WEBVTT - The Clean Person’s Guide to a Messy Desk 0:00:00.600 --> 0:00:04.200 From executive search to talent strategy, leadership development, rewards and 0:00:04.200 --> 0:00:06.880 succession planning. Corn Fairy can help you realize the full 0:00:06.880 --> 0:00:09.879 potential of your people so you can take your business 0:00:09.920 --> 0:00:12.560 where it wants to go up. Learn more at corn 0:00:12.560 --> 0:00:15.920 Ferry dot com slash up. When I was a little boy, 0:00:16.000 --> 0:00:18.600 I was a tremendous fan of Miami Vice. In particular, 0:00:18.640 --> 0:00:20.720 I was a big fan of the character of Lieutenant 0:00:20.760 --> 0:00:24.200 Martin Castillo. And why, may you ask, because Martin Castillo 0:00:24.320 --> 0:00:27.120 never had anything on his desk, and I thought that 0:00:27.240 --> 0:00:29.319 was maybe the coolest thing I had ever seen in 0:00:29.360 --> 0:00:31.400 my life. And as I've gotten to be a grown up, 0:00:31.480 --> 0:00:34.120 I've tried to hold fast to that standard, not always 0:00:34.120 --> 0:00:37.720 reaching it, but always striving for it. I recognize, however, 0:00:37.880 --> 0:00:39.840 that I am a little bit different than other people. 0:00:40.200 --> 0:00:42.479 Many people have very messy desks. The office can be 0:00:42.520 --> 0:00:45.640 a place of untidiness, germs in bacteria. We're going to 0:00:45.720 --> 0:01:00.600 talk a little bit more about that here on Game Plan. Hi, everybody, 0:01:00.640 --> 0:01:03.280 I am Sam Grobart. I am a writer at Bloomberg 0:01:03.280 --> 0:01:06.040 Business Week magazine, and I'm Rebecca Greenfield. I'm a reporter 0:01:06.080 --> 0:01:08.840 at Bloomberg, where I cover the workplace and you're listening 0:01:08.840 --> 0:01:11.760 to our special episode of Game Plan in which we 0:01:11.800 --> 0:01:15.319 talk about the office, the office as Petrie dish, the 0:01:15.360 --> 0:01:20.319 office as dumpster, the office as a vector of infection, bacteria, 0:01:20.360 --> 0:01:23.560 and other things. I keep a messy desk. What No, 0:01:24.360 --> 0:01:27.399 I just don't care. Look at you. Yeah, I'm really cool, 0:01:27.520 --> 0:01:31.000 rebel without a cause. Now. I just put things on 0:01:31.000 --> 0:01:32.920 my desk and then they pile up and it doesn't 0:01:32.920 --> 0:01:36.240 bother me until it does. It causes you know, anxiety. None. 0:01:36.360 --> 0:01:38.760 You require no medication for this anxiety. Man, This is 0:01:38.760 --> 0:01:42.360 where we are different. I actually wrote a story defending 0:01:42.400 --> 0:01:45.000 my position. Um. It was called if you want to 0:01:45.040 --> 0:01:46.720 be a Slab, Be a slab, And it was a 0:01:46.720 --> 0:01:49.720 book review of a book that came out earlier this 0:01:49.800 --> 0:01:53.120 year by Tim Harford, who is known as the Undercover Economist, 0:01:53.400 --> 0:01:55.240 And he wrote a book called Messy, The Power of 0:01:55.280 --> 0:01:58.960 Disordered to Transform Our Lives and it he talks about 0:01:58.960 --> 0:02:01.640 a lot of different types of mess uses the term 0:02:01.760 --> 0:02:05.680 very loosely, but there are some chapters on cleanliness and 0:02:05.720 --> 0:02:08.040 tidiness in the office, and in it he makes the 0:02:08.080 --> 0:02:10.760 case for being as messy or as clean as you 0:02:10.800 --> 0:02:15.160 want to be. Okay, quick question, Tim Harford, Marie Condo, 0:02:15.560 --> 0:02:19.959 steel cage match. Who do you think wins? Marie Condo 0:02:20.040 --> 0:02:23.360 I think would murder him. I think she's got the interferocity. Listen. 0:02:23.360 --> 0:02:24.800 I grew up with free to be you and me. 0:02:24.880 --> 0:02:28.480 I understand that we are all snowflakes and and different, 0:02:28.720 --> 0:02:31.480 but there is something about really. I mean, I've seen 0:02:31.480 --> 0:02:33.760 your desk. In your desk, it's not horrible, it's not horrible. 