Yesterday was the first day of spring. It was a beautiful day here in North Carolina. The change in seasons also means it’s time to start cleaning around your law firm.

Quick story: My 17-year-old son’s room was, until very recently, a pigsty. He (Toby) had crap piled everywhere including, among other things, 10+ musical instruments. One of them was a piano. It was nearly impossible to enter the room, and once you got in, you could do little but sit on the bed.

He had become a resident of the living room and took over the coffee table with his schoolbooks, computer, and ever-expanding piles of junk.

Toby explained that he preferred the living room to his bedroom. He had a long list of reasons for spending his time in the living room. His explanations did not, however, include the mess in his room. He truly believed that he wanted to do his schoolwork, etc. in the living room for valid reasons unrelated to the mess.

I wasn’t buying it. My thought was that he would prefer to spend more time in his room, avoiding his parents and sister, but he just couldn’t cope with the mess.

We attacked the problem. First, while he was away for the weekend, we removed the piano, opening up a big, empty space. Second, we offered a large computer monitor that he could use to watch YouTube and other streaming Internet video. We explained that he could only have the monitor once the room was straight.

He started cleaning and immediately abandoned the living room. He hasn’t been heard from since the room was reorganized. He seems happier being back in his own space and having some privacy.

We are, of course, elated to have our living room back.

So what does this have to do with the practice of law?

My personal experience is similar to Toby’s experience. When my office is a mess, my attitude toward the space changes. I avoid the office or at least certain parts of our office space. I find myself distracted by the mess and changing my work habits because of the chaos.

Is the same thing happening to you? Is it possible that you’re like Toby? Is it possible that you’ve so thoroughly adapted to the mess that you don’t even know why you do the things you do? Toby doesn’t even realize that he has gravitated back to his room. He just picked up from the living room and hasn’t been back.

What’s the mess costing you?

Our law firm spends money on the mess—real money.

We pay for old crap piled in closets at $24 per square foot (some of you pay much, much more). We pay in lost revenues from clients who don’t hire us when they perceive the mess as disorganization. We pay in wages when our lawyers and staff can’t find files, notebooks, exhibits, etc. Messiness is costly.

Here are my 10 tips for addressing the mess:

1. Clean out the old technology. Find a group that takes tech donations or, if all else fails, take it to your local recycling center. Old computers, monitors, and keyboards pile up, and you lose track of whether they’re working or broken. If they’ve been lying around for a while, just give them away.

2. Clean out the office supplies. Inevitably, there are supplies you purchased but can no longer use. For instance, it’s easy to accumulate unused laser printer cartridges for laser printers you no longer have. They’re tough to donate—nobody has the printer they’re designed for. Sometimes you can send them back to the manufacturer. We recently disposed of 30 reams of legal-sized paper that is no longer used in our office and was taking up a bunch of space.

3. Dump the old books. An equitable distribution treatise from 1995 is worthless. Put it in the trash. Go carefully through the bookshelves and throw things away. Toss the outdated pocket parts that the staff was hesitant to throw away. Get rid of the old magazines, legal newspapers, etc. Why are you saving this stuff?

4. Look in the closet. It’s filled with junk you haven’t touched in years. If you haven’t had a need for it since last spring, it’s time to put it in the dumpster.

5. Check the refrigerator. Ours was filled with expired food from long-gone employees. Dump it.

6. Inspect the kitchen area. People save the weirdest things. Our kitchen drawers fill up with those packets of plastic silverware wrapped up a napkin. We never use them. Toss them out along with the soy sauce packets.

7. Focus on your office. Clear off the files piled on the windowsill. Hit the credenza and the desk. Go through every drawer. If it’s not being used right now, then file it or toss it.

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8. Ditch the old files. If the case isn’t active, then get rid of the files. We scan everything and return the originals. Think of the square footage you can save on file boxes. Get rid of all the old trial notebooks and exhibits. Ship the old stuff to the clients or, at a minimum, pack them off to your file storage facility.

9. Make everyone on the team join you in the cleanup operation. Go office by office, desk by desk, and help make it happen. We spent an hour with a staff member who was afraid to throw things away because she didn’t want to get into trouble when we later needed the material. More than half of the shelf above her desk was emptied out and sent to the garbage in short order.

10. Tune up the furniture. Look hard at your office furniture and dump the stuff that’s beyond repair. Then have a furniture doctor come in and clean up what’s left. Remove the scratches and fix the dents. A good furniture repairperson can have your tables, chairs, and desks back in peak condition and looking brand new.

That’s it. Get moving. You’ve got a lot to gain, and this spring cleaning effort will pay for itself immediately. Who knows: maybe you’ll discover a new space you prefer to the one you’ve been holed up in as your mess grew around you. I’m convinced that Toby is a happier person back in his own room.