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Is your desk mess organised chaos?

Four in ten people admit their home working space is ‘organised chaos’, with empty snack packets, plates and cutlery, takeaway coffee cups and children’s toys cluttering it.

We surveyed 2,000 people who work from home and revealed the mounds of useless artefacts that swamp WFH workspaces, where fish tanks, makeup and cat treats featured among the items.

We found 14 per cent find themselves working in ‘junk rooms’ in the house - surrounded by boxes, dusty exercise equipment or old furniture.

While 13 per cent have used glasses littering their space, as well as Post-it notes (32 per cent), snacks (13 per cent) and discarded branded merchandise from the company they work for (five per cent) also wreaking havoc.

We found eight in ten have a dedicated workspace during their WFH days, although 39 per cent confessed their at-home spot is messier than their in-office alternative. 

This is despite the fact that 87 per cent agree a tidy desk can impact your productivity when working, with 89 per cent saying their current home set up increases their efficiency.

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Cluttered desks are impacting efficiency

Greig Millar, Chief Revenue Officer at Brother said: “Where the pandemic marked the beginning of a remote working structure to be adopted by businesses across the world, we’re now four years into the widely adapted working model.

“And we couldn’t help but wonder at the actual condition of peoples’ home working environments.

“Our research shows that professionals are letting their WFH setup fall by the wayside because it’s a space personal to them and not something they’d be as judged on by their colleagues, but we also know that messy spaces can impact our productivity. 

“While so many of us are time-poor, finding ways to maintain organisation without requiring too much effort can have a positive impact on your workday.”

The study found 54 per cent agreed their working from home space needs a refresh.  

A quarter (26 per cent) desire a dedicated room to work from, with spare bedrooms (20 per cent), living rooms (15 per cent) and dining rooms (nine per cent) currently among the locations where professionals have their permanent set up over an office or study (34 per cent).    

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Home working solutions help to tackle desk mess

When you’re working from home, it’s important to create a comfortable home office environment that works for you, and keeps you as productive, and efficient as possible.

That’s why we take so much care to design products that fit seamlessly into your working day.

So whether you work from home a couple of days a week or run your own business from your spare bedroom, we can help your home office flow better – so you can focus your time on getting things done.

Staying productive at home flows better with Brother.

Create your home office

                                       Read more about our research into messy desks

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How does your messy desk compare?

We check out the state of the nation’s desks in this blog based on our survey of 2,000 home workers.


Find out what’s causing messy desks and what’s stopping people keeping them organised.

Read our messy desks blog here

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Desk mess makeover: the simple changes that will help your work from home days flow better

Looking for some practical steps on how to address your cluttered workspace woes? Click the button below and read the blog.

Read our messy desk makeover blog

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Uncovered: The reason why Gen Z have the messiest desks

Does your age impact how ordered your desk is? Our research says it does!


Find out how different generations approach desk mess. Click below to read the blog.

Read our blog on generational messy desks

Tips for transformation: where to start with organising your messy desk

Making the most of the space you have is key to keeping on top of unnecessary clutter.

These quick tips are simple and won’t take too much extra time or money to execute. Click below to read the blog.

Read our blog on organising your messy desk

Want to know more about organising your home office?