. Important documents can be quickly scanned and stored securely on a disc.
Find non-profit organizations that could use spare materials like pens, unused notebooks, and accumulated envelopes. You can donate all the items that are of no use to you.
3. Rearrange Your Drawers
Utilize a drawer organizer to organize your drawers. When it happens, you won’t have to constantly put your coffee cup above the stack of papers next to your computer.
Allocate a drawer for your distractible, such as your cell phone, stress balls, and the daily tear-off calendar with the comic you keep looking at.
4. Clean and Sterilize
Turn off your computer, then carefully wipe off the keyboard, exterior, and screen with a microfiber cloth and a cleaner made especially for electronics. To clean the spaces between the keys, use a fresh, dry toothbrush or a can of compressed air (tilt the keyboard first so that the debris falls out).
Remember to clean your mouse (and, if your mousepad is worn out, replace it). If you keep a landline phone on your desk, give the earpiece and mouthpiece a thorough cleaning.
5. Organize Your Computer
Photo by Gabriel Beaudry
Do not neglect to wipe your computer as well. And we’re not just talking about cleaning it externally. We’re referring to going through the zillion folders containing files you haven’t touched in a long time.
Organize the mess on your computer. It will free up valuable storage space on your computer and make it easier to locate items when needed, saving you time from having to look around.
Tip: Don’t forget to post before and after pictures on Social Media with the hashtag #nationalcleanyourdeskday.
To Sum it Up
You can celebrate National Clean Your Desk Day at any time of the year, regardless of your private or shared office cubicle. It will enhance you and your colleague’s productivity.
After organizing and cleaning your desk, maintain it throughout the year by taking around five minutes at the end of each week to store clutter and clean visible surfaces. By doing this, you’ll look tidy, arranged, and professional at the beginning of the week.
Frequently Asked Questions
When is National Clean Your Desk Day?
It falls on the second Monday in January each year, so the date moves annually. The timing is generally understood to reflect the state most desks are in after the Christmas and New Year period, though nobody knows who started the day.
How dirty is the average office desk?
A workstation carries roughly 400 times more germs than a toilet seat, and a keyboard alone can hold up to 7,500 bacteria. Phones, mice, and laptops collect them too, and eating at the desk makes it worse. Regular disinfecting of surfaces and devices is the fix.
How do you clean a desk properly?
Turn the computer off first. Wipe the keyboard, exterior, and screen with a microfiber cloth and a cleaner made for electronics, then use a dry toothbrush or compressed air between the keys with the keyboard tilted. Clean the mouse, and the earpiece and mouthpiece of any desk phone.
Does a clean desk actually improve productivity?
People working at clean desks stay focused for an additional 7.5 minutes, and tidy workspaces are associated with happier employees. The bigger effect is indirect: the average employee loses 9 days a year to illness, some of which traces back to poor workplace hygiene.
How can employers make desk cleaning a team activity?
Run it as a shared event rather than an individual chore. Set aside time on the day, involve coworkers so nobody is tidying alone, and collect before-and-after photos. Folding it into a wider workplace challenge gives the habit somewhere to go after the day itself.
