3 Daily Steps to a Clean Desk

Ask Bindertek:

My desk is often out of control. Any tips on keeping my workspace organized?

It’s far too easy to let projects and paperwork build up on your desk throughout the day as you focus on whittling down your to-do list. Instead of letting your paperwork get out of control, start building a dedicated cleanup time into your schedule each day. You’ll start the next workday feeling refreshed rather than overwhelmed, have a better view of what’s crucial (and what’s not), and look more pulled together—even if you don’t feel that way!

Step 1

Schedule your daily paper processing session. Write it on your to-do list, schedule an alert on your digital calendar, or pair up with a coworker and form a support system to remind each other. By treating it as an official task and not an optional one, you’ll be more likely to accomplish it.

Step 2

Have one or several tools to organize paperwork. We like letter trays, file organizers, magazine file boxes, and clamp-style binders for this. All are designed to hold loose paperwork with little effort required, and you don’t need to worry about hole punching or creating those annoyingly tiny labels for a hanging file folder.

Step 3

Develop a system and stick with it. Maybe you put tasks pending approval in a letter tray and manage all your current projects in a numbered file organizer. Or maybe you want to leave high priority tasks out in the open, and place all other paperwork out of sight until those tasks become high priority. Try out different systems and see what works best for you, your workload, and your office.

What’s your top tip for cleaning your desk fast?