It’s so easy to get buried under the press of paper, most of which is just not important! All you have to do is ignore incoming paper for a week or two and you’re sunk.
Even if you have a job where most of your work is done online, you’ve probably still got letters, periodicals, inter-office memos, contracts, and other important pieces of paperwork that are piling up in your office.
For years I have been working to figure out the best way to deal with the influx of paper into my home. I’m one of the lucky ones who does not have the school paper nightmare that comes with having children. But, running a business from home can feel like having a very big child!
I’ve gotten good about doing an initial daily paper sort in the kitchen, which usually results in a chunk of papers being recycled and the majority of them making their way to the in-box of my desk. There they are corralled until the weekend when I have time to seriously consider their importance and take action.
I once had the intention of taking action on paper every day, filing those pages that I really might reference some day. But, as life would have it, I just got too busy to file every day. I was lucky if I responded to email once a day, much less did something as exciting as filing papers. Now all that paper waits until Sunday when I can sit down, assess my reality, sort, pitch, file and make plans for the next week.
I’ve found that a weekly review of everything on my desk and in my in-box, which is actually a clean up, throw out, prioritize and planning session, really serves me very well. The amount of paper that gathers in that six day period is still manageable and processing it helps me get clear about my priorities for the next week. Out of that stack of papers come new to-do items that I add to my running list, papers to be filed, and papers to recycle. By the end of my clean up and review session I know just what I must do that day, what errands I need to run during the week, and where I stand on larger projects. I feel grounded and ready to take action.
The biggest challenge is getting started with the week session. The task always feels enormous to me, even when there aren’t large volumes of paper. What’s that about? I think it’s about making a commitment to my own order, getting clear about my reality. It’s easier to live in a vague la la land than to face time obligations and challenges. I manage to push past my resistance by reminding myself how good I feel when once again I am grounded with a clear picture and plan for the upcoming week. It’s a mental exercise to get me to pick up the first piece of paper. Once I get going the positive feelings that come from getting organized motivate me to keep going.
If you hate paper and continually find yourself buried in a mess of papers of your own making, try the weekly sort, pitch and prioritize method. Make a commitment to bite the paper bullet once a week and watch your paper misery ease and your feeling of empowerment soar. It takes much less time to do than you think it will. If you persist in doing a weekly cleanup, no longer will you be the victim of paper insanity. You’ll be in charge of your paper. People who control their paper are better able to control every other aspect of their lives. That could be you!
Does organization equal productivity to you or do you see organization as a negative fraught with unpleasant, tedious tasks? Perhaps you’ve decided you just weren’t born with the ‘organizational gene’ and have entertained the thought of just giving up?
Let’s look at a common scenario: you walk past your work desk, you see a stack of mail in varying stages from read to unopened. New coupons for your favorite fast-food restaurant, and that unread New York Times Bestselling novel you hope to someday get around to reading, are mixed in and part of the pile threatening an avalanche. Meanwhile your elusive phone charger finally makes an appearance, woven chaotically through a mountainous pile of newspapers, credit card bills, and notebooks.
Does this sound familiar?
“Wait a minute, Cathy”, you might say, “Why does organization matter? After all, isn’t a disorganized desk in the eye of the beholder? Besides, what difference does it make if I know where everything is?”
Let’s look at some staggering statistics.
In a 2012 white paper, The Price of Disorganization in the Workplace, Neat as a Pin Organizing Experts draw attention to some alarming numbers. The paper cites a survey of 800 U.S. employees, conducted by P-Touch in 2010, on workplace disorganization. The survey found that “the annual cost of U.S. job-related inefficiency for full-time employees looking for misplaced items in the office tops $89 billion annually.” The paper also states that the cost hits $177 billion annually when you combine searching for lost items with searching for lost files on the computer. In addition, 87 percent of workers polled admitted that a cluttered workspace negatively affects their productivity!
Let’s face it, disorganization not only costs us time, it costs us money. And for any business, large or small, those costs will have a negative impact on your productivity AND your bottom line.
On the flip side, being organized eliminates the time suck that searching for lost items inevitably causes. Being organized allows you to spend more time focusing on the things that really matter to your business.
Still not convinced?
Here are 7 reasons why organization boosts productivity.
#1 – It saves you time. Without a doubt, time is our most precious resource. When you have your paperwork and documents properly organized in a defined location, you don’t have to wrack your brain trying to remember where that proposal was saved or where that post-it note with a prospective client’s information is hiding. When you have the proven systems in place, you simply go to that source and locate your information.
