By Linda Gibson
Have you been so FRUSTRATED because you can’t find anything on your desk? Piles, piles everywhere! You barely have room to work.
Here are a few simple things you can do to get your desktop decluttered:
1. Make sure that you have an appointment with yourself to declutter the top of your desk. If you don’t do this, you will probably keep procrastinating and it will never get done.
2. Have a trash bag and some boxes (one for papers to file, one for papers to work on (active projects), one for items to return to their proper rooms, one for items to return to their proper owners, and one for items that you want to give away or sell).
3. Work from left to right if you are right-handed and from right to left if you are left-handed. This allows you to have a plan of attack, and you will be working in an order that feels right to you.
4. Decide when you pick up a paper or item as to what you are going to do:
- Keep? If so, and it’s a piece of paper, place it in a pile to file. Is it an active paper? Then place it in a separate pile. If you are keeping the item, ask yourself if you really NEED it or even really WANT it. If you are just keeping it to keep it, put it in the ’sell’ box or the trash bag.
- Return? Put in it the “Return” box.
- Toss? This frightens a lot of people because they are afraid that they will need it again. If you are afraid of this, and you have no other access to the paper, then keep it. Put it in the “File” pile to deal with when you make an appointment to do so.
5. Now that you have everything off of the top of your desk, take this time to give it a good cleaning. Then return ONLY the NECESSARY items. Usually, this includes a phone, computer, active file sorter or folder, and your Planner.
You can personalize your desk with a couple of objects, but limit this - as it will tend to get cluttered again. Make sure that the objects you do put on your desk REALLY mean something to you.
6. What about those boxes and piles? Place the piles of paper that you need to file into a box, then, place a piece of cardboard or a towel down (to separate the piles), and finally, put your active papers or files on top. If you have a lot of papers, you can have one box for “To File” and another box for “Active Documents”.
7. Put the lid on the box(es) and then make an appointment with yourself to go through them. Mark this task in your Planner, in PEN! Make this a priority. You will probably have to do this in a couple of sessions. This is fine. At least you are putting a dent in the clutter! Good for you!
You will also want to make an appointment with yourself to return the items to their proper owners as well as take action the other “Sell” or “Give” boxes.
You have done a wonderful job! Now you have a clutter-free desk top and I am almost positive that it took you an hour at most (as you were only working on the desk top).
Now all you need to do is maintain it to make sure that it doesn’t get all cluttered again. How do you do this? Schedule the last 5 - 10 minutes of each day as a time to ‘close up shop’ and put items away. Doing this, you will leave your desk cleared off, with the exception of your tools and active project for the next day. When you come into work the next day, you will feel more productive.
Now that your desk top is cleared off, you will need to work on the rest of your desk, and then finally, your office. If you take it step by step, it will be manageable and realistic.
About the Author
Linda M. Gibson is a former professional organizer, online instructor, speaker, and author. She has enjoyed helping hundreds of people get organized by means of in-person consulting, her website, online classes, and eZine.