Photo: cobannon / Flickr

With life, comes clutter. Desks, drawers, and a computer’s desktop can quickly get out of hand, leaving us in a state of chaos that makes it hard to get anything done. The best way to handle clutter is to make a little effort towards eliminating it every day. Many people leave clutter until it’s too late, though, and that’s when it’s time for a serious declutter at work. Here’s how.

Your desk

You can’t work well in a messy environment, so it’s vital to declutter your desk. First, clear everything from the surface of your desk, leaving just the computer, phone, and similar items. Now sort through everything that was on your desk, grouping items that belong together and throwing out anything you don’t need. Finally, designate a home for each group of similar items. Have a single folder for each client or project, and use a paper tray as an ‘inbox’ for all incoming papers and sort through it every day.

Your drawers

It’s not enough to neaten up your desk. You also need to think about what’s lurking inside its drawers. It’s very easy to dump anything you’re not sure what to do with inside a drawer, leaving you with an intimidating mess in no time. As you did with the surface of your desk, empty out your drawers. Throw out anything you don’t need and, again, place similar items together. It’s a good idea to dedicate one drawer to personal items like hand cream, snacks and magazines. Then dedicate another drawer to items you use often like stationery and important files you don’t keep on your desk. Finally, never use your drawers as a dumping ground for things you’re not sure what to do with. That’s a sure recipe for chaos.

Your desktop

Information clutter is something everyone has to deal with, and it often makes itself evident on computer desktops so packed with saved items it’s difficult to navigate your way through them and get to applications. The first step to decluttering your desktop is to create folders for the files that are creating clutter. It’s a good idea to have a folder for downloads and a folder for work on your desktop – you’ll find most of the files that are causing clutter will fit into one of those two folders. Delete anything you don’t absolutely have to have, and be sure to delete any duplicate files while you’re at it. You can also try using a desktop organiser like Fences (for PC), which will make it super easy to have, and maintain, a zen desktop.

Decluttering is a process, not an event. Declutter a little every day and you won’t end up with an unmanageable work space ever again.

Tags: office, office clutter