#2 – You eliminate stress. Although we can’t eliminate all stress in our daily lives, organization in the daily execution of your business frees your mind to focus on projects and clients by removing the distractions of frantically searching for what you need to do the work they hired you to do. Having things organized and easy to find will ease your stress level and ensure you are operating at an optimal level of productivity.
#3 – You become more creative. Teresa Amabile, Harvard Business school professor noted, “When you work under the gun, creativity is the first casualty.” In a disorganized environment, the stresses of lost or hard-to-find items short-circuits our creativity. Organization creates a state of calm that allows solutions to problems to surface and opens the channels of creativity.
#4 – You can locate anything easily. Most organizational experts agree that having a “home” for all of the items you use most is one of the simplest yet most effective system for organization. Don’t you find it easier to locate your keys when you leave them in a specific place when you get home every day?
#5 – You will meet your deadlines. Nothing will hurt your reputation more with your clients and prospective clients than missing a deadline. Missed deadlines demonstrate a lack of professionalism and yes, a lack of organization. Missed deadlines can also seriously hamper cash flow…the life-blood of your business.
#6 – You will have less clutter. Hoarding mounds of paper, books, and other items, “just in case”, is a recipe for disaster. Streamline to just keeping (and organizing) the necessary and get rid of the rest. If you are attached to certain items and can’t bear the thought of parting ways, find another home for such items, away from your desk or workstation.
#7 – You will make more money. Did this one get your attention? Of course it did! After all, you’re running your business to make money and time lost is money lost. Your goal should be to operate your business with the utmost efficiency. Anything that distances you from that goal requires immediate attention and action.
Exploring ways to improve your organizational systems is vital to not only your personal life, but the life of your business. Find what works for you and put organizational systems in place. I have strategies, systems and processes that will help!
There is no “one size fits all” formula for organization. But, together, we can customize strategies that work best for you. Let me help you bring clarity, focus, and efficiency to your life’s work. Here’s a productivity assessment you can take to see where you stand. Or, you can Contact me today and we can discuss your specific challenges, as well as how I might be able to help!
Some jobs require the ability to deal with a large volume and variety of documents. When handling digital or physical paperwork, it is essential to organize your files and workspace in a way that supports your productivity and increases your efficiency. This article explores methods of creating an efficient filing system for your workplace.
How to organize documents
The following steps can guide you in sorting, categorizing and storing your physical paperwork and help you design an effective filing system:
- Separate documents by type.
- Use chronological and alphabetical order.
- Organize the filing space.
- Color-code your filing system.
- Label your filing system.
- Dispose of unnecessary documents.
- Digitize files.
Let’s explore each of these steps in more detail so you can apply this simple organization system in your own workplace.
1 . Separate documents by type
Sort your physical documents into categories such as reports, client documents or billing invoices. You can further separate each category into levels of subtypes. For example, you can sort client documents based on each client before organizing a single client’s documents into reports, correspondence and more. This layered sorting strategy can help you identify what documents to keep and organize for easy access.
If you find documents that do not fit into a major category, make a miscellaneous stack along with a pile of documents you intend to shred or recycle. It is also wise to make a stack of documents that you want to convert into digital files. Starting with a simple survey and categorization of your documents can help initiate the filing process.
2 . Use chronological and alphabetical order
Some documents are time-stamped and dated to keep track of activities and decisions within the organization. Once separated by type and subtype, consider sorting each document in chronological order, if applicable. For example, if you sort your documents by client, consider placing dated documents in order from newest to oldest so the most recent documents are in front. You can also order the documents from oldest to newest if you would rather see the client’s full history to date.
You can organize undated documents by importance or by how frequently you use them. Finally, consider alphabetizing your documents before placing them into your filing space. You can alphabetize by client name or by major categories like invoices or reports. Whichever method you choose, make sure that you select a system that feels natural and fits within your current workflow.
3 . Organize your filing space
Filing cabinets and drawers can offer customizable storage space. Use file folders to store groups of documents based on their type and subtype. You can continue using chronological or alphabetical order when placing folders into cabinets or drawers. For example, you can sort alphabetically by client name or chronologically by the most recent client you acquired. Storing paperwork away from your workspace helps keep your desk clear for you to complete tasks more efficiently.
