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How to Clean Your Desk (and Make It Better) When You’re Back in the Office

BACK TO THE GRIND

Work from home isn’t always an option, so make your in-office desk better than it was when you left it.

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Photo Illustration: Scouted/The Daily Beast/Vendors

The decision to go back into offices has been met with mixed reviews, but at some point, it was going to be inevitable, right? For the majority of people, they haven’t seen the inside of their office building, let alone sat at their desks, in well over a year. What does that mean? Well, it’s gonna be pretty dirty and probably a bit sad.

Desks left to their own devices turn into apartment complexes for dust bunnies and debris, even when we’re there 9-5. There are just too many places for dirt to hide unless you’re actively wiping down your space (which should be your new routine going forward). So, we have to start thinking strategically about how to bring our work desks back to life, the same way we made our kitchen table into the sprawling workspace it needed to be.

Lysol Disinfecting Wipes

First and foremost, if your office did not have a cleaning staff throughout last year, it’s time to wipe things down. Disinfectant wipes are available once again, and you should stock up — put some in your desk drawer to share, too. These wipes kill up to 99.99% of bacteria and can help wipe away any remnants of stagnation.

ColorCoral Cleaning Gel

This little jar of slime is you and your keyboard’s best friend. It doubles as a stress toy, but it’s really great at getting into all the nooks and crannies of keys to remove anything leftover. It’s also good to give a once over on your computer monitor to pick up any dust left behind.

iCloth Lens Cleaning Wipes

Speaking on monitors, a screen wipe is a no-brainer. This pack contains 30 wipes, so you can keep your dust-magnet of a monitor looking like it’s ready for anything. These are also great for your phone or laptop, really anything with a screen, to make sure you’re working on as clean of a surface as possible.

Peperomia Obtusifolia

At this point, your desk plant is probably dead and gone twice over. It’s okay! You can pick up an easy-to-care-for plant from The Sill that comes in its own pot. All you’ll need to do is name it.

Moleskine Classic Expanded Notebook

As someone that can’t give up their analog note-taking for digital, starting a new notebook/planner is just so satisfying. Give yourself a fresh start, since you’re really starting all over back in the office. This one gives you plenty of room to plan (or doodle) and is customizable.

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