If you go out to work in an office, you might not think it’s your responsibility to keep your workspace clean. After all, isn’t that what contract cleaners are for? 

However, if you knew how many germs there are on your desk and in your keyboard, you might think twice about leaving all the cleaning to someone else.

To save you googling ‘how many germs are there on my desk?’ I’ll tell you – there are more germs on your desk than on a toilet seat. Doesn’t that make you want to help to keep your workspace clean?  

Don’t worry, you don’t have to get down on your hands and knees and start scrubbing the floor, keeping your workspace clean is easy and I’ll share five ways with you below. 

Declutter your desk

First of all, in order for a commercial cleaning company to clean your desk, they have to actually be able to see your desk. The cleaning company has probably been told not to move or touch any papers on your desk, so if your desk is littered with pieces of paper, sort them out so the cleaners can do the cleaning they’re paid to do. 

A tidy desk will also clear your mind, helping you to focus and be more productive. 

Clean your keyboard

Your poor old keyboard. It gets bashed on by your fingers all day, it’s left out to get covered in dust and with lots of us eating our lunch while scrolling through Facebook, it also gets a meal it didn’t ask for. 

As if that wasn’t bad enough, it’s not like we even think about cleaning our keyboards, do we? Be honest – when was the last time you cleaned your keyboard? Not just a quick wipe over but a proper, deep clean? 

If you’re anything like me, the answer is probably ‘um, never, oops.’ Indeed. 

I’m not suggesting you take off every key and give it a good clean before putting it back, that’s just asking for trouble and, apart from breaking your keyboard, there’s a good chance you’ll end up with a ‘eobirpw’ keyboard, rather than a ‘qwerty’ one. 

What you can do though is, after unplugging your keyboard if it’s on a wire, or turning off your laptop, turn your keyboard upside down and give it a good shake to dislodge any crumbs that are hiding in between the gaps. 

Then, to dislodge even more dirt and dust, clean it with compressed air (you can buy it in cans) and give your keyboard a good clean with cotton buds dipped in a bit of methylated spirits (not too much though). 

Clean your screen

You’ll be pleased to hear, cleaning your computer screen is a lot easier than cleaning the keyboard. All you need to do is switch off your laptop or PC and gently wipe the screen with a damp microfibre cloth. 

You’ll be amazed at how much clearer your screen is after cleaning it. You probably didn’t even know it was that dirty. 

Don’t eat at your desk

We all do it. We feel we’re too busy to take a break or we like to spend our lunch hour scrolling through social media or browsing the internet, so we eat at our desks. 

Eating at your desk is a really bad idea though because a) you’ll get food all over your desk and keyboard, which is unhygienic; and b) it’s a lot better for you physically and mentally to take an actual break away from your desk and go outside for some exercise and fresh air. 

Keep disinfectant wipes handy

The whole world went disinfectant-wipe crazy at the beginning of the pandemic and, while I’m not suggesting you disinfectant your workspace every five minutes to paranoia levels, keeping a packet of disinfectant wipes in your desk drawer isn’t a bad idea. 

Giving your desk a wipe now and then will help keep the germs away and make your workspace safer for you and anyone else who might occasionally use your desk. 

Keep your workspace clean

As you can see, keeping your workspace clean doesn’t have to be a major chore but it is important.