Spring Cleaning Guide for the Office (& Beyond!)

Spring Cleaning Guide for the Office (& Beyond!)

It's the perfect time to wake up, open your windows and get started on some Spring cleaning business. While it’s common for people to organize their homes every Spring, you don’t normally hear of people clearing out their office buildings, a.k.a. the home away from home. But it's important to clear out those over-packed, hard-to-open drawers and that dusty closet you can’t open without anything and everything spilling out.

Of course, the tips in this article are also applicable to the home and classroom, along with any space you own, such as a garage or car. If cleaning one, why not clean them all?

spring cleaning check listspring cleaning check list

Let's get started!

First, we recommend you start by using the printable Spring cleaning checklist we’ve provided to the left (click to download a full size PDF). It helps you decide which cleaning supplies you’ll need before starting, such as a dust rag and a vacuum. Our handy checklist also helps you pick your current go-to cleaning playlist (because we all know music makes everything better) and tells you exactly what needs to be cleaned, room by room.

Now, let's dig a little deeper.

Starting off room by room is the best practice. If you're cleaning a classroom or a single office, consider yourself among the lucky few. However, if you’re plan is to clean the whole office, recruit your employees/coworkers and dedicate a day for them to clean their own offices. Have a common room, kitchen or storage closets? Work together to get those refreshed and organized. If you have extra product or supplies you never knew were there, set those aside to create a pile. We’ll have some ideas for what you can do with this pile later on.

If it's not loved or needed, don't keep it.

Have four sharpeners and a plethora of scissors? Unless you’re a teacher with a classroom full of children, you most likely only need one. Keep the four-in-one versatile sharpener, such as this Epic™ stapler, over the three standard sharpeners.

Spray, dust and clean every area you can physically reach. Macro cleaning right down to micro cleaning, which includes testing old pens and markers to see if they should be thrown away. Clock battery dead? It’s about time you replace it. Don’t forget dusting doors, shelves and windows. (If you want to take it a step further, clean out the old files and folders on your computer! We won’t judge you for going a bit overboard.)

If you think just tossing old paperwork in the recycling bin is enough to fulfill your Spring cleaning duties, you may want to reconsider. Take a look at this DeskTime.com infographic about how dirty your desk can really be. You want to be as productive and focused as possible, and that all starts with the environment you’re working in.

file organizationfile organization

So, what's next?

Now, that your area is spic and span, let’s talk about that pile of no-longer-needed materials. If everything is reusable and in fair condition, donate it to charity! While you may not find value in it any longer, we’re sure someone out there would still appreciate it. Find a local charity or research online for a specific charity that focuses on school or office supplies for those less fortunate. Charity Navigator has a directory of various charities by rating, location and category.

Again, this is all applicable to outside of the office, too! Your mind will feel clearer, along with the physical appearance of your surroundings. What are your favorite Spring cleaning tasks? Let us know on Twitter!

Happy Spring...cleaning!

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