0:02:33.800 --> 0:02:35.920 It wouldn't be my desk. It would cause me a 0:02:35.919 --> 0:02:38.200 lot of problems. But but I see it and it 0:02:38.240 --> 0:02:42.400 doesn't offend me. But then there's some people where it's 0:02:42.440 --> 0:02:45.320 really like crazy pack rat and you feel like something 0:02:45.360 --> 0:02:47.360 wrong is going on here. They can do what they 0:02:47.360 --> 0:02:51.040 want to do. I know it sounds really hippy and dippy, 0:02:51.080 --> 0:02:52.920 free to be you and me, But there is some 0:02:53.160 --> 0:02:56.680 research to support my way of living. I'm sure there is. 0:02:56.760 --> 0:02:59.600 In his book Tim Harford, he talks about one study 0:02:59.680 --> 0:03:03.640 where researchers put people in different types of offices, giving 0:03:03.680 --> 0:03:06.920 them different levels of control over what the office looked like. 0:03:06.960 --> 0:03:09.960 So in one office it was completely austere. People had 0:03:09.960 --> 0:03:12.040 no control, but it was very clean, so you probably 0:03:12.040 --> 0:03:13.880 would have loved it. Yeah, that's my kind of office, 0:03:13.919 --> 0:03:15.880 and another office they got to decorate it the way 0:03:15.919 --> 0:03:18.360 they wanted to, and then another office they got to 0:03:18.360 --> 0:03:20.760 decorate the way they wanted to, and then the researchers 0:03:20.760 --> 0:03:23.640 would come in and take out all their decorations and 0:03:23.680 --> 0:03:28.920 put it back the way. That's so Obviously, employees hated 0:03:28.960 --> 0:03:31.880 that last one the most, of course, But the one 0:03:31.919 --> 0:03:33.840 that they did the best and that they were most 0:03:33.840 --> 0:03:36.440 productive and was the one where they had control over 0:03:36.480 --> 0:03:38.800 their space. Well, it's funny that you say control over 0:03:38.840 --> 0:03:41.960 their space, because in fact, personally, I could really care 0:03:42.040 --> 0:03:44.920 less what your desk looks like. But for me, control 0:03:45.040 --> 0:03:48.600 over my space means a clean and orderly workspace. I 0:03:48.640 --> 0:03:51.440 think it's it's hard for clean people to realize that 0:03:51.560 --> 0:03:54.080 control over my space means not really thinking about it 0:03:54.120 --> 0:03:56.520 at all. I guess the problem is more and more 0:03:56.600 --> 0:03:59.040 these days, we see a lot of open office spaces. 0:03:59.080 --> 0:04:01.800 We see a lot of share office spaces. In some cases, 0:04:02.080 --> 0:04:04.400 people don't even have their own desk anymore. Every day 0:04:04.440 --> 0:04:05.920 that you come in, you have to pick a spot, 0:04:06.080 --> 0:04:07.880 and so you're picking up a place that somebody was 0:04:07.960 --> 0:04:10.840 using before. It doesn't even really give you the opportunity 0:04:10.880 --> 0:04:13.200 to be messy. Yeah, there's a cool term for that 0:04:13.240 --> 0:04:16.719 called hot desking. Um. Yeah, So in that case, I 0:04:16.760 --> 0:04:19.560 think your desk can't get us messy as quickly. But 0:04:22.600 --> 0:04:25.120 that's the other issue, right right, which is something else 0:04:25.160 --> 0:04:28.039 I've written about. I've just found about every topic under 0:04:28.160 --> 0:04:32.919 the workplace. Um uh. It was a plea for people 0:04:32.960 --> 0:04:34.760 not to come to work if they're sick, of course, 0:04:34.800 --> 0:04:37.400 if they have paid time off to do so. Lots 0:04:37.400 --> 0:04:39.760 of people don't. But if you do, and you come 0:04:39.800 --> 0:04:41.400 to work when you're sick, when we work in these 0:04:41.400 --> 0:04:45.239 open offices, the germs spread so quickly. It has happened 0:04:45.360 --> 0:04:48.040 multiple times this fall where you can just see the 0:04:48.080 --> 0:04:53.440 people transferring it one by one and everyone outbreak. Yes, 0:04:53.800 --> 0:04:58.559 patient zero. And for those purposes, I think that's different 0:04:58.560 --> 0:05:02.560 than a messy desk that is absolutely healthy. Right, there's clutter, 0:05:02.720 --> 0:05:08.000 and then there's biological contamination. It's also really expensive for companies. 