Organizing your desk can be the first step towards higher productivity, lower stress, and more success.
You’ll get started in these 5 easy steps that will help you achieve and maintain a clear desktop.
Here is a quick starting point, ask yourself the following questions:
1. Do I have piles of paper or stuff building up? Where?
2. Are there things in my office that don’t have a permanent home?
3. Is ‘organizing your desk’ a to-do list item that never seems to make it to the top of the list?
Yes to any of these questions means you should read on!
Organizing Your Desk in 5 Steps
1. Get the ‘biggest bang for your buck’
Organize the visible stuff first. Spend 2 hours clearing the top of your desk and you’ll feel great the next time you walk in! But organize your drawers for 2 hours, and you’ll walk in only to feel discouraged and overwhelmed still.
2. Focus on one area at a time.
When you split your efforts a little here and a little there, you get much less done. Pick one area or project and focus on completing it before you move on.
3. Designate zones in your office.
This looks something like this:
- Tray for incoming mail
- Tray for outgoing mail
- Tray for to-be-filed papers
- Project files
- ect.
In order to get your zones worked out, spend some time really watching how you handle and deal with paperwork in your office and around your desk.
4. Deal with the Inbox.
Organizing your desk includes that computer on top.
Tons of email sitting in your inbox is just a giant block of stress on your desk. Learn how to bring your Inbox to empty and make it easy to keep it that way, here!
5. Don’t Stop Here.
Organizing your desk isn’t a one time thing. You’ll need systems in place to stay organized. You don’t want to be back here in a month.
Being organized is a way of life!
Ready to start organizing your desk? Great! These five steps will take you there. Commit to tackling one and a day and this task will feel very manageable 🙂
What is the best tip you found while organizing your desk?