Tired of That Messy Desk? Tips on How to Declutter Your Workspace
Isn’t it crazy how fast your office can go from seemingly organized to a cluttered mess? A week of focus and hard work can leave your office a total mess. With a proper organization system and a good decluttering, you can make your space a comfortable, functional, productivity powerhouse.
Why You Should Declutter
Clutter everywhere may not seem like a big deal at first, but it can take a significant toll on your productivity and mental well-being. Surprising? Well, being organized is more beneficial than just having a pretty workspace. Here’s why you should cut the clutter:
Messy Offices Are Overwhelming
You might be surprised that a cluttered space doesn’t just change the aesthetics; it also affects your mindset. When working in a messy office, you may find it more difficult to concentrate or focus on your work. You’ll be easily distracted by the chaos you’re working in.
Increase Your Productivity
We are always trying to get more done with less time, but if you’re spending your time searching for important items, your productivity levels will take a hit. When everything has a spot, you’ll spend less time looking and more time focusing.
Get More Space
If you feel like you’re trapped in an elevator while sitting at your desk, you have too much stuff. When you start organizing and clearing away the things you don’t need, you’ll take a deep breath and feel more relaxed with your open space.
Improved Immunity
If you suffer from the clutter bug, your desk probably hasn’t been cleaned and disinfected for awhile. Did you know that germs from sick coworkers could be lingering on your desk? Clearing off your desk and giving it a good wipe down with disinfectant could help minimize your chances of getting sick.
Confidence Boost
When you lack organization, you also have an increased chance of misplacing or losing things. Or worse, when a coworker needs a document for something they are working on, you may spend more time hunting for it than necessary. When you can easily produce documents or other items, you’ll be surprised how much it will boost your confidence. You’ll stop feeling like you’re struggling to get through the day.
Simple Ways to Declutter Your Office Space
Now that you know the why and have jumped on board with getting your clutter under control, you might feel overwhelmed with actually getting started. We understand that feeling, but we promise organizing won’t be as bad as you think. That’s why we are sharing some simple tips to get your office organized:
Remove and Recycle
The first big step to be clutter-free is to remove everything off of your desk. As you start to remove the items, toss the garbage and recycling items. Those old Post-It note reminders, the receipt for your lunch, a seminar pamphlet from a year ago, can all go into the recycling bin. Even though this step may seem like common sense, it’s easy to get distracted by the next phone call and forget to throw something simple away.
Wipe That Desk Down
After you remove all of your items, grab some disinfectant, and get cleaning. You’ll feel better knowing that all of the dust and lingering germs are a thing of the past. Don’t forget to clean your keyboard, mouse, and computer screen too.
Return What Isn’t Yours
Whether your coworker let you borrow a stapler or your pet left their favorite toy by your chair in your home office, it’s time to get rid of what isn’t yours. Create a pile of items to return, and give them back as soon as possible.
Give Everything a Home
To get your desk looking its best, all of your items will need a home. This means all of the items you leave sitting on top of your desk, the items in your drawers, to the paperwork in your filing cabinet. Use a variety of items like desk organizers, clear acrylic containers, hanging folders, bankers boxes, and more to make sure every item you keep has its own place.
Get Digital
Odds are, the clutter that is taking over your desk is mostly paper items. Don’t let your filing cabinet reach its max, instead start scanning and converting some of that paper to digital. Gone are the days of the Filofax and using books to store business cards. Using apps like business card scanners, project management apps, Cloud storage, and more can help you get rid of physical objects and get you more room in your drawers and filing cabinets. But as you digitize, make sure you are setting up an organization system as you go.
Replace with Purpose
When you start to put the items back on your desk and in your drawers, make sure you organize with purpose. Create a proper workflow by keeping the items you regularly use the easiest to access. For example, your notebook that you use every single day should be in the front of your drawer as opposed to the training guide you only touch when you need to look up a reference.
Take a Picture
When it comes to our own clutter, we often have on blinders. How many times have you gone into another office, building, or store and noticed clutter that others seem to be unaware of? Well, even if you have never seen it, others have done that same thing with your space. Since you can’t just turn those blinders off, take a step back to your door and snap a few photos on your phone. The photos will give you a different perspective and help you spot your trouble spots.
Commit to Regular Decluttering
You’ve done great getting this far, but this isn’t where your journey ends. In fact, it is just the beginning. You’ve got a great thing going, and you can keep it that way. Clutter has a way of creeping in on you, and before you know it, you’ll be back to that trapped feeling if you don’t take action. Fight back by committing to decluttering either 5 minutes a day or an hour every week. We recommend you don’t leave your decluttering for Mondays, instead strive to have it done by Friday. Why? Because you want to start your week off fresh.
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