Consider investing in a file shelf to place on your desk to organize documents you review or access regularly, such as forms you fill out every day. Each shelf can be assigned a specific type or subtype to maintain categorization. You can also use the shelf to streamline your filing process as you receive new documents. Separate new files into a few major categories, and place them on the appropriate shelf. This method can make it easier when you file them away later.
4 . Color-code your filing system
Visual markers, such as colored tabs, can save you time when browsing for documents. You can use different colored folders for your various types and subtypes of documents. Some folders include label tabs in various colors. With either of these options, you can create a color-coded key to keep track of the color assigned to the document category.
5 . Label your filing system
Labeling your document categories can help you quickly identify your intended folder. Some folders come with paper to make your own labels. You can either hand-write the labels or print out a sheet of typed labels all at once.
You can further optimize your labeling system by using different colored pens or ink that match your color-coded key. Highlighters can also be used on black text to color code the label. Label makers can also allow you to quickly print out single-label stickers. This tool is especially helpful when labeling a filing shelf or cabinet, or if you need to replace current labels with new ones.
6 . Dispose of unnecessary documents
Creating an organized filing system can help you find ways to reduce the amount of paperwork you store. Recycle documents that are no longer relevant in order to reduce clutter, or shred them for extra security.
Consider placing a small recycling can or a dedicated basket for documents you want to shred near your desk. Regularly disposing of unnecessary files and documents can help keep your workspace clean and organized.
7 . Digitize files
In some cases, it might be more efficient to convert physical documents into digital files stored on your computer. Doing so can make them easily accessible, sendable and reduces clutter. If this is the case, scan paperwork into digital documents for storage in organized folders on your computer. Consider following the same steps you took when creating a physical filing system:
- Sort by type and subtype.
- Use chronological and alphabetical order to organize files.
- Color-code by type and subtype using the file color or flag feature on your operating system.
- Label documents clearly with type or subtype and document date, if applicable. An efficient document titling system might look like this: “Client ABC _ Invoice _ Mar2021.”
Digitizing files can allow you to quick-search documents on your computer. It also reduces clutter and the need for physical storage space.
While creating a system for navigating paperwork can feel overwhelming, you can make steady progress if you follow this process and focus on each step. With an established procedure in place, you can streamline your workflow, reduce stress and increase productivity. Even if you already have an organization system, it is wise to set aside time on a regular basis for upkeep and maintenance, as it is easy for files to build up during busy times.
That disorganized desk is killing your productivity. Research shows that the average person wastes 4.3 hours per week just searching for paper! This and other common time-wasters increase stress, decrease creativity, and limit productivity. And that’s just your physical desk—a messy digital desktop can be even more of a productivity killer.
According to the Harvard Business Review, the average person checks their email 74 times and spends six hours on email accounts each day—and we check our smartphones an amazing 2,617 times a day. Throw in news sites, social media, and other digital distractions, and it’s a wonder we get anything done.
Only you can change your unproductive habits like checking Facebook or your emails too often, but keep reading to find out how to organize a desk to get your work done faster and easier.
How to Organize Your Office Desk
Declutter
If you want to be more productive, here is your new mantra—a cluttered desk means a cluttered mind. You can’t focus on the task at hand if you’re digging through stuff every time you need something. Decluttering is one of the most effective desk organization ideas because it decreases what you have to organize.
Go through each area of your desk and look for things that you rarely use. If something’s broken, toss it—and think objectively about whether you need to replace it. This clutter can include desktop messes, outdated files, furniture, equipment, supplies, and plain old junk.
Set Up Work Zones
Decide what type of activity happens, or should happen, in each area of your office. You’ll likely have a main workspace like your desk, a reference area with files and binders, and a supply area in a closet or drawer. Put the things you need for particular work tasks in specific places, so you can work quickly and efficiently.
- Your desk zone should be a space that is well-lit, uncluttered, and close to a window if possible. This zone should include things you use daily: files, folders, books, calendars, and other office staples. Include a place to store your favorite snacks and other personal items.
- The reference zone should be out of the way, but easily accessible. This is where you will keep books, files, folders, and other reference items you only need occasionally.
- Your supply zone can be drawers, closet, shelves, or other out-of-the-way areas. This is where you’ll store your office supplies, bottled water, snacks, and other items you have to replenish regularly.
Use Labels
Labels will help you find the things you need without wasting valuable time. Go through each of your work zones and start labeling shelves, drawers, cabinets, bins, baskets, and anything else you can think of. Don’t worry about overdoing it—your goal is to organize for increased productivity.
