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I knew I had a major problem with organization, when I put a bill on my desk and could not find it, an hour later. It just seemed to get out of control, without me even realizing it! I would find things lying around the house, that should be filed or dealt with and put them on the desk, knowing I could get to them later, and before you know it, I cannot find them!
After going through the items on my desk, I realized that most of the things that I put on there were actually nothing more than, clutter. Things that I didn't really need to file, and didn't need to look at (known as junk mail), and could have been thrown away as soon as I brought them into the house.
Does this, happen to you? Do you have things organized and clean and then before you know it you have stacks and piles of paper, envelopes and junk all over?
As I was cleaning off my desk, I decided to take notes of 'what kind of junk' I had accumulated. This checklist may help you to eliminate clutter and get organized as well.
- Junk Mail- Don't even bother reading it, you can usually tell by the envelope that it is junk, eliminate it. Shred it, throw it in the garbage and get it out of the house.
- Old notes, wrappers and used lists. I had wrappers from candy and gum, notes that were so old I don't remember why I wrote them and checklists that were outdated. This is clutter! Shred it.
- Excess things on the desk top. Even though I use the stapler, it doesn't have to be out in the open, taking up valuable space, however, my tape dispenser does, I use it a couple of times a day. Check to see what you have on your desk that is wasting valuable space, find a 'home' for it, and store it.
- Pictures can be hung on a wall instead of displayed on the desktop, giving me even more room to work with.
- Duplicate lists or half-completed projects that I know I won't do or already have a copy of. I may run off an extra copy of something and then I find I do not need it. Shred it; do not let it take up space.
- Cutesy things on the desk. It may be cute, but if it does not serve a purpose to the work you do, it belongs on a shelf, not on the desktop. Your desk is for working, not displaying!
- 1 or 20-all you can work with at a time is one or two things, put the rest away, in a handy spot, until you need it. One pen is all you need on your desk top, one or two files are probably all you will work with at one time. You get the idea!
- Coupons can be stored in an envelope in my purse, not on the desktop. I will need these to be with me, so why should I have to hunt for them before I go?
- Bills that are due. A separate file folder on my desktop can hold these instead of having them lying all over the desk. This way they are handy, and in one place so I do not loose them.
- Notes, memo's etc. Keep a small bulletin board, near your desk, that these items can be displayed on, so that they aren't lost and misplaced but are handy for you to check
Now that your desktop is uncluttered, you will have a work surface that you can see, probably for the first time in ages. Now that you have decluttered your desktop, how about tackling the drawers too? Get rid of the clutter, get your office organized, and be able to find the things that you need for good workflow.
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