It’s National Clean Off Your Desk Day!

There is a day for everything – National Puppy Day, Ice Cream Day, to name a couple – but this one is a favorite. Happy Clean Off Your Desk Day! As I mentioned in my previous post, the tidiness of your workspace directly correlates to the thoughts and clarity of your mental space.

If your desk is in need of an overhaul, be sure to tune in. If you’re fairly organized, but have some room for improvement, one or two of these tips might be right for you. Below are five tips to get your desk in clean and functional shape.

1. Clear the Desktop – Look to see if you have too many photos or do dads on your desk. Can you relocate them to a bookshelf? Just having these personal items on your desk will make your desk appear cluttered even if there is nothing else on the desk. If you want a family photo, consider making it your computer background or screensaver.
2. Tame Your Office Supplies – Tape, paper clips, post-it notes and other items that you don’t use often are meant to be inside a desk. Yes, the pen, stapler, or any item you use often can live on the desk, but the other items should be contained.
3. Shred or Recycle What You Don’t Need – Incoming papers can be sorted quickly if you have a shredder, garbage can, and recycling can right by your desk. With so much in the news about identity theft, why take the chance to not shred any personal papers that come across your desk. The remaining papers that need to be filed can be addressed later, but simply eliminating what is NOT needed clears a lot off your desk.
4. Organize the Paper you Need – This can be an entire blog! Be honest about what papers actually need to be out on your desk. You can only work on one project at a time, so keep the items associated with that project on your desk and the other projects gathered and organized in such a way that you can access them when you need them.
5. Tuck in Your Desk at Night – A clean desk is a sign of an organized person. Take the time each night before you leave for the day to reset your desk. When you arrive the next day, it will be in a clean, clear slate for you to begin your day.

These are just a few ways to keep a clean desk. What do you do to make sure your desk stays clean?

Image: Kaboompics.com