Clean Your Desk Up, People. Pronto!
No wonder there’s so much hacking and sniffling going around in the workplace: researchers have found that there are 400 times more germs at our work stations than in bathrooms! Gross!
So what’s the word on a healthy desk? Take these tips to clean up your act…and your health.
- Wipe you keyboard, mouse, phone and desk with disinfectant wipes once a day. Since they’re the most handled areas in your office, they’re prime spots for spreading germs like the cold virus. My suggestion? Wipe up in the a.m. since you never know who was pawing through your goods during the night.
- Scrub up. Okay, you’ve been lectured on this before, but remember that viruses are mostly spread by hands. Wash hands thoroughly and often, and keep a hand-santizer handy in a pinch.
- Eat where you’re supposed to - not at your desk. In addition to a healthy change of scenery, eating away from your desk can help keep crumbs and bacteria away from your keyboard and other surface areas. For those days you really must work through lunch, wipe down your eating area both before and after you nosh and use a plate or a paper towel instead of placing food directly on your desk.
- Pitch unwrapped goodies. If you do end up playing restaurant at your desk, be sure to toss out any foods that are unpackaged or unwrapped when you’re done. Anything left open is a haven for bacteria, so let it go.
- Spiff up your space. Did you know that even though women’s desks usually look neater, they are actually germier than men’s? That’s because chicks tend to have stuff like candy dishes and tissues at-the-ready for germy co-workers to fondle, allowing them to deposit their creepy crawlies in more locales. Keep things uncluttered and keep viruses at bay.
- Live green. Adding a house (or work) plant to your desk not only improves your mood and decreases stress, but it also helps filter the air around them, beating some airborne ickies down to nonexistence.
So here you go: an arsenal of ideas to keep your workspace as germ-free as possible. Now you have no more excuses for calling in, right? Oh, um, sorry about that!
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POSTED IN: Computers, Easy Health Tips, Food, Health, How To, Safety, Stress, Your Body
5 opinions for Clean Your Desk Up, People. Pronto!
Merry
Feb 5, 2008 at 11:02 pm
Actually in my office we’re expected to eat at our desk. I did once or twice, in the early days, use the lunchroom. But then people came in to hold a meeting there, and everyone looked so surprised to see someone actually Eating in the Lunchroom (”My dear! The idea of doing such a thing!”) that I got discouraged.
Probably a very unhealthy workplace, or it would be if we actually made a habit of communicating face to face. Generally people just talk via email, and we only have to worry about computer viruses :)
Liberty
Feb 7, 2008 at 6:42 pm
Wow, Merry. Sounds like a terribly social place. Not. ;)
Okay, so if you must eat at your desk, just remember to wipe up before and after and you’re good to go. Or you could try to single-handedly reinstate the whole lunchroom idea. Now, that’d be fun, eh?
Merry
Feb 7, 2008 at 10:30 pm
There’s that crazy woman in the lunchroom again…
Well, there goes my reputation ;)
Liberty
Feb 8, 2008 at 10:34 am
Oops. Okay, please disregard that suggestion and invest in a case of Clorox wipes instead. ;)
Sma
Apr 3, 2008 at 4:52 am
Personally, I find watching some Nature videos like ones at http://www.relaxwithnature.com to be incredibly effective.
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