The lid of a container of nuts. Old sticky notes. Candy wrappers. Pencil shavings. Piles of paper. When we’re not watching, our clutter accumulates, and despite our best intentions, we sometimes neglect cleaning up our mess. But there’s more than one good reason to do it sooner rather than later.
Click start to play today’s Word Search, where you can spot the word “untidy”.
It’s not just about aesthetics, or having a pretty looking home office or workspace. When clutter piles up, we end up losing time looking for certain basic things, like a stapler or a document that should have been filed into the right folder. This is a problem even when we’re paperless. A 2012 survey by UK-based market research company International Data Corporation found that employees lose up to two hours a week fruitlessly searching for lost digital documents.
Apart from lost time, untidiness has a very real effect on our bodies and our mental health. According to a January 2019 report in The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners website, clutter can affect our anxiety levels, sleep and ability to focus. It also makes us less productive – the last thing we need at our workstations – and triggers coping and avoidance strategies, like snacking on junk or watching a 'quick' episode of our favourite TV shows.
Even just looking at our messy creations has an adverse effect on our brains. According to a March 2019 report in the US-based Harvard Business Review, our brains thrive on order, so constant visual reminders of disorganisation can drain our cognitive resources and drastically reduce our ability to concentrate. Cognitive overload can also reduce our working memory. Whether a messy desk or a messy room, the effect is the same.
One way to stop the cycle is to set aside a day for a thorough spring cleaning, and following that milestone, pledge to never let things accumulate.
When was the last time you cleaned out your work area? Play today’s Word Search and let us know if you enjoyed it at games@gulfnews.com.
