It’s National Clean Off Your Desk Day!
It’s National Clean Off Your Desk Day!
Find some time today to celebrate the holiday! After all, it’s National Clean Off Your Desk Day!
- Start by identifying the piles on your desk.
What are they? What action needs to be taken with each pile? Do you know where you are headed? As soon as you do, your end result will be easier.
- Maybe some of the stuff needs to go to someone else.
Basically, this is an easy task. Gather everything that belongs to someone else and set aside time to deliver it.
- Review the items on your desk.
There may be a lot of stuff that just needs to be thrown out. Great, do it!
If you only have time to do these 3 steps that’s fine. It certainly will make a big difference.
If you have more time, identify what you don’t need out on your desk and make a “pile-to-file”. By this time you should have left only the stuff you are working on. Fabulous! It’s time to start your business day with a little less clutter.
After all, it’s a happy clean-off your desk day holiday!
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Janet Schiesl
Janet has been organizing since 2005. She is a Certified Professional Organizer and the owner of Basic Organization.
She loves using her background as a space planner to challenge her clients to look at their space differently. She leads the team in large projects and works one-on-one with clients to help the process move quickly and comfortably. Call her crazy, but she loves to work with paper, to purge what is not needed and to create filing systems that work for each individual client.
Janet is a Past Board Member of the National Association of Productivity and Organizing Professionals and a Past President of the Washington DC Chapter of NAPO were she has been named Organizer of the Year and Volunteer of the Year.
Janet Schiesl
Janet has been organizing since 2005. She is a Certified Professional Organizer and the owner of Basic Organization.
She loves using her background as a space planner to challenge her clients to look at their space differently. She leads the team in large projects and works one-on-one with clients to help the process move quickly and comfortably. Call her crazy, but she loves to work with paper, to purge what is not needed and to create filing systems that work for each individual client.
Janet is a Past Board Member of the National Association of Productivity and Organizing Professionals and a Past President of the Washington DC Chapter of NAPO were she has been named Organizer of the Year and Volunteer of the Year.
Thanks for the easy to do way to start putting your office in order!
Thank you for taking the time to read it!
My desk is a work in progress. Everything belongs to me but I’m involved in so many different projects that it easily and quickly becomes a disaster zone. I’m working to create some basic strategies so I can keep these projects moving forward, have easily accessible places to stick things back when I’m not actively working on them, and leave my desk tidy when I go to a client so that I feel good about walking back into my office and doing more project work. It’s a lot to ponder. I keep working at it for several reasons but mostly because it impedes forward progress when I leave my desk in a mess.
It’s always a tough balance to keep it in working order and like you said be able to come back to it and feel good about it, not overwhelmed. Sounds like you have a good system for putting them back when you’re not actively using them.
I love national holidays that relate to our field. =) It is a great reminder to start the year off with a clean desk, whether in your office or home. Thanks for sharing.
I love Organizing holidays too. Thanks for taking the time to read the blog.
I love having a clear desk surface. However, when I’m in the middle of a project, piles of stuff will spread around me. I’m OK with that. But when I’m done with that work period or day, I will put the piles into one folder and temporarily put them away. I’m better able to return to the project with a clean slate.
You’ve got your system down! It is very nice returning to a clean slate each time.
I keep my desk fairly clear, but that is where I charge my computer, iPad, and phone. I also have my landline there, a pencil sharpener, a pen cup, and a plant. I also seem to always have a smile pile of pending work. I don’t mind it, because it is small and regularly reviewed. Right now I’m looking at the Playbill from a show I saw yesterday that landed there (Music Man – it was terrific!). Later that will probably either get recycled or go into my memorabilia drawer.
It feels so good when you’ve got a system that works for you. And finding fun things (like the playbill) add a little joy when it’s not a chaotic environment to begin with. You’ve got a great system.
My desk is organized, but I didn’t have this organizing holiday on my calendar and forgot it!
But seriously, no matter how piled up my desk gets, I have to end each day by moving all the information where it needs to go, filing papers, copying scraps of thoughts into a draft where I’ll know to find it, etc. While I can continue work as it piles up, and I cannot start work the next day without a serene desk. When it gets so far that can’t inherently tell what something is by squinting from afar, the desk is too far gone and needs a decluttering!
You’ve got the system figured out! It’s great that you take the time to transfer things and information where they need to go by the end of the day to keep things organized day to day.