Spring Cleaning a Home Office

by Kerry Roberts, Guest Blogger

When the weather turns from cold to warm, there is an urge to open the windows and let some fresh air in. With that fresh air, we often find a need to clean. Start by wiping down surfaces, moving furniture to clean what is beneath, and reducing any clutter that may have built up over the winter months. Those steps and more can be done in your home office to help rejuvenate your space and welcome the summer months.

What else can you do to clean up your home office? Look no further than your own computer’s desktop.

• Clean up your desktop, delete any files that are no longer needed, find permanent homes for the files you need to keep, and remove any shortcuts for applications you don’t need to access immediately.
• Run a scan from your virus protection software to make sure your system is running at its best. After all, you can’t allow your computer to get sick.
• Update your desktop image. Of course, your current desktop image is still the bee’s knees, but a change of view can keep your mind sharp as you continue to do your work during the coming summer months.

Once your computer is clean, you are ready to tackle this next season.

Declutter the view you see by cleaning up your desktop. (above)

A cleaner view means a clearer head when you sit down for work. (above)

What steps do you take to clean up your home office as part of spring cleaning? Share your tips and tricks in the Leave a Reply section below.

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Judy’s Tips

While Kerry talked about cleaning space in the digital realm, here are my tips for managing paper stuff.

• Use containers, such as boxes, bins, binders, trays, folders, and filing cabinets to store papers that are organized in a way that makes sense for you. For some ideas on ways to organize content, take a look here and here.   
• During your seasonal cleanup, check the various containers. I learned from organizing guru Marie Kondo to keep what brings you joy. Maybe it’s a special note. I keep those in a feel good folder. Retain the papers for works in progress and, of course, keep business and other important records for as long as they are needed. Refer to record retention guidelines that are pertinent to your situation. When you determine that papers can be tossed, use your discretion. Depending on the content, know what to tear or shred or burn.
• Remember the idiom, One man’s trash is another man’s treasure. Look at your bookshelf. Do you really need that grammar book from junior high school or that reference book you have not opened in years? If it is of no use to you any longer and is in good shape, give it away. In someone else’s hands, it can take on a new life.

Now, back to Kerry’s question and request. What steps do you take to clean up your home office as part of spring cleaning? Share your tips and tricks in the Leave a Reply section below.

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• containers
• declutter
• desktop
• home office
• Judith Ellison Shenouda
• Marie Kondo
• organizing
• spring cleaning