Streamline Your Filing System
Do you have file cabinets and binders stuffed with documents? Start digging those papers out and get rid of any outdated or irrelevant items. Sort your file cabinet into client categories, by project, or whatever works best for your type of work.
Clear Your Desk Each Day
Making the bed each morning is the perfect start to a productive day. Clearing away everything but the essentials from your work desk each night is the perfect end to a productive day. This gives you a sense of accomplishment and a clean slate to work with the next day.
Office Desk Organization Ideas to Expand Your Work Space
Even if you declutter and organize your office desk, you may still find you need a larger area to be at your most productive. Small spaces don’t give you much room to set up work zones, but with some planning, a little ingenuity, and these helpful tips, you can expand your workspace and your storage.
- Nearby cubbies, hooks, shelves, and baskets can keep the clutter off your desk and your supplies and tools close by.
- Use a rolling cart for storing pens, paper, toner, and other office supplies. The goal is to make your workspace bigger, so you’ll want a cart that is approximately the same height as your desk.
- Hang a shelf over your desk to store extra binders, tech items, or books. It’s also a clever way to display artwork or other decór.
- Store your printer on the bottom shelf of your desk or on a shelf nearby.
- Use magnetic knife strips on the sides of your desk, inside drawers, or anywhere else you need quick access to metal rulers, staplers, scissors, binder clips, and other metal office supplies.
- Maximize the space under your desk by adding a small bookshelf or storage cabinet to the side or toward the back of your desk.
- Add wall pockets to the sides of your desk and nearby walls for papers and notebooks you use frequently.
- Use a laptop or desktop monitor riser for extra storage and desktop surface area. Getting your computer monitor at eye level will also help your neck and back.
Want more office desk organization ideas to increase your productivity? Check out this list of what the most productive people keep on their desks and their other positive habits. From healthy snacks to sticky notes, go-getters have little on their desks—but what they have increases productivity.
Ready to create a home office that will boost your productivity? Start by letting The Maids get your workspace healthy and clean. Then use the tips above to organize your desk and office and enjoy a great place to work!
Is your desk the most productive place in the world? Probably not. Study shows that the average American spends only 2 hours 23 minutes doing actual work at the desk while reading news sites, checking social media and chatting with co-workers takes up just as much time.
Somehow, out of all the places where people tend to think about business-related matters – the bus, the coffee shop, the bed or the desk – the latter seems to be the least inviting to get your hustle on. According to a 2018 survey , 65% of workers think they would be more productive working from home compared to a traditional office environment.
But even if you’re getting down to business in the comfort of your home office, you’ve got to admit that your surroundings, and your desk, in particular, has a huge impact on your productivity. How are you going to make those bucks if you just can’t focus sitting at your own desk?
Here are our 9 simple and science-backed tips on how to redesign your workspace so that it becomes your main inspiration for productive work and steady focus.
1. Befriend plants
You don’t have to be a vegan or a hippie activist to know that plants do so much good for our environment. Same applies to our indoor habitats where we spend most of our days. Besides purifying the air and keeping your lungs clean and head fresh, the potted greens reduce stress and are actually amazing productivity boosters.
Researchers at the University of Exeter found that simply enriching a plain and minimal office setting with plants helped to increase productivity by 15%.
The conclusion that green offices were found to house happier and more productive workers is a really strong argument to bring in some greenery into our workspaces. Moreover, potted plants are a simple and excellent way to decorate your desk, which, in turn, will lighten up your spirits. If you’re not exactly endowed with green fingers, you can always go for low maintenance options like succulents, aloe vera, jade plant, parlour palm, dracaena, or a snake plant.
2. Organize your clutter
This isn’t probably that big of a surprise, but for those who need reinforcing – newsflash! – you can’t be your most productive self if you spend 15 minutes every day looking for your stapler. Disorganized desk damages your productivity as much as it affects your colleagues, as these statistics reveal. 41% of the surveyed office workers believe that tidy workspace is crucial to getting work done, plus it can also increase your chances of promotion.
Not only that by the time you retire, you will have wasted days of your precious life searching for missing items, but excess clutter on your desk can also be accountable for your stress levels. In other words, a messy desk isn’t something you should let slide. In the long run, it can cause mental overload and make your habits of unproductive procrastination worse.
