BROWSE HOW TOs

How to Clean a Desk

By eHow Home & Garden Editor

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As the saying goes, "A cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind." It doesn't have to be that way. Keeping your desk tidy, whether at work or home, can keep your work more organized and efficient. Taking pride in your work space is simple when working from a clean desk.

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Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

Step1

Throw away all trash. Useless used sticky notes, napkins, wrappers and empty water bottles take up precious work space, cluttering up both your desk and your mind set. Trash all items on your desk that don't have a purpose, and file away the ones that don't need to be lying out on the desk in the first place. In the future, make it a habit to throw away trash immediately rather than letting it pile up.

Step2

Devise a system to organize papers. Using the file folder type of your choice, create spaces for an inbox, an incubate/hold box, current projects, and action items. File away all other paperwork in a filing cabinet, and for items that are no longer needed, place in a trash can, recycling bin or shredder.

Step3

Remove all items off of the desk top, with the exception of your computer and its monitor. While moving items, keep them neat and organized; the idea is just to free the space to clean it up.

Step4

Dust the desk's top and any crevices, shelves or other spots that can collect dust, lint and other unkept materials. After dusting, use a cleaner specific to the material the desk is made of (wood, metal) to get it squeaky clean.

Step5

Clean the monitor, keyboard and tower of your computer, if this is a computer desk. There are special kits sold to remove the dust and crumbs that can seep into a keyboard's tiny spaces. Other cleaners are great for properly cleaning your monitor. Glass cleaner is not the appropriate cleaner to use for this purpose.

Step6

Remove the contents of all shelves and drawers. Place each item in its appropriate spot, be it the garbage, your inbox, hanging files in your filing cabinet or another spot. Designate a new form of organization for these drawers and shelves if you don't like the existing system. Once you've gone through all of the materials, place the remaining items back on the drawers and shelves in neat stacks, rows and groups.

Step7

Throw away most of your pens. Who needs fifty of them? Keep five of your favorites and trash the others. If it is missing a lid, toss it.