November 24, 2009

Do You Suffer From Irritable Desk Syndrome?   Is your desk piled high with papers? Is there a dirty coffee cup on your desk?  Cookie crumbs too?  How many pens and pencils are on your desk?  How many are out of ink?  How many pencils need sharpening?  How many do you need?   STOP!   A messy desk can make you sick!  And there's even a name for the disease.   Irritable Desk Syndrome   Researchers at NEC- Mitsubishi (who interviewed 2000 workers) said that IDS is caused by "working long hours at a cluttered desk, often with poor posture.  The combination can lead to both physical and mental symptoms, including chronic pain and loss of productivity. ..."   Among the survey's most telling findings were: 67% said they are more tied to their desks than they were two years ago. 40% said they were infuriated by too much clutter and paper on their desks but could not be bothered to do anything about it. 35% said they had back or neck pain because they knowingly had poor posture or an awkward position at their desk.   Furthermore, "studies have shown that the person who works with a messy desk spends, on average, one and a half hours per day looking for things or being distracted by things.  That's seven and a half hours per week" says time management speaker and consultant Dr. Donald E. Wetmore.   Yikes.  That's a lot of wasted time.   Furthermore, "for bacteria, a desk is really a laptop of luxury," says Charles Gerba, PhD, an environmental virologist with theUniversityofArizona.  "They can feast all day from breakfast to lunch and even dinner."   Are you now convinced that curing irritable desk syndrome is in your best interests?   Follow these tips to clean off your desk: Remove everything off your desk. Decide (yes, you must decide) what to do with what you have just taken off.  Throw it away, file it away, or place it in a work in progress folder in a cabinet or desk drawer. Then, when you are ready to work, get out ONE folder and complete that task. When finished, put the folder away before you take out another one. Keep only the minimum pens and pencils you need. Stop eating at your desk. Stop printing so much off your computer.  Copy and paste it into a word document. Your desk is not a dumping place. Decide the fate of every piece of paper before it hits your desk.    A clean desk will bring you a breath of fresh air.  You will be able to think more clearly, focus better, work faster, find what you need when you need it, have fewer distractions, less stress, and less aches and pains.  Best of all you will have renewed energy and you will gain time in your day to accomplish your goals, spend with your family, have fun, and/or take care of you.   Make the commitment to cure your irritable desk syndrome. Breathe in that fresh air.       "Happiness is a very small desk and a very big wastebasket."             Robert Orben   "If you don't know what to do with many of the papers piled on your desk, stick a dozen colleagues initials on them and pass them along.  When in doubt, route."             Malcolm S. Forbes   "If a cluttered desk is the sign of a cluttered mind, what is the significance of a clean mind?"             Laurence J. Peter   "Clutter causes stress, and clutter is one of the main barriers of productivity."             Charisse Ward     I often suffer from irritable desk syndrome and when I take the necessary steps to remedy the symptoms I feel so much better.  My mind is clear and the air is fresh.  Creativity abounds.  But then I fall back into my old patterns.  Ouch.  Oh, to be symptom free once and for all!    Bye for now - I'm off to clean my desk!   Have a fantastic week and cure your irritable desk syndrome.   Stephanie   P.S.  "Thanksgiving Day comes, by statute, once a year; to the honest man it comes as frequently as the heart of gratitude will allow."  Edward Sanford Martin     We grow by "word-of-email" so please feel free to forward this newsletter to anyone whom you think might benefit from and enjoy it. Thanks so much! Contact Us: stephanie@7steps2abalancedlife.com