So, how many of you are sat reading this blog at a messy desk? Be honest! We all have a tendency to get caught up in work and forget to organise our workspaces. Some people thrive in this environment. If you love a messy desk, then good for you! Personally, I can’t get anything done unless my workspace is spotless. Everything needs a place and every pencil must be lined up correctly. Call it obsessive, call it crazy, but it gets the work done! When you have a tidy space, your mind is clear to work through problems. Without further ado, here are five secrets to a more organised workspace.
- Get rid of clutter – First things first, let’s purge your desk of anything unessential. Documents, press releases, crisp wrappers and old books have no place here! You’ll have to be ruthless and brutal with your decisions. Just do it quickly and all at once. Ask yourself what you use every day. Those should be the only items that get to stay. Throw the rest or offer them to colleagues if they’re useful.
- Make a little home for everything – Now you can clear even more space by moving things away from your desk. Instead of having pens and pencils lying across the desk, find them a home. Rather than a huge stack of papers, pick up some folders and office tidies to store them. Click here for a nice range of office racks and storage compartments. Get everything off the desk and into a home.
- Separate folders – I don’t know about you, but my biggest problem is always loose paper. There’s so much of it! And it all needs a home. The best thing to do here is get three or four A4 folders or binders. Label each one and file every piece of paper in one of them. You can have one folder for reading material or research. One can be for meeting preparation and things that need to be discussed. Another can be anything that still needs a response from others. A final one can hold all of your accounts.
- Revolutionise your computer desktop – Your computer desktop is no different to your real desk top. When it’s a mess of documents, images and unsorted folders, it can drive you crazy. And, the longer you put it off, the worse it gets. Spend ten minutes every week just sorting it out and tidying up loose parts. Put everything in a sensible folder and create easy navigation between everything. If you work for yourself, it’s important to stay disciplined and make time for these small things.
- Tidy at the end of every day – The biggest problem with clutter and mess is that it builds up over time. The bigger it gets, the bigger the cleanup operation! One good trick here is to do a quick tidy up before you leave for the day. I know it’s the last thing you want to do after a hard day’s work. But, you’ll really thank yourself in the morning when you arrive at a clear and tidy workspace!
Which one of these tricks could you add to your daily work life? Take one at a time and organise your life!