That being said, it’s not that you should keep your desk stripped of any items. The key to an organized desk is a system. Designate a particular spot for pens, stationery, post-it notes, folders, and documents. Make use of labeling to sort your documents. At the end of the day, spend 3 minutes putting everything in place, keeping at least 80% of your desk visible. That way you’ll start your working day with an organized desk and an organized mind.
3. Personalize to inspire yourself
So isn’t it just easier to keep your desk free from any clutter and go the minimalist way? Well, your boss would probably want you to, and not just because they might judge you by your desk. In fact, many companies put limits on how many and what kind of personal items can be put on the employees’ desks.
The approach stems from several management theories , particularly widespread in the 90s, advocating that clean desks increase focus and productivity. It’s easy to follow the logic – if your workspace contains only the items necessary to fulfill a certain function related to your job, then you’ll be more likely doing only what you need to do. However, these strict and authoritative management theories go against recent studies.
Several studies found that personalizing our spaces, especially in an open office, helps us better cope with distractions and stress, gives us more control and establishes a positive relationship between our identity and our workplace. In fact, having our personal items on desk motivates us to work harder, because “it lends a sense of identity to a workplace, in which we could otherwise feel like cogs in a machine,” says Craig Knight, a psychologist and founder of a company that uses science to improve business performance.
Besides, warm beverage in your favorite mug and a hilarious picture of your friends will surely brighten your mood even on rainy Monday mornings. You’re working better when you’re in a good mood, it’s as simple as that.
Anyway, it all boils down to what you prefer and what helps you achieve your goals. If you find yourself too often distracted by the bright red poster on the wall or you’re focusing way too much on your puppy memorabilia, then try to declutter your workspace to a minimum. However, if you’re more of a personalized knick-knack type of person, you’re probably want to put this quote by Einstein on your wall: “If a cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind, of what, then, is an empty desk a sign?”
4. Isolate from distractions
It’s not so much of your personal things that distract you the most. It’s the sound and presence of other people. Studies show that staying attentive, reading and processing text, and working with numbers is impaired most by the background noise of irregular waves of speech. Especially if you’re working in an open office environment, you can probably relate how an occasional cough or chitter-chatter can put you off big time.
It has even been found that employees who lack privacy may suffer from higher stress and emotional exhaustion. If you can’t choose where you sit, take action to isolate yourself from the distracting background noise. For some, music doesn’t do the trick. Daniel Levitin, a cognitive neuroscientist and the author of “This Is Your Brain on Music” revealed that music actually hinders your productivity levels unless you’re working on repetitive tasks.
In case you as well find music too distracting for important and rigorous tasks, take a look at these active noise canceling headphones that make focusing on work way easier.
- Keep it clear
- Don’t use your desk as a dining table
- Go green
- Get personal
- Give tech its own space
- Keep your printer stocked up
You’ve sat at your desk, the computer turned on with emails staring back at you – but your productivity levels are low. You’ve had a good breakfast and are well prepared for the day ahead, so what could be the issue? Have you ever thought your workspace could be hindering your productivity? We’re going to take a look at some of the ways you can organize your workspace to boost productivity and motivation.
“I can’t say this enough: Without HR Cloud, we could not have communicated important project information or demonstrated that we could take on an increased workload. We now provide real-time workforce statistics and productivity reports that have helped us win more projects.”
Keep it clear
Have a nice clear work zone; as the saying goes: “ A clear space is a clear mind ”. Clutter can clutter the mind and take your focus off the job at hand. Are you working from home and staring at a pile of ironing? Remove any distractions from your workspace so you can block out any distractions.
Don’t use your desk as a dining table
Don’t eat lunch at your desk. This is important to remember as eating your lunch at your desk can encourage you to work through your break. Taking a break allows you to recharge and reflect ready to be productive well into the afternoon.
Go green
Every workspace should have a plant. As well as being a lovely decoration to the area, plants have many health benefits including:
If you’re not much of a green thumb, you can’t go wrong with cacti. They only need watering once a week in spring/summer and every three weeks in autumn/winter and they thrive in natural light.
Get personal
Personalizing your space can be a real motivational boost. By adding family photographs (you don’t need to add your whole wedding album), but maybe a couple of great memories you can see what you’re working for and what the hours of dedication achieve. Are you working hard for your family (a photo of your children), for your wedding (a picture of your engagement), or for that dream holiday (a picture of the beach)? Whatever you’re sitting at your workspace for, adding a personal touch can encourage a positive vibe.