0:05:08.200 --> 0:05:10.839 In my story I talk about how presentee is um, 0:05:10.920 --> 0:05:14.240 which is showing up to work sick cost companies a 0:05:14.320 --> 0:05:18.040 hundred fifty billion dollars a year hundred with a B. 0:05:19.200 --> 0:05:22.520 That's a very big number. And it sucks, of course 0:05:22.520 --> 0:05:25.480 it does. So there's a continuum here of sorts. I mean, 0:05:25.520 --> 0:05:27.880 there's a question of the messy desk. There's a you 0:05:27.920 --> 0:05:29.599 know you move along that you get into sort of 0:05:29.640 --> 0:05:32.880 the dirty desk, and how that can affect the health 0:05:32.880 --> 0:05:35.440 of the employees who worked there. So this isn't just 0:05:35.600 --> 0:05:38.080 a matter of how you like to organize your desk. 0:05:38.120 --> 0:05:40.159 I mean, that's part of it, but there's also this 0:05:40.240 --> 0:05:43.560 larger issue of maintaining a healthy workspace. To help us 0:05:43.560 --> 0:05:46.159 discuss these issues, we are going to chat with Jolie 0:05:46.240 --> 0:05:49.919 care who is an advice columnist, a cleaning expert, and 0:05:50.040 --> 0:06:00.160 the host of the podcast Ask a Clean Person. Thank 0:06:00.160 --> 0:06:02.200 you for joining us, Jolie, Hey, it's great to be here. 0:06:02.400 --> 0:06:04.640 So how have you felt walking through our offices so far? 0:06:04.760 --> 0:06:07.520 Have you felt like they're pretty clean or is it messy? 0:06:07.760 --> 0:06:11.200 Very clean? It's very cool. I imagine that that lends 0:06:11.200 --> 0:06:13.560 itself to a lot of people taking a little extra 0:06:14.320 --> 0:06:17.880 pride in their desk. You know, people are house proud, 0:06:17.920 --> 0:06:21.560 and maybe they're going to get to that in a minute. 0:06:21.839 --> 0:06:25.359 But we're here to talk more about our workspaces and 0:06:25.400 --> 0:06:28.560 how we can keep them tidy and clean, which we 0:06:28.560 --> 0:06:31.039 can discuss maybe are two different things they are, Yes, 0:06:31.120 --> 0:06:32.880 why don't we actually jump right into that. Can you 0:06:32.920 --> 0:06:35.440 define for me the difference between those two words. Sure, So, 0:06:35.600 --> 0:06:39.440 tidy is more of a visual thing, right, It's having 0:06:39.520 --> 0:06:43.000 your papers stacked and squared up, and your pens put 0:06:43.000 --> 0:06:47.120 in their penholder and everything sort of lined up and 0:06:47.240 --> 0:06:52.919 arranged nicely, whereas clean is much more of germ and 0:06:53.160 --> 0:06:58.800 crumb and fingerprint type proposition. So the crumbs and the 0:06:58.880 --> 0:07:02.920 keyboard that is dirty, that is not untidy. I mean, 0:07:02.920 --> 0:07:05.400 it's also kind of untidy too, you see. Yeah, you 0:07:05.440 --> 0:07:08.479 may not see it. The receiver on the telephone that's 0:07:08.520 --> 0:07:11.320 not clean, but that may look tidy because it may 0:07:11.320 --> 0:07:13.600 be you know, placed and squared up, but the but 0:07:13.640 --> 0:07:16.640 the receiver is probably pretty pretty dirty. So I have 0:07:16.680 --> 0:07:20.720 a question about those two different things. Is tidy something 0:07:20.760 --> 0:07:23.320 we're not allowed to judge, but dirty is something we're 0:07:23.320 --> 0:07:26.840 allowed to judge. So if someone's desk isn't tidy, it's okay, 0:07:26.880 --> 0:07:29.960 that's a preference. But if someone's desk isn't clean, they're gross. 0:07:31.960 --> 0:07:34.800 Are we allowed to not everyone? Well, I'm not. I don't. 0:07:34.880 --> 0:07:37.680 I don't know that's how I feel. I'm just asking. 