7 Tips to Organize Your Desk For Maximum Productivity
7 Tips to Organize Your Desk For Maximum Productivity
When you sit down to your desk, do you have to swim through oceans of paperwork, food wrappers or books that have been there since the day you bought the desk? Most people that have a desk know what it is to get buried under all that clutter. In fact, most people never find their way free of it. This article will show you how to organize your desk and make your productivity soar:
Identify the things you use every single day
The first step is to clear your desk and replace only items that you use each day. Daily use items are the ones you need to have an exact spot for. You should not have to reach any further than arm’s length for them if possible and they should have a permanent location. No temporary visitors allowed. If you don’t use it daily, then find a spot somewhere other than your desk. Use it when you need it and replace it immediately when you are done to keep your desk clear.
Eliminate all nonessential items
Pictures, forty year old paper weights and that invitation to last month’s wedding that you missed are not going to make you any more productive. There is a place for these things, but you should keep them off your desk. If you must have a family picture (I like one), make it a small one and put it in the corner of the desk out of the way.
Set up incoming and outgoing boxes
No matter how much you want to avoid it, you are going to have physical papers coming in and going out. Sometimes they might simply be pieces of mail and other times they might be to do lists and the like. Whatever the case, you should have a physical in and out box so that you can stay organized. To organize your desk, you have to organize the things that end up on top of it.
Make everything electronic that can be
Electronics, computers, smartphones and so on are incredible. They have made our lives so much more organized and should be taken full advantage of. You need them for the scheduling power, time saving and countless other things. It can also keep your desk more organized by eliminating the majority of papers that end up there. Move everything over to electronics right away that you can….and back it up.
Have a large and available waste basket
If you have nowhere to throw things away you will let it pile up on your desk. The moment you have trash, place it in the waste basket next to you. Make it a large one so that when you have a bigger trash day you don’t have to take a break to empty it.
Never eat at your desk
Food and drink at your desk will slow you down and make you messy. Don’t do it. Yes….even that Twinkie.
Leave it the same way every day
If you replace every single item each day and leave it in perfect shape, your desk will never get out of hand. Take that five minutes and tidy it before you go. You will be glad you did when you come in the next day. Organizing your desk is not worth anything if you don’t maintain it each and every day.
If you are in need of better organization skills in general, then we have some things here that will be sure yo help you out! Check out our guide to Getting Organized! If you find that you are still having organization problems, then you might want to try this book on organizing inside and out!