Give tech its own space
This is a big one: Give technology its own place. Keep your phone and tablet in its own place. By keeping your phone separate from your working zone, it will discourage you from picking it up, getting distracted, and breaking your concentration. If you get distracted easily, why not keep electronics in another room? That way the temptation isn’t there to have a quick check of your social media.
Keep your printer stocked up
The last thing you want to do is to go and hit print to find you’re out of paper or ink, you can waste so much time trying to get it to use the last few drops in the cartridge. Keep your printer supply topped up ready when you need to use it and keep spare cartridges and paper organized in a box close to your desk. And if you do leave it to the last minute and need your ink in a hurry, visit tonergiant.co.uk where you can benefit from free next-working-day delivery.
About Author: This article is written by a marketing team member at HR Cloud. HR Cloud is a leading provider of proven HR solutions, including recruiting, onboarding, employee communications & engagement, and rewards & recognition. Our user-friendly software increases employee productivity, delivers time and cost savings, and minimizes compliance risk.
That disorganized desk is killing your productivity. Research shows that the average person wastes 4.3 hours per week just searching for paper! This and other common time-wasters increase stress, decrease creativity, and limit productivity. And that’s just your physical desk—a messy digital desktop can be even more of a productivity killer.
According to the Harvard Business Review, the average person checks their email 74 times and spends six hours on email accounts each day—and we check our smartphones an amazing 2,617 times a day. Throw in news sites, social media, and other digital distractions, and it’s a wonder we get anything done.
Only you can change your unproductive habits like checking Facebook or your emails too often, but keep reading to find out how to organize a desk to get your work done faster and easier.
How to Organize Your Office Desk
Declutter
If you want to be more productive, here is your new mantra—a cluttered desk means a cluttered mind. You can’t focus on the task at hand if you’re digging through stuff every time you need something. Decluttering is one of the most effective desk organization ideas because it decreases what you have to organize.
Go through each area of your desk and look for things that you rarely use. If something’s broken, toss it—and think objectively about whether you need to replace it. This clutter can include desktop messes, outdated files, furniture, equipment, supplies, and plain old junk.
Set Up Work Zones
Decide what type of activity happens, or should happen, in each area of your office. You’ll likely have a main workspace like your desk, a reference area with files and binders, and a supply area in a closet or drawer. Put the things you need for particular work tasks in specific places, so you can work quickly and efficiently.
- Your desk zone should be a space that is well-lit, uncluttered, and close to a window if possible. This zone should include things you use daily: files, folders, books, calendars, and other office staples. Include a place to store your favorite snacks and other personal items.
- The reference zone should be out of the way, but easily accessible. This is where you will keep books, files, folders, and other reference items you only need occasionally.
- Your supply zone can be drawers, closet, shelves, or other out-of-the-way areas. This is where you’ll store your office supplies, bottled water, snacks, and other items you have to replenish regularly.
Use Labels
Labels will help you find the things you need without wasting valuable time. Go through each of your work zones and start labeling shelves, drawers, cabinets, bins, baskets, and anything else you can think of. Don’t worry about overdoing it—your goal is to organize for increased productivity.
Streamline Your Filing System
Do you have file cabinets and binders stuffed with documents? Start digging those papers out and get rid of any outdated or irrelevant items. Sort your file cabinet into client categories, by project, or whatever works best for your type of work.
Clear Your Desk Each Day
Making the bed each morning is the perfect start to a productive day. Clearing away everything but the essentials from your work desk each night is the perfect end to a productive day. This gives you a sense of accomplishment and a clean slate to work with the next day.
Office Desk Organization Ideas to Expand Your Work Space
Even if you declutter and organize your office desk, you may still find you need a larger area to be at your most productive. Small spaces don’t give you much room to set up work zones, but with some planning, a little ingenuity, and these helpful tips, you can expand your workspace and your storage.
- Nearby cubbies, hooks, shelves, and baskets can keep the clutter off your desk and your supplies and tools close by.
- Use a rolling cart for storing pens, paper, toner, and other office supplies. The goal is to make your workspace bigger, so you’ll want a cart that is approximately the same height as your desk.
- Hang a shelf over your desk to store extra binders, tech items, or books. It’s also a clever way to display artwork or other decór.
- Store your printer on the bottom shelf of your desk or on a shelf nearby.