0:07:37.920 --> 0:07:41.080 I think that life is hard enough without judging people 0:07:41.160 --> 0:07:45.560 about their desk. So to give you a little bit 0:07:45.600 --> 0:07:50.080 of what you want. If your desk is not tidy, 0:07:50.120 --> 0:07:54.200 but it is clean, that is healthier. That's healthier for 0:07:54.280 --> 0:07:56.360 you and for your and for your colleagues. Tell me 0:07:56.360 --> 0:07:57.800 a little bit about some of the risks of an 0:07:57.880 --> 0:08:02.040 unclean desk, right, So, if you think about in an 0:08:02.040 --> 0:08:06.480 open office situation in the wintertime, when everyone has their 0:08:06.640 --> 0:08:09.280 seasonal case of the sniffles, you think about how fast 0:08:09.360 --> 0:08:12.080 that goes around the office. One of the ways in 0:08:12.120 --> 0:08:15.120 which germs are spread that we all know about is 0:08:15.120 --> 0:08:18.240 is through human contact, through touching one another. So if 0:08:18.280 --> 0:08:22.280 you are a person who is not necessarily diligent about handwashing, 0:08:22.800 --> 0:08:25.680 then all your germs are going back onto your workspace. 0:08:25.720 --> 0:08:28.600 They're going to your keyboard, they're going to your phone receiver, 0:08:29.160 --> 0:08:32.000 they're going to everything that you touch. If someone then 0:08:32.040 --> 0:08:34.880 comes over to your desk and touches one of those things, 0:08:34.880 --> 0:08:37.840 they're transferring those germs onto themselves because they're touching it. 0:08:37.960 --> 0:08:41.760 So it's a health thing from that standpoint, and particularly 0:08:41.800 --> 0:08:44.480 when you're talking about an open office set up and 0:08:44.559 --> 0:08:47.560 that sort of constant spreading back and forth of the 0:08:47.600 --> 0:08:50.840 same nagging cold that everyone has had for five months. 0:08:50.880 --> 0:08:53.760 So we were just talking about, you know, custodial services 0:08:53.800 --> 0:08:57.040 within an office building, and like here, they can be exemplary, 0:08:57.080 --> 0:09:02.320 but oftentimes they do not touch anybody's workspace, right. They're 0:09:02.360 --> 0:09:05.360 vacuuming the common areas, they make sure the windows are clean, etcetera. 0:09:05.480 --> 0:09:07.520 As far as your desk and underneath it and around 0:09:07.559 --> 0:09:09.720 it is concerned, that is up to you. So I 0:09:09.720 --> 0:09:13.040 guess my question to you is what should I keep 0:09:13.320 --> 0:09:15.680 in my desk in my drawer that I should be 0:09:15.760 --> 0:09:19.199 using to maintain a if not tidy, at least clean 0:09:19.200 --> 0:09:21.560 and healthy work space. Sure, so a couple of things. 0:09:21.920 --> 0:09:25.080 People ask me a lot like that that question, and 0:09:25.080 --> 0:09:26.560 they say it sort of like what's what kind of 0:09:26.640 --> 0:09:28.920 kit should I have? And then when they say kit, 0:09:29.000 --> 0:09:32.040 they actually mean too different things, which is which is 0:09:32.120 --> 0:09:34.520 smart one? Which should I keep to clean my desk? 0:09:34.880 --> 0:09:36.960 And they also mean what should I keep to clean 0:09:37.040 --> 0:09:41.560 myself when I inevitably spill coffee down my blouse twenty 0:09:41.559 --> 0:09:44.040 minutes before meeting with the big boss. So there are 0:09:44.120 --> 0:09:46.080 there are a couple of things. I would say probably 0:09:46.120 --> 0:09:48.760 the number one thing, just because it's so versatile and 0:09:48.760 --> 0:09:51.400 it can be used for so much, is rubbing alcohol, 0:09:52.080 --> 0:09:56.040 good old rubbing alcohol. And you can actually get pre 0:09:56.160 --> 0:10:00.360 moistened alcohol whites, which are very convenient for in office. 0:10:00.400 --> 0:10:02.600 They come in a box. You can usually get like 0:10:02.600 --> 0:10:05.480 a box of a hundred or two hundred. They're incredibly inexpensive. 0:10:05.480 --> 0:10:08.840 They're individually packaged, you know, like little handy whites, and 0:10:08.880 --> 0:10:12.800 you can use those to clean your phone, your keyboard, 0:10:13.400 --> 0:10:15.760 the actual desk itself. You can also use that to 0:10:15.800 --> 0:10:17.800 take little stains off of your shirt when you dribble. 