If you find it difficult to do what needs to be done at work, your workspace could be the problem. Take a good look at your desk. Is it cluttered, messy, and distracting?
The truth is, having an untidy desk can actually impact your concentration, and it can even affect your productivity. According to studies, you’ll have a hard time focusing and processing information if everything around you is disorganized.
Clutter isn’t just visually unappealing; it can create feelings of guilt, anxiety, and stress as it competes for your attention.
Here are five genius tips to help you organize your workspace and boost your productivity.
1. Create a Space for Your Personal Items
Let’s face it: the personal items you bring to work every day usually end up tossed onto your desk. Things like your phone, wallet, purse, and keys have nowhere to go, so they end up cluttering up your workspace and getting in the way.
Instead of leaving your things haphazardly on your desk, designate an area for them to go where they will be safe and out of sight. As a bonus, getting a box or a valet tray to keep these clutter-promoting items out of the way will minimize distractions and leave you free to do your work.
2. Purge What You Don’t Need
Although it goes without saying, organizing your desk starts with a good purge. Sort through every item on and in your desk and decide if it is useful and if you need it.
When decluttering your workspace, a good rule of thumb is to ask yourself if you have used any of the items crowding your space in the last three months. If not, toss it. If you purge your desk properly the first time, keeping your desk tidy will be that much easier in the future.
3. Wipe Your Desk Daily
Before you end your workday, make a habit of wiping down your desk before you leave. If you wipe your desk down every day, you’ll be forced to move or pack away anything you’ve left lying around.
The simple act of wiping down your desk will ensure that you have a fresh start every morning, and it will also make keeping your desk tidy more manageable.
4. Digitize Your Documents
If there are stacks of paper cluttering your desk, it’s time to digitize them. Scan every document you don’t need a physical copy of and save them as PDFs.
Besides getting rid of clutter, going digital also has the added benefits of creating searchable, organized digital directories, and it will create backups of your important documents. For documents you need to keep, find somewhere to store them that’s out of the way.
5. Create an ‘In-Out’ Tray System
Instead of having stacks of documents and projects all over your desk, create an ‘in-out’ system with two paper trays. In the ‘in’ tray, place all the documents you still need to deal with and use the ‘out’ tray for everything you’ve completed.
Having a visual reminder of how much work you’ve done and what you still need to address can help you become that much more productive and organized.