- Use magnetic knife strips on the sides of your desk, inside drawers, or anywhere else you need quick access to metal rulers, staplers, scissors, binder clips, and other metal office supplies.
- Maximize the space under your desk by adding a small bookshelf or storage cabinet to the side or toward the back of your desk.
- Add wall pockets to the sides of your desk and nearby walls for papers and notebooks you use frequently.
- Use a laptop or desktop monitor riser for extra storage and desktop surface area. Getting your computer monitor at eye level will also help your neck and back.
Want more office desk organization ideas to increase your productivity? Check out this list of what the most productive people keep on their desks and their other positive habits. From healthy snacks to sticky notes, go-getters have little on their desks—but what they have increases productivity.
Ready to create a home office that will boost your productivity? Start by letting The Maids get your workspace healthy and clean. Then use the tips above to organize your desk and office and enjoy a great place to work!
Does organization equal productivity to you or do you see organization as a negative fraught with unpleasant, tedious tasks? Perhaps you’ve decided you just weren’t born with the ‘organizational gene’ and have entertained the thought of just giving up?
Let’s look at a common scenario: you walk past your work desk, you see a stack of mail in varying stages from read to unopened. New coupons for your favorite fast-food restaurant, and that unread New York Times Bestselling novel you hope to someday get around to reading, are mixed in and part of the pile threatening an avalanche. Meanwhile your elusive phone charger finally makes an appearance, woven chaotically through a mountainous pile of newspapers, credit card bills, and notebooks.
Does this sound familiar?
“Wait a minute, Cathy”, you might say, “Why does organization matter? After all, isn’t a disorganized desk in the eye of the beholder? Besides, what difference does it make if I know where everything is?”
Let’s look at some staggering statistics.
In a 2012 white paper, The Price of Disorganization in the Workplace, Neat as a Pin Organizing Experts draw attention to some alarming numbers. The paper cites a survey of 800 U.S. employees, conducted by P-Touch in 2010, on workplace disorganization. The survey found that “the annual cost of U.S. job-related inefficiency for full-time employees looking for misplaced items in the office tops $89 billion annually.” The paper also states that the cost hits $177 billion annually when you combine searching for lost items with searching for lost files on the computer. In addition, 87 percent of workers polled admitted that a cluttered workspace negatively affects their productivity!
Let’s face it, disorganization not only costs us time, it costs us money. And for any business, large or small, those costs will have a negative impact on your productivity AND your bottom line.
On the flip side, being organized eliminates the time suck that searching for lost items inevitably causes. Being organized allows you to spend more time focusing on the things that really matter to your business.
Still not convinced?
Here are 7 reasons why organization boosts productivity.
#1 – It saves you time. Without a doubt, time is our most precious resource. When you have your paperwork and documents properly organized in a defined location, you don’t have to wrack your brain trying to remember where that proposal was saved or where that post-it note with a prospective client’s information is hiding. When you have the proven systems in place, you simply go to that source and locate your information.
#2 – You eliminate stress. Although we can’t eliminate all stress in our daily lives, organization in the daily execution of your business frees your mind to focus on projects and clients by removing the distractions of frantically searching for what you need to do the work they hired you to do. Having things organized and easy to find will ease your stress level and ensure you are operating at an optimal level of productivity.
#3 – You become more creative. Teresa Amabile, Harvard Business school professor noted, “When you work under the gun, creativity is the first casualty.” In a disorganized environment, the stresses of lost or hard-to-find items short-circuits our creativity. Organization creates a state of calm that allows solutions to problems to surface and opens the channels of creativity.
#4 – You can locate anything easily. Most organizational experts agree that having a “home” for all of the items you use most is one of the simplest yet most effective system for organization. Don’t you find it easier to locate your keys when you leave them in a specific place when you get home every day?
#5 – You will meet your deadlines. Nothing will hurt your reputation more with your clients and prospective clients than missing a deadline. Missed deadlines demonstrate a lack of professionalism and yes, a lack of organization. Missed deadlines can also seriously hamper cash flow…the life-blood of your business.
#6 – You will have less clutter. Hoarding mounds of paper, books, and other items, “just in case”, is a recipe for disaster. Streamline to just keeping (and organizing) the necessary and get rid of the rest. If you are attached to certain items and can’t bear the thought of parting ways, find another home for such items, away from your desk or workstation.