0:10:19.160 --> 0:10:21.840 Alcohol is a great stain remover. Yeah, it's a great 0:10:22.440 --> 0:10:25.640 had no idea. So here here's one more related to that. 0:10:25.800 --> 0:10:29.160 Hand sanitizer is made up almost entirely of alcohol. So 0:10:29.200 --> 0:10:31.360 if you don't have a bottle of rubbing alcohol or 0:10:31.480 --> 0:10:33.240 that seems weird to you to have around, and you 0:10:33.240 --> 0:10:36.079 don't have those whites, if you have hand sanitizer around, 0:10:36.120 --> 0:10:39.199 which most people do, and if you don't, probably your 0:10:39.400 --> 0:10:43.360 deskmate one over has some, you can use that for 0:10:43.760 --> 0:10:46.520 stain removal. Yep. It's particularly good on pens, which is 0:10:46.720 --> 0:10:48.560 in an office. I mean, I guess now we don't 0:10:48.600 --> 0:10:52.600 use pens quite as optim I still use pens, actually, 0:10:52.920 --> 0:10:57.040 you guys, I still use a paper calendar. Oh yeah, 0:10:57.920 --> 0:11:03.400 so different. It's just basically a thing new different. Now wait, 0:11:03.440 --> 0:11:05.439 can I just can I'd like to mention here that 0:11:05.600 --> 0:11:09.079 you talk about pre moistend alcohol wipes. I've actually seen 0:11:09.200 --> 0:11:13.080 these at our first aid kit, yes, that we keep 0:11:13.360 --> 0:11:16.119 on every floor of the building. Now, I'm not advocating 0:11:16.120 --> 0:11:18.440 that you go and you know, don't pill for the 0:11:18.480 --> 0:11:21.240 first don't pill for the first pinch, hey, but exactly, 0:11:21.280 --> 0:11:24.240 if it's an important meeting, maybe you'll find those alcohol 0:11:24.280 --> 0:11:27.560 wipes for free at a central location in your office exactly. 0:11:27.600 --> 0:11:29.880 And one other thing actually I mentioned since since we're 0:11:29.880 --> 0:11:33.360 sitting in a studio, Um, they are great for wiping 0:11:33.360 --> 0:11:36.480 off headphones. So we're in a studio where where there's 0:11:36.520 --> 0:11:41.199 a there shared headphones. UM. And I actually it's a 0:11:41.200 --> 0:11:43.760 surprise that people learned. I'm actually not a germaphobe. So 0:11:43.800 --> 0:11:45.880 it doesn't bother me to wear a pair of headphones 0:11:45.880 --> 0:11:48.320 that I know has been on someone else's head. But 0:11:48.440 --> 0:11:51.240 a lot of people that would bother. And so if 0:11:51.240 --> 0:11:53.520 you're a person who that kind of thing bothers, keep 0:11:53.520 --> 0:11:56.200 a couple of those wipes in your bag, your laptop case, 0:11:56.240 --> 0:11:58.920 your wallet, wherever, and then you have them and you 0:11:58.920 --> 0:12:02.200 can wipe things off, and you should always do in life. 0:12:02.200 --> 0:12:04.080 What makes you feel comfortable. If what makes you feel 0:12:04.160 --> 0:12:07.280 comfortable is wiping things off, by all means, if what 0:12:07.520 --> 0:12:10.240 makes you feel comfortable is not worrying about it, then 0:12:10.280 --> 0:12:13.080 don't worry about it. So this came up when we 0:12:13.120 --> 0:12:16.720 showed you my desk, um, and it is both messy 0:12:16.800 --> 0:12:19.920 and dirty, I would say, And it doesn't bother me, 0:12:20.040 --> 0:12:22.400 particularly in the day to day. I know it bothers 0:12:22.400 --> 0:12:25.000 some of my coworkers, but maybe more in a joking way. 0:12:25.120 --> 0:12:27.760 But I would like to be the type of person 0:12:27.920 --> 0:12:32.319 where things don't get messy so quickly. Okay, so there 0:12:32.320 --> 0:12:34.000 are two things. You know. You you were very good 0:12:34.000 --> 0:12:35.760 about teaing me up so I could really think about this, 0:12:35.840 --> 0:12:37.360 and I did think about it, and I and I 0:12:37.400 --> 0:12:38.960 asked to see your desk because I wanted to see 0:12:38.960 --> 0:12:41.040 exactly what we were working with, and it was not 0:12:41.160 --> 0:12:44.680 that bad. You did tell me that oftentimes you leave 0:12:44.760 --> 0:12:47.559 food around, and I'm gonna i will say, if there 0:12:47.640 --> 0:12:49.280 is a place where I'm going to get judgmental, it's 0:12:49.280 --> 0:12:51.520 a little bit about the leaving the food around because 0:12:52.120 --> 0:12:56.160 it can attract vermin. And I've worked in offices. I 0:12:56.200 --> 0:12:58.440 won't tell you which one it was. One day I 0:12:58.520 --> 0:13:02.840 walked into work and there's a huge cockroach