National Clean Off Your Desk Day is Here!

By Stephanie Boyd Certified Professional Organizer

Who knew? The second Monday of January is dedicated to cleaning off our desks! Well, perfect timing if you ask me. Our desks are doing double and triple duty now more than ever. Many of us are working from home and have added one or two new activities to this space. So let’s roll up our sleeves and get to it!

Just like our kitchens process food, our desks process information. Also, just like kitchens have places to store, prep and cook food, our desks should have places to store the things that belong there and zones for those that are just passing through.

Take a moment to look at your desk and ask:

What needs to happen on this surface?

What needs to be here?

What lands here that should land somewhere else?

Step 1:

Designate zones or specific places for the categories of items that need to be there. This will likely include:

· A landing pad or area of the desk for incoming mail and paper

· A dedicated place for your computer or laptop

· Pens, highlighters, sticky notes, etc.

· Your planner or phone

Step 2:

Create a place for work-in-progress so it doesn’t end up going back to the in-box area to be sorted through over and over. File folders and letter trays work well here.

Step 3:

Have an exit plan for paper. This is really important. Once you’ve taken care of the to-do item it needs to go somewhere. Most of the desks I organize have piles of paper that simply belong somewhere else. The most typical places are the recycle bin, shredder, scanner or filing cabinet. In my experience, most people don’t have time to scan, shred or file right after acting on something – most of us are happy just to get the task completed. So, get the item off your desk. That’s the rewarding part anyway, right? This is precious workspace and finished items no longer belong here. Use a letter tray on top of the shredder or filing cabinet for the items that eventually will go there. Label a file folder for scanning and keep it in your standing file. The key is to create a routine to shred, scan and file so things don’t pile up. If weekly is too much, then just keep an eye on it and don’t let the paper stack get overwhelming. Maybe once a month is good enough for you.

Tips for productive workspaces:

Keep business and personal files separate. Separate landing pads or in-boxes, standing files, and color-coding can help with this.
Spend five minutes straightening up your desk at the end of the day. This reacquaints you with what’s on it and helps you prioritize for tomorrow.

Use vertical space near your desk for pegboards, floating shelves and even wall pockets for files and magazines.
Make sure the ergonomics work for you – you should be comfortable here.
Install adequate lighting.
Lastly, always incorporate something that makes you smile into this hardworking space.