Would you like to have a tidy and organized desk?
Well, it’s no wonder. After all, there are plenty of advantages:
- When you’re desk is organized and free of clutter, you have a place for everything, and everything is in its place.
- Instead of rummaging through a messy drawer in search of a paper clip or rubber band, you know exactly where to look for everything. And you can find whatever you need in seconds.
- Thanks to your tidy, clutter-free environment, the hours you spend working are more relaxed and productive than ever before.
It all sounds great, doesn’t it?
But the truth is that, for a lot of us, having a meticulously organized desk just doesn’t work.
What Usually Happens When You Clean Off Your Desk
Does this sound familiar?
One afternoon, you spend a few hours straightening your desktop. When you’re done, everything is neatly stored in a specific drawer, or tray, or holder.
Looking at your handiwork, you feel this great sense of accomplishment. And you’re convinced that your organized and clutter-free desktop is going to help you get more done.
But then you start to work, and it all falls apart.
When you need your stapler, you have to spend a minute or two remembering where you put it. Then you have to open the drawer, cabinet or container the stapler is in to get it out.
When you’re done with the stapler, returning it to its new home just seems like too much trouble. So, instead of being neatly tucked away, it ends up right back where it started. On top of your desk.
The same thing happens with your highlighter, your box of paperclips, and your index cards. And, before you know it, your desktop is just as messy and cluttered as it was before.
Maybe organizing your desk in the conventional way just isn’t for you. But you’d still like your desktop to be in some kind of order.
And here’s a quick, easy and effortless way to keep your desktop clutter-free.
Five Steps to an Organized Desktop
Step 1: Buy 3 clear, plastic containers.
These containers don’t have to be big. You can find clear, shoebox-sized containers at your local department store, drugstore or dollar stores.
Many of these containers come with lids, but you won’t need them. For this “system” to work, your containers need to be open at all times.
You might be tempted to spring for opaque containers covered with colorful designs. But resist this temptation. Your containers must be clear.
You’ll understand why in a minute.
Step 2: Get something to label the containers with.
If you have a labeler, you’re set. The self-adhesive labels you can find at most department and stationary stores will also do the trick.Or just use masking tape and a permanent marker. It’s an easy—and cheap—way to make labels.
Step 3: Label the first container “Office Supplies.”
This first container will hold things like erasers, Stickie tabs, tape, your stapler, and White Out. It will also live on your desktop, so it will always be within easy reach.Take all of the office supplies sitting on your desk right now and dump it into the Office Supplies Box.
Step 4: Label the second container “Personal Stuff.”
What do I mean by “personal stuff?”Things like eye drops, cough drops, chewing gum, hand moisturizer, and even hair ties.
These aren’t things you need to get your work done. But, when your lips get dry, you don’t want to stop what you’re doing to go look for lip balm. You want it to be right there in your Personal Stuff Box.
Put this box on something close to your desk, like a side table, or the top of your printer. Or, if your desk has shelves, you can slip your Personal Stuff Box onto a shelf.
If you have any personal items sitting on your desk right now, toss them into your Personal Stuff Box.
Step 5: Label the third container “Odds and Ends.”
“Odds and Ends” are things that don’t belong in the other two boxes.- The chargers for some of your portable devices.
- Coupons for a local pizza place.
- A set of miniature screwdrivers…that ended up on your desk for reasons you can’t even remember.
You don’t need these things for work, or even to make yourself more comfortable as you work. But, somehow, these items end up on your desk anyway. Putting them in the Odds and Ends Box gets them out of the way until you can put them back where they actually belong.
If there’s room, keep your Odds and Ends box next to your Personal Stuff Box.
Why This Works
Dumping everything into three containers doesn’t seem very organized, does it? But this system works for three reasons.
1. It makes containing the clutter easier. Failing to “put stuff back” when you’re finished with it is one of the major causes of clutter. So you need to make putting stuff back where it belongs as easy and hassle-free as possible. And dumping an item into a box that’s sitting right there is pretty easy.
2. You have a good idea where your stuff is. If you need your permanent marker, you don’t have to waste time hunting it down. You know it’s in your Office Supplies Box.
3. It’s easy to find stuff stored in a clear container. You can see almost everything in a clear box from the outside. If you can’t see an item at first glance, give the box a turn or two. When looking for small things that have fallen to the bottom of the box, you might have to push the contents around a little. But it beats rummaging feverishly through four desk drawers to find a thumbtack. (Which can be painful if you aren’t careful.)
Using three clear containers is a quick and painless way to keep your desktop clutter free. And it makes finding what you need when you need it fast and easy.
What do you do to keep your desktop neat and organized?