like right 0:13:02.880 --> 0:13:07.720 near my desk at this very posh, white chee law firm. 0:13:08.480 --> 0:13:11.240 And it was because frankly, my coworkers have just been 0:13:11.320 --> 0:13:14.560 leaving food around. There's definitely a roach. Lawyer joke in 0:13:14.559 --> 0:13:18.599 there something and move on. But I just wanted to 0:13:18.679 --> 0:13:21.200 highlight that I would like to clarify that at the 0:13:21.280 --> 0:13:23.360 end of the day, I throw out all the things 0:13:23.400 --> 0:13:27.040 from my day. Okay, that's good. I don't leave it overnight. Generally, 0:13:27.040 --> 0:13:29.600 it's just good office citizenship to be aware that, even 0:13:29.640 --> 0:13:31.800 if it doesn't bother you, that that it can create 0:13:32.880 --> 0:13:36.560 fall out for everybody else that's unpleasant. So here's here's 0:13:36.600 --> 0:13:40.360 my prescription for you. It's very easy. Do a big 0:13:40.600 --> 0:13:44.520 clean of the desk, to a really thorough clean. Start 0:13:44.760 --> 0:13:47.960 by getting rid of all of the trash. Then put 0:13:48.000 --> 0:13:50.760 everything in its place, Put files where they're supposed to go, 0:13:50.920 --> 0:13:53.120 put desk successories where they're supposed to go. Get rid. 0:13:53.120 --> 0:13:55.160 If you have ten thousand pens and you don't need them, 0:13:55.360 --> 0:13:57.040 get rid of the pens. You don't need that kind 0:13:57.040 --> 0:14:01.040 of stuff. Square everything up so it looks tidy. And 0:14:01.040 --> 0:14:02.920 then the final thing is to wipe everything down. So 0:14:03.000 --> 0:14:05.160 once you have an almost clear surface, then you can 0:14:05.200 --> 0:14:06.800 do your wiping. You can wipe the desk and the 0:14:06.880 --> 0:14:09.480 keyboard and the telephone receiver and all of that kind 0:14:09.480 --> 0:14:11.880 of stuff. And one issue that you had specifically with 0:14:11.880 --> 0:14:13.840 your desk was that you have your phone tucked behind 0:14:13.920 --> 0:14:17.200 a second monitor, and then you have things stacked in 0:14:17.240 --> 0:14:19.080 front of the monitor, which means you can't actually get 0:14:19.120 --> 0:14:21.800 to your phone. So I would say just moving your 0:14:21.840 --> 0:14:24.800 phone out. It's almost like you don't want to use. 0:14:26.040 --> 0:14:28.960 Some may say that I avoid Well, I do love 0:14:29.040 --> 0:14:30.560 talking on the phone and I need to, but I 0:14:30.600 --> 0:14:32.760 avoid the phone because I get a lot of unwanted 0:14:32.800 --> 0:14:35.040 phone calls. I hear that I hate the telephone too, 0:14:35.600 --> 0:14:38.560 So start with that. And and here we are. We're 0:14:38.640 --> 0:14:40.480 just about at the start of new year, so that 0:14:40.560 --> 0:14:43.320 might be a good early January thing for you or 0:14:43.440 --> 0:14:46.000 late December. Start your new year off already with a 0:14:46.000 --> 0:14:48.480 clean desk. And then this is the most important part. 0:14:48.480 --> 0:14:51.800 You're gonna put a calendar reminder on your calendar. Every 0:14:51.880 --> 0:14:54.960 Friday or Wednesday or whatever your day is, put a 0:14:55.040 --> 0:14:57.280 ten minute block of time, and you're gonna get a 0:14:57.280 --> 0:15:00.840 calendar reminder at that time that does time to clean 0:15:00.880 --> 0:15:02.400 your desk, and so once a week you're just going 0:15:02.440 --> 0:15:05.080 to tidy everything up, and that's how you are going 0:15:05.200 --> 0:15:08.280 to have a tidy desk going forward. I was saying, like, oh, 0:15:08.320 --> 0:15:10.440 I do a lot of this, but usually it's once 0:15:10.480 --> 0:15:13.040 every three months, not once a week. Right, And if 0:15:13.040 --> 0:15:15.680 you have that, here's the thing. It's actually not even 0:15:15.680 --> 0:15:17.880 gonna take you the ten minutes, especially if you're doing 0:15:17.880 --> 0:15:20.240 it every single week. It's gonna it's probably a three 0:15:20.280 --> 0:15:23.240 minute proposition to just square papers up, get rid of 0:15:23.240 --> 0:15:24.840 