Many people spend as much time at the office as they do at home, yet few pay as much attention to keeping their workspace clean as they do their bedroom or kitchen at home. Making sure your office is clean can save you time and make you work more efficiently - giving you more time to spend at home. Plus, the office is also a space where many germs spend their time, so a clean desk can keep you healthy, too. Here are five tips to a cleaner office.

1. Your trash says a lot about you

The adage, "Your trash says a lot about who you are," applies here. Working in an office means there's a lot of paperwork, paperwork, and more paperwork to be done, and if the trash can isn't filled with bits and scraps of paper by the end of the day, where are theyis it? All over your desk, maybe?

The first rule for keeping the office clean-or your part of the office, at least-is to tidy up your desk or station every day before you leave. It doesn't sound like much, but cleaning up every day pays off big time in the long run. It's your work and it's your mess, so show some effort to put things in the right places. Plus, if you clean every day you'll only be dealing with a small mess, rather than a large mess if you leave it for weeks or even months.

2. H is for hygiene

If it isn't too much trouble, especially if someone else happens to occupy your station on another shift, you should consider wiping the keyboard and mouse with a cloth before you begin work. A cloth sprayed with some rubbing alcohol isn't such a bad idea, either. You don't know where the other person puts his or her hands while you're at home asleep. It's better to be safe than dirty.

Even if you don't share a workstation with someone working another shift, it's still a good idea to wipe down your computer keyboard. If you or anyone else in the office is sick, the germs can spread to your keyboard and mouse, and you risk infection (or re-infection) if the places you're touching aren't clean.

3. Your computer, too

Your desk and keyboard are clean, but don't forget about your computer. We don't mean dusting off your monitors (though you should do that, too); defragmenting your hard drive and uninstalling unused programs can make your computer run more efficiently.

Begin by deleting unused applications or programs. These take up extra space, space better reserved for some other application that you actually use. Next, delete unnecessary icons and files from the desktop. All these-programs, icons, files-take up space that slows down your PC over time. If everything is still being used, then run the Disk Defragmenter application. While it doesn't clean up or delete extra files from the system, it reorganizes the hierarchy of files so the operating system runs faster and can work more efficiently.

4. Hard habit to make

Make organization a habit. Do this, and you'll be eliminating 60 to 70 percent of your office clutter without even realizing it. The problem with people is they tend to forget about their surroundings and just focus, sometimes even bury, themselves with the work at hand. Don't do that. Please, don't do that, unless you want office roaches and mice doing their work in your station, too.

I can't stress this enough: make it a habit. For example, make sure to add your paper to the recycling bin as soon as you are done with it. Take your coffee mug to the office kitchen as soon as you've finished your drink and clean it right away. The more things you take care of as soon as they come up, the more time you'll save by not dealing with large messes.

5. Put the "service" in cleaning service

Even if you and all of your coworkers keep your desks clean and free of clutter, there are still other areas that need to be cleaned: the floors, bathrooms, and even the windows. A cleaning company can pick up the tasks that help make the entire office a cleaner place.

First things first: research is key to hiring a reliable cleaning service company. Not all cleaning services are worth the money spent on them. Consider asking for recommendations from other companies in your building or next door. Ask for references and ask around. You need to be able to trust your cleaner to get rid of the grime, and to respect your office mates' space, too.

A clean office is a productive, healthy office. Take some time today to clean up your space - you won't regret it.