One of the best things you can do to improve motivation and boost productivity is to tidy your office. An untidy office can:
- Distract you because of visual clutter
- Undermine your focus and sense of direction
- Waste time as you look for things that are lost in the clutter
- Demoralise you with piles of paper
- Make a poor impression on others.
Yet it’s simple to make it better – in fact, you can do an express office tidy in about 30 minutes. True, you may not have a perfectly organised office in that time. But you will have a far more motivating and pleasant place to work. Here’s how.
Step 1: Remove what you don’t need (10 minutes)
Get a large bag or box and quickly go through your office looking for anything you can do without. Look for:
- Old seminar notes – you’ll never re-read them
- Excess stationery – how many pens and boxes of staples do you really need?
- Magazines – if it’s not this month’s or last month’s, then you’ll never read it
- Paraphernalia for any project, hobby, art, or craft you’ve lost interest in – don’t let it oppress you
- Old files – recycle or shred as appropriate (subject to what you need to keep for tax, reference, etc).
Check your desk, drawers, shelves, filing cabinets, and storage cupboards and in 10 minutes you should be able to fill a medium-to-large bag or box.
Move fast and don’t over-analyse. If you haven’t used it for a while, then let it go. You can always replace it later if you need to.
Step 2: Clear everything off your desk (5 minutes)
Next, get everything off your main desk space. Put it on the floor, on filing cabinets, or anywhere you can.
Step 3: Only put it back if you use it every day (5 minutes)
The only things that earn a space on the prime CBD real estate of your desktop are the items you use all the time. They might include:
- Desk diary
- Pens
- Laptop or desktop computer, mouse, trackpad, etc
- iPad, phone, etc
- Notepad
- Lamp
- Coffee mug and coaster.
Now that you have less stuff on your desk,you can afford to make it nice and neat. Make sure you also keep a good space clear for working without distraction. As for all the other stuff that used to live on your desk? It will now have to find a new home out in the suburbs. It’s a good thing we just made room by getting rid of stuff you don’t use!
Step 4: If you use it often, store it close by (5 minutes)
Let’s return to your pile of former desk stuff. Pick out the things you use pretty regularly. These can go in inner-city locations such as your desk drawers, shelves above your desk, and other locations that are easily accessible from your desk chair. They might inlcude:
- Envelopes and stamps
- Post-its
- Stapler, hole punch, ruler, scissors, etc.
Step 5: If you don’t use it often, store it farther away (5 minutes)
With each remaining item, decide how often you use it. The less often you use it, the farther from your desk it should go. And if you hardly use it at all, consider letting it go and enjoying more space and less clutter. So what do you think? A good result for only 30 minutes, don’t you agree? Okay then, back to work! :) PS If you want to declutter, streamline, and organise your office more thoroughly, then you might like my new program, 7 Days To An Organized Home Office: Clear Clutter and Get More Done.
