Starting 2022 Fresh (National Clean Up Your Desk Day)

A celebration that you may be unfamiliar with is National Clean Up Your Desk Day! This holiday falls on every second Monday in January. It has been dedicated to inspire individuals to start the New Year on a clean slate by organising your workspace. Our brains appreciate order and tidiness, therefore when in a messy environment, it can cause a cognitive overload and reduce working memory. Just the visual imagery of uncleanness seems to overworks the brain. It has even been backed up by research that a cluttered space can impact mental health.

An experiment conducted by Sabine Kastner evaluated how the brain reacts to randomness and variation in our environment (Renner). She used a fMRI to evaluate where the blood in the brain rushes to after observing street scenes. Subjects were asked to focus on items in the images, such as a person or a car. Each time the professors asked them to focus on an item, the frontal cortex was activated. This made sense, as it is responsible for attention and cognitive control. However, it was observed that the participant’s brains were utilising more energy to concentrate rather than process singular items. This proves that a messy environment can overwork the brain.

Now, for some tips! Based on experience, starting off with prioritising based on what is most relevant to the upcoming year is a good start. What that means for me is packing away materials from last semester and replenishing all my agendas or calendars from the previous year. Not only take away things from your desk, you should add new things as well! If on your New Year’s Resolutions, you have made it a goal to start gardening, you should add a little succulent for your desk. If it is to start up calligraphy, maybe displaying a fancy fountain pen will motivate you. In terms of cleanliness, it would be best if you make it a routine to disinfect your space weekly. Every Sunday could be dedicated to wiping down your desk, arranging your stationary and maybe even updating your weekly to-do list. The main goal would be reflecting your desires and resolutions in your workplace.

As a final note, you should be motivated to clean your workstation for both your mental and physical health. Take the rapid spread of Omicron as a lesson to incorporate regular sanitization, as it has been declared that various bacteria can build up in workspaces. Keep your mind and body healthy by cleaning up your desk.

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Sources:

• Renner, Rebecca. “Why Pandemic Stress Breeds Clutter-and How to Break the Cycle.” Science, National Geographic, 3 May 2021, https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/why-coronavirus-stress-breeds-clutter-how-to-break-cycle.

• “What Does Clutter Do to Your Brain and Body?” NewsGP, https://www1.racgp.org.au/newsgp/clinical/what-does-clutter-do-to-your-brain-and-body?feed=RACGPnewsGPArticles.