The financial sector is a fast-paced and continuously changing environment. With the myriad of challenging tasks on your to-do list each day, desk management may fall lower on your list of priorities. However, a cluttered desk can hinder your productivity more than you might think. Here’s why organising your desk space effectively can directly enhance your day-to-day work.
- Complete tasks with more efficiency
With a desk full of important documents, it pays to have what you need, where you need it. If you’re someone that tends to rifle through your desk and drawers, consider how much time you might be wasting. Could that time be better spent on those overdue reports? Plus, the messier your desk, the more likely it is that you’ll lose important documents. To add some order to your desk, find a home for all your documents, notes and personal possessions – whether you work best with a filing system or a desk drawer – and, if something no longer serves a purpose? Don’t hold onto it.
It’s important to note, particularly in the finance sector, sensitive data should be safeguarded against all unauthorized access as it typically tends to cover private information about your business, employees and customers. From Post-It notes with usernames, passwords and phone numbers to private client documents and personal data points, none of this is something that should be accessible to prying eyes. If it’s lying around on your desk, you aren’t following the correct protocols.
- Concentrate for longer
With so many things on our desk, it can be difficult to concentrate on the task at hand. It’s advised to remove all distractions around you, including notes, memos and waste in your peripheral vision. Namely, put your mobile phone away when you can; messages and notifications can continue to interrupt you and reduce your efficiency, even when you may think it’s multi-tasking. Instead, it means you’re not giving 100% to the thing that you’re currently working on, which could end up taking more time, while also potentially culminating in more mistakes.
- Ease your stress
Being stressed is not conducive to efficient working. If you’re constantly having to pick up documents, wade through millions of memos and fight your way through clutter, this can lead to a sense of overwhelming anxiety. And, when you’re wound up tight, it’s extremely hard to focus – and even harder to get stuff done. One of the best tips for a stress-free day is to start it right: each night, clear away anything that you will not need tomorrow and lay out only the things that you will use. When you arrive in the office ready to start your day, you’ll have all the relevant tools ready to get off to a good start.
- Improve your morale
It’s simple: a clean space makes people feel better. A new study by RAJA found that over half of Brits surveyed considered decluttering to be therapeutic, as well as benefiting their mental health. This means that they feel more calm, comfortable and generally happier in the office, putting them in the mindset to do their best work. People that feel good and enjoy their job are more willing to work harder at it – rather than feel resentful.
- Reduce your sick days
One sure way to grind productivity to a standstill is to get sick. When we have a desk filled with shared stationary, computers and fingerprints, it can be a hotbed for germs. Whether you have a cleaner in the office or not, always keep a box of antibacterial wipes with you and give your desk a wipe down every few days to stop a build-up of bacteria from forming. Being poorly makes it hard to stay motivated and sick days equal no work, so do what you can to ensure your productivity doesn’t take a dip.
- Boost profit
From working smarter to improving morale and reducing sick days, all factors are contributing to better work, and therefore better revenue. Ultimately, stress, clutter and disorganisation costs us and our respective companies, whereas productivity equates to profit. By keeping your desk space organised, you can make sure you’re more resourceful in the office, positioning yourself as a positive asset and being noticed as a contributor to company turnover.
Your desk space reflects the way that you work, and a tidy desk really can mean a tidy mind.