things you don't need to, a quick wipe down, and 0:15:24.880 --> 0:15:28.080 that's it. It will end up also then over time 0:15:28.120 --> 0:15:30.840 becoming so wrote for you that you'll find that you 0:15:30.920 --> 0:15:34.200 don't even strew your papers anymore. They just go back 0:15:34.240 --> 0:15:36.960 into their place. You will sort of trick yourself into 0:15:37.000 --> 0:15:41.560 becoming someone like me who naturally just puts things in 0:15:41.680 --> 0:15:44.400 their place. That will eventually become natural for you. So 0:15:44.480 --> 0:15:46.360 that's what I would do, Just make a little calendar reminder. 0:15:46.480 --> 0:15:49.520 I can't wait. Yeah, all happens when the power and 0:15:49.560 --> 0:15:52.800 potential of every employee and leader in your workforce is 0:15:52.840 --> 0:15:55.800 released and corn Fairy can get you there by aligning 0:15:55.840 --> 0:15:59.960 your people to your strategy, attracting, developing, engaging, and reward 0:16:00.200 --> 0:16:03.320 them to reach new heights. With corn Ferry, you get 0:16:03.320 --> 0:16:06.360 a partner who truly understands people, leadership and the new 0:16:06.440 --> 0:16:08.920 landscape of work, a partner who knows how to take 0:16:08.960 --> 0:16:12.240 your business up. Learn more at corn Ferry dot com 0:16:12.280 --> 0:16:16.680 slash up. Since you are an advice calumnist, we thought 0:16:16.680 --> 0:16:18.640 it'd be fun to ask you about some of the 0:16:18.720 --> 0:16:22.400 more interesting workplace related questions you've had. Yes, I get 0:16:22.440 --> 0:16:25.400 a lot of them. So let's just start out at 0:16:25.400 --> 0:16:28.320 the at the most juvenile. Let's work a little bit 0:16:28.360 --> 0:16:31.560 blue here. I get a lot of questions about farting 0:16:31.560 --> 0:16:35.840 into office chairs, and I laugh every single time I've 0:16:35.840 --> 0:16:40.200 got one. It just makes me how that people email 0:16:40.240 --> 0:16:42.880 me with these questions. Question what do they want to 0:16:42.920 --> 0:16:47.520 know about? How? Why can you do for them? I 0:16:47.560 --> 0:16:49.280 can tell them to go buy a candle lights al 0:16:49.560 --> 0:16:52.400 is basically what I can see for them. Um. So 0:16:52.440 --> 0:16:54.840 what it is is oftentimes people will say, like, there's 0:16:54.920 --> 0:16:56.920 there was one question I pulled for you guys to 0:16:56.920 --> 0:16:58.640 take a look at. That was someone who works in 0:16:58.760 --> 0:17:02.120 a call center where there's sort of a constant rotation 0:17:02.240 --> 0:17:04.680 of employees coming in and out, and they sit at stations, 0:17:04.680 --> 0:17:07.399 but it's not their own desk, so the chair is 0:17:07.440 --> 0:17:12.080 a shared chair among many people. And and presumably there's 0:17:12.119 --> 0:17:14.560 probably a fairly high turnover in this kind of job 0:17:14.600 --> 0:17:17.399 as well. And this person was saying, you know, I 0:17:17.720 --> 0:17:20.800 sit in this chair and it smells like a fart. 0:17:20.960 --> 0:17:26.000 Clearly someone who has you know, the shift after mine 0:17:26.480 --> 0:17:29.959 is a farter. And what do I do about the 0:17:30.000 --> 0:17:32.560 smell of this chair? So that I've gotten that question 0:17:32.920 --> 0:17:36.160 more than once. As I like to tell people, if 0:17:36.200 --> 0:17:40.120 you ever feel alone in this world, come read my columns, 0:17:40.160 --> 0:17:43.400 because I can promise you that any problem you have, 0:17:43.840 --> 0:17:46.040 someone else in this world has had. I've had three 0:17:46.080 --> 0:17:49.040 separate people asked me how to clean up a pound 0:17:49.119 --> 0:17:51.399 of butter that has melted into their car seat. Happens 0:17:52.320 --> 0:17:55.480 three people. Yeah, You're never alone in this world. And 0:17:55.520 --> 0:17:57.639 the chair farter is another good example of that one 0:17:58.240 --> 0:17:59.720 I do get. I do get a lot of questions 0:17:59.760 --> 0:18:01.440 about out the sort of like the kit what should 