Organizing Your Desk

So you’re up to your neck in paper piles, you can’t find your stapler, and you’ve forgotten what your actual desk looks like. What to do? Well, you could call in your closest friends to form a search party to find your long lost tax papers or you could dig in and attempt to make sense of the chaos. If you choose the search party, good luck. But if you’re ready to get your desk back in order, let’s take a look at how to take action and eliminate the clutter and remedy the mess.

Start by getting into a routine. Instead of setting a day aside to try and accomplish a complete overhaul all at once, set daily goals. Plan to sort a small stack of papers or organize a drawer a day. Within a few days you’ll see some serious progress.

Consolidate papers into categories. Separate those that can be handled quickly, those that need more time, and those that need to be filed. Organize your emails into folders according to their priority.  

Invest in needed storage. Folders, shelves, pencil holders, and file stackers will contain items within reach while keeping unsightly clutter at bay. For additional storage off of your desk add a bookshelf nearby.

Set aside one day a month and designate it as desk cleaning day. Spend an hour getting rid of anything that doesn’t make you more productive. If you don’t use it toss it or give it away.

Establish new standards for your desk. Take a good look at your clean organized space and note the differences from when you started. Sometimes we can’t see clutter and disarray because we’re too used to it. Now that your space is functional and well-organized it’s important to notice when things are out of place and put them away before they affect your efficiency.

Finally, enjoy your new desk!

Article by Amber Burkhart