Expert tips on how decluttering your home office can make you more productive at work

Many of us have seen clutter build up as we struggle to find a work-life balance in our homes. We ask experts for tips on the best ways to organise our home office to increase productivity and reduce stress

We have never asked so much from our personal space as we have in the past year

We’re all aware of the notion that a cluttered desk is a sign of a creative mind, but what happens when that clutter overwhelms us in a space that now has to perform multiple functions?

What was once just a kitchen table in the past year has become a home office, a classroom, a social space, and so much more. We have never asked so much from our personal space.

A study by the Princeton Neuroscience Institute (exa.mn/BrainClutter) found that having multiple items, or clutter, in view means they will compete for your brain’s attention, distracting you - probably something we’ve all come to realise at this point in the pandemic when a dishwasher in need of refilling wins your attention over an important report you need to write.

Elsewhere, researchers at UCLA’s Centre on Everyday Lives and Families (CELF) identified a direct link between the stress hormone cortisol and the presence of clutter (exa.mn/StressClutter).

In an effort to reclaim our homes for their intended purpose and also accommodate our remote working needs, we spoke to two professional declutterers who report an increase in calls for help as their overwhelmed clients struggle to balance home and work, and very often clutter is the chief culprit.

“Even before the pandemic, I saw links between mental health and that sense of wellbeing at home,” says Sarah Griffin from Harmonised Home (harmonisedhome.ie).

“When I went to clients’ homes, they felt completely overwhelmed and that’s even more so the case when you are stuck at home. It causes you to look around and you really do have to make an extra space so that you can work in it calmly.”

Out of sight, out of mind

Professional organiser Sarah Griffin from Harmonised Home. 

With more being done from home, paperwork and electrical equipment have been piling up for the past year, says Griffin.

She suggests the simplest measure is to tidy everything away outside of work hours into a decorative container: out of sight, out of mind.

“I think that containers in a home even if they’re for work items, can still look attractive. You still have a home at the end of the day and you’re not spending the evening staring across at the office that’s been stressing you out.”

It’s a sentiment echoed by Cork-based Bronagh Twomey from Clutter2Calm (]clutter2calm.ie). She says sometimes you need to physically face away from clutter or distraction so you can focus on your work.

“Having a clear space and a good view is important to be time-efficient,” she says.

“Turn your back on the clutter that you can’t manage right now. You actually physically have to turn away because it is taking your attention away from productivity at work.”

In addition, Twomey says keeping your home tidy and organised shouldn’t fall to grown-ups alone. She thinks children should be taught about it from a young age to save a lot of work for their parents.

“Children causing a mess is a huge issue I’ve heard of from a lot of parents,” she says.

“Tidying is not a skill that we’re born with, it’s something we’re taught. That skill is like a muscle, you make it stronger by practising. If there are places to put things, you naturally will start teaching them by doing it yourself, they don’t do what you tell them to do, they do what they see you doing.”

Demand for workspace

Bronagh Twomey from Clutter2Calm

Twomey has experienced the struggle to juggle first hand since last year. While she worked part time and based much of her time at home, her husband found himself working from home for the first time last year.

“This is our first experience managing the working space at home as a couple. I might have been at the desk two days a week, maximum, but we had to designate a new workspace for him.”

Twomey suggests that, where possible, a workspace should be situated away from the kitchen or other busy areas so you can focus on work.

“A room is much easier and much more conducive to tidying at the end of the day. Mentally you’re able to walk away from the space, whereas if it’s the kitchen, it’s very difficult and you’re constantly looking around seeing things that you could be doing or tidying.”

Griffin agrees and says being able to clear away your work from view at the end of the day is a great way to clear your mind. “It’s the same as if you’re in an office environment, a lot of offices have a clean-desk policy so at the end of the day you clear it completely and when you’re walking in the next morning, you’ve got a fresh start. It’s following on from that.”

Griffin suggests storage solutions can be used to conceal paperwork or laptops and help avoid having your home look like an office. She says it can be helpful for some people to move the focus away from decluttering and organising and instead consider it as a decor choice with baskets and containers to hide away work items.

“It’s less about organising and it’s more like styling,” she says, adding a combination of both could work best for others.

Long-term home office

Establishing a dedicated office space now will help you in the longterm as working from home for part of the week is likely to be part of our work-life balance when offices finally reopen.

“In making an office space in your home, it’s nice to dress it up with plants. Plants make us happier in the home and they soften up a space. Keep the space fairly neutral, but keep things that are going to lift or de-stress you on your desk like a beautiful picture or something that’s going to either calm or inspire you and make you feel better,” says Griffin.

A organisation system that works for you will also boost your productivity and help keep clutter to a minimum, says Twomey. “I’m all about just finding things fast. I don’t want to waste time looking for things.”

Organisation combined with bouts of tidying is key, in her mind, to make an efficient workspace.

Binge-tidying will save at least two hours of productivity wastage because the amount of time you’re sitting there being bothered is taking away from your work task. You’re better off spending half an hour getting the place binge-tidied, sit down and be very productive.

The buzz of a quick tidy can boost productivity too. “A short task that is achieved gives you an endorphin high and this allows you then to keep going. It’s like exercise,” says Twomey.

“You’ll feel the buzz of being productive and naturally keep going rather than giving up.”

Decluttering one letter at a time 

Bronagh Twomey says she was inspired in her decluttering style by an unlikely source: the character of Lauren in Catherine Tate’s sketch show and her catchphrase: ‘Am I bovvered?’ 

“I came up with ‘Am I bothered?’ Every day I ask if I’m bothered by the clutter and each letter is a job to tackle,” she says  before outlining the steps:

B - Binge-tidy if you are bothered by the clutter.

O - Organise for the future.

T - Teach kids how to tidy and where to put things.

H - Have a place for everything.

E - End the day with a quick tidy.

R - Reaching for the time. Find 10 minutes at the beginning of the working day to set up and again to tidy at the end.

E - Every day, do a task that you've avoided and cross it off your list.

D - Desk tidy each day for 10 minutes.