0:18:01.440 --> 0:18:03.639 I keep um which I don't think I finished answering 0:18:03.680 --> 0:18:06.560 that question. I just got so rubbing, so derailed on 0:18:06.560 --> 0:18:08.720 the rubbing alcohol fron because I'm so excited about it. 0:18:08.760 --> 0:18:12.479 But I'll tell you what My other things are microfiber cloth, 0:18:12.800 --> 0:18:16.159 which is excellent for wiping monitors. It's great for wiping 0:18:16.359 --> 0:18:18.359 a mouse. You can use it to wipe off a 0:18:18.400 --> 0:18:21.240 phone after you've used a rubbing alcohol, great for your 0:18:21.280 --> 0:18:25.400 cell phone. All of that. So microfiber is excellent. Canned air, 0:18:25.640 --> 0:18:28.800 which is also called compressed air, is excellent. It's specifically 0:18:28.880 --> 0:18:30.800 used for cleaning a keyboard, so all those crumbs and 0:18:30.840 --> 0:18:32.919 the hair and all of that good stuff that that 0:18:33.000 --> 0:18:35.600 gets jammed up in our keyboard. One other thing that 0:18:35.680 --> 0:18:38.159 most offices will have, but if your office does not 0:18:38.359 --> 0:18:41.320 have it is a great idea to keep a little 0:18:41.480 --> 0:18:44.359 bottle of dish soap because dish soap will cure a 0:18:44.359 --> 0:18:48.359 lot of ills when it comes to say that coffee 0:18:48.400 --> 0:18:50.920 that you spilled on yourself before the big meeting. Rubbing 0:18:50.920 --> 0:18:52.600 alcohol is also great for that too. But the dish 0:18:52.600 --> 0:18:54.919 sip is is also a great stain remover. And you 0:18:54.920 --> 0:18:57.280 know it's just good to have around if you carry 0:18:57.280 --> 0:19:00.560 a travel mug in and you can wash that out 0:19:00.600 --> 0:19:03.879 for yourself. You were talking about stain removal um. Obviously 0:19:03.920 --> 0:19:05.919 there are a lot of products out there, like, you know, 0:19:06.160 --> 0:19:12.040 tied pens and shout wipes. Are they worth it? Or yeah, 0:19:12.080 --> 0:19:15.320 I've got a tied pen in my bag. Absolutely absolutely yea. 0:19:16.480 --> 0:19:19.439 I was at a lunch meeting two weeks ago and 0:19:19.560 --> 0:19:22.240 my one of the women I was with, a dribbled 0:19:22.520 --> 0:19:25.560 soy sauce all down her cream colored blouse. And I 0:19:25.600 --> 0:19:28.000 looked at it and I said, oh, dear Alex, we've 0:19:28.040 --> 0:19:31.280 got dribbles. Hold on please, And I pulled the tide 0:19:31.280 --> 0:19:34.400 pen out and rescue took care of it. So all 0:19:34.400 --> 0:19:36.280 that stuff is great. I think I think actually you 0:19:36.280 --> 0:19:38.440 should just be leaving a tide pen in your pen cup. 0:19:38.720 --> 0:19:41.840 It's a great, great thing have. That sounds great, well, 0:19:42.080 --> 0:19:44.320 Jolie Care, thank you so much for joining us today. 0:19:44.560 --> 0:19:48.520 Thank you for having me. I hope so, I hope. 0:19:48.560 --> 0:19:50.440 I hope Becca will be cleaner for it. I'm gonna 0:19:50.480 --> 0:19:52.760 get some some of those rubbing alcohol wipes from our 0:19:52.800 --> 0:19:55.920 first aid kit and my time my keyboard. At least 0:19:56.000 --> 0:19:58.520 I will cause abstraction. You can go get the wipes. 0:19:58.680 --> 0:20:01.200 I'm gonna I'm gonna give you you my phone number 0:20:01.240 --> 0:20:03.000 and I'm going to have you text me an after 0:20:03.080 --> 0:20:07.359 photo yeah, we'll tweet it. That would be great. Take 0:20:07.480 --> 0:20:17.840 before and afters was getting a desk makeover. My main 0:20:17.920 --> 0:20:21.560 takeaway from our conversation with Jolie as a messy person 0:20:22.280 --> 0:20:26.639 was that if you want to change, you can, and 0:20:26.720 --> 0:20:30.119 that's something that I have a slight arch to do. 0:20:30.840 --> 0:20:33.560 I think I wish I were more naturally inclined to 0:20:33.680 --> 0:20:37.480 keep the desk tidy so that over time it didn't 0:20:37.480 --> 0:20:40.480 get as messy so quickly, and she gave me a 0:20:40.520 --> 0:20:43.520 good framework for that and suggested if I do set 0:20:43.560 --> 0:20:46.679