Getting Offices and Commercial Facilities Ready for Spring: Five Professional Cleaning Tips

Spring is a time for revival and it can definitely be used to spruce up the office and boost productivity. Yes, we’re talking about spring cleaning. It’s easy to do and a few simple steps will have a profound impact on the workspace. You don’t have to dig deep – a little bit of de-cluttering will immediately transform the office and make people more motivated to come to work in the morning.
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So, what does it take to do effective spring cleaning and enjoy a wonderful workspace? Here are a few simple tips to follow.

Start with Your Desk

Take a good look at everything found on your desk. How many of the things that you find on the surface have you used in the past month? Three months? Past year?

Most of us have a tendency to simply pile things on top of each other instead of dealing with clutter right away. This is particularly true for items that we’re not certain about. Chances are that they’ll potentially be handy again in the future. Chances are that you’ve used the particular item once and you wonder whether you’re going to need it (ever) again.
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If you haven’t used it in the past week or month, throw it away or submit the item for recycling. Dig deep in the pile. You’ll probably come across items that you’ve long forgotten about. A little bit of work space de-cluttering will make your desk much more organized and functional.

Make the Office Paperless

It’s about time to reduce the amount of paper being used in the office.

Going digital is essential for reducing the waste of paper in the typical office. Do a thorough paper purge and recycle all of the documents and sheets that are no longer required or being used. It may be impossible for you to go completely paperless but the time is just right to consider the ways in which you can reduce the use of sheets.
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Many old contracts can be scanned and stored in a digital format. The paper can then be recycled. Apart from being good for the environment, this decision will open up a lot of space in the office.

Clean and Hi-Tech

What’s the one piece that you use the most in the office? If your answer is “the keyboard,” you should probably think about the last time you gave it a thorough cleaning.
The office computer keyboard harbors numerous bacteria and it can easily get clogged with dust, food particles, lint and anything else that’s flying in the air. Disconnect (if you’re not using a wireless keyboard) and get ready to find tons of treasures stuck underneath the keys.

A can of compressed air is all that you’ll need to remove the overwhelming majority of particles stuck in your keyboard. Wipe the surface, as well. If you see the remains of an old coffee spill on the edge of the keyboard, you may want to wipe it with a damp cloth. Make sure that the keyboard is completely dry before plugging it back in.
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The same applies your computer screen and the PC itself. Wipe the dust and if you don’t know how to check the computer for dust, you may want to call the IT support team for a bit of assistance.

Improve Air Quality

A few plants will contribute to a nicer atmosphere in the office and they can also be used to improve indoor air quality. NASA researchers have found out that various common houseplants can filter many of the common volatile organic compounds, as well as other impurities found in the urban air. This is the main reason why such plants are taken on space stations to clean the air.
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Some of the plants that will make the office cleaner and the air fresher include aloe vera (the fact that it’s incredibly easy to grow and it requires little water is an added bonus), spider plant, snake plant, English ivy, fern, eucalyptus, chrysanthemums, peace lilies and ficus.

Get Rid of Digital Clutter, as Well

Being organized impacts every aspect of doing your job. Desktop clutter is very important to tackle. The same applies to digital clutter.

Take a look at your desktop. How many files and shortcuts do you see there? How many of those do you use? The rules for cleaning digital clutter are the same as the ones for organizing your desk – if you haven’t used it recently, let it go.

A hard drive can be used to save a digital copy of important older documents and files. Everything else that’s not important (drafts, plans and proposals that you no longer need, images and even software that isn’t being used anymore) has to go.
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Cleaner and more functional offices don’t require major changes. Starting small and having the right cleaning/organization team can lead to major improvements. It’s all about using the space that you have available in the best possible way. Spring is the perfect time to transform offices. Take a day or two and get everybody involved. The results will be observable almost immediately.