Freeze! Nobody move!
This is an inspection. What is on your desk…right now???
Papers. Post-its? highlighters? Binders from last month? Unfinished sodas? Last year’s magazines?
How are you working in that mess?
I recommend that you start each day by spending 5 minutes cleaning up your workspace. It will pay off in spades in terms of productivity. (When was the last time you “lost” something on your desk?)
And no…we are not buying the “they are organized piles…I know where everything is” excuse.
File it or Trash it
If you are not immediately working on it, either “file it” or “trash it.”
Personally, I prefer the “trash it” method. Put away what you need and then get rid of what you don’t in order to get your workspace clean.
Productivity Increase
You will find that a few things happen if you regularly clean your workspace:
- You will be able to work on the task at hand without shuffling other things on your desk.
- You will not “lose” things on your desk.
- You peers will notice your “new” reduced clutter attitude. They may follow suit.
- You will have less accidents knocking stuff off your desk. (Don’t say it doesn’t happen).
- You will get more done. Period.
A clear desk really does help me to focus and to get through things faster and with far fewer mistakes…
A clear desk really does help me to focus and to get through things faster and with far fewer mistakes…
Thanks for this, I needed to see it and think on it.This really should be an uncompromisable part of a daily routine. When we put something where it doesn’t belong so that we can deal with it “later”, and we do not deal with it, then we get what I call “fixture mentality”: It “belongs” there. We get used to seeing it. So if we do what you say and *make* ourselves really look at things on our desk, it will do wonders for our productivity.Another problem is we simply don’t want to do it. But come on, five minutes isn’t that long. Hey, maybe it will be much, much better if we give it an extra three minutes once in a while.
Thanks for this, I needed to see it and think on it.This really should be an uncompromisable part of a daily routine. When we put something where it doesn’t belong so that we can deal with it “later”, and we do not deal with it, then we get what I call “fixture mentality”: It “belongs” there. We get used to seeing it. So if we do what you say and *make* ourselves really look at things on our desk, it will do wonders for our productivity.Another problem is we simply don’t want to do it. But come on, five minutes isn’t that long. Hey, maybe it will be much, much better if we give it an extra three minutes once in a while.