#7 – You will make more money. Did this one get your attention? Of course it did! After all, you’re running your business to make money and time lost is money lost. Your goal should be to operate your business with the utmost efficiency. Anything that distances you from that goal requires immediate attention and action.
Exploring ways to improve your organizational systems is vital to not only your personal life, but the life of your business. Find what works for you and put organizational systems in place. I have strategies, systems and processes that will help!
There is no “one size fits all” formula for organization. But, together, we can customize strategies that work best for you. Let me help you bring clarity, focus, and efficiency to your life’s work. Here’s a productivity assessment you can take to see where you stand. Or, you can Contact me today and we can discuss your specific challenges, as well as how I might be able to help!
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Have too many things to do in too little time? Well, this infographic on how you can boost productivity every day will certainly help. It focuses on to-do lists and making sure you actually complete items on the list. If you aren’t already using to-do lists, you really should be -they are one of the most effective methods of time organization out there and can really help you organize what you need to do and actually track that it gets done.
As someone who has a hard time staying productive, I find this chart incredibly useful, especially the part about doing the hardest task first, which I don’t usually do on my to-do lists -although I’m great at knocking off the small tasks and batching things, so at least I’m not starting from the ground up here.
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Jill Harness
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One of the greatest ironies of this age is that while various gadgets like smartphones and netbooks allow you to multitask, it seems that you never manage to get things done. You are caught in the busyness trap. There’s just too much work to do in one day that sometimes you end up exhausted with half-finished tasks.
The problem lies in how to keep our energy level high to ensure that you finish at least one of your most important tasks for the day. There’s just not enough hours in a day and it’s not possible to be productive the whole time.
You need more than time management. You need energy management
1. Dispel the idea that you need to be a “morning person” to be productive
How many times have you heard (or read) this advice – wake up early so that you can do all the tasks at hand. There’s nothing wrong with that advice. It’s actually reeks of good common sense – start early, finish early. The thing is that technique alone won’t work with everyone. Especially not with people who are not morning larks.
I should know because I was once deluded with the idea that I will be more productive if I get out of bed by 6 a.m. Like most of you Lifehackers, I’m always on the lookout for productivity hacks because I have a lot of things in my plate. I’m working full time as an editor for a news agency, while at the same time tending to my side business as a content marketing strategist. I’m also a travel blogger and oh yeah, I forgot, I also have a life.
I read a lot of productivity books and blogs looking for ways to make the most of my 24 hours. Most stories on productivity stress waking up early. So I did – and I was a major failure in that department – both in waking up early and finishing early.
2. Determine your “peak hours”
Energy management begins with looking for your most productive hours in a day. Getting attuned to your body clock won’t happen instantly but there’s a way around it.
Monitor your working habits for one week and list down the time when you managed to do the most work. Take note also of what you feel during those hours – do you feel energized or lethargic? Monitor this and you will find a pattern later on.
My experiment with being a morning lark proved that ignoring my body clock and just doing it by disciplining myself to wake up before 8 a.m. will push me to be more productive. I thought that by writing blog posts and other reports in the morning that I would be finished by noon and use my lunch break for a quick gym session. That never happened. I was sleepy, distracted and couldn’t write jack before 10 a.m.
In fact that was one experiment that I shouldn’t have tried because I should know better. After all, I’ve been writing for a living for the last 15 years, and I have observed time and again that I write more –and better – in the afternoon and in evenings after supper. I’m a night owl. I might as well, accept it and work around it.
Just recently, I was so fired up by a certain idea that – even if I’m back home tired from work – I took out my netbook, wrote and published a 600-word blog post by 11 p.m. This is a bit extreme and one of my rare outbursts of energy, but it works for me.
3. Block those high-energy hours
Once you have a sense of that high-energy time, you can then mold your schedule so that your other less important tasks will be scheduled either before or after this designated productive time.
Block them out in your calendar and use the high-energy hours for your high priority tasks – especially those that require more of your mental energy and focus. You also need to use these hours to any task that will bring you closer to you life’s goal.
If you are a morning person, you might want to schedule most business meetings before lunch time as it’s important to keep your mind sharp and focused. But nothing is set in stone. Sometimes you have to sacrifice those productive hours to attend to other personal stuff – like if you or your family members are sick or if you have to attend your son’s graduation.
That said, just remember to keep those productive times on your calendar. You may allow for some exemptions but stick to that schedule as much as possible.
There’s no right or wrong way of using this energy management technique because everything depends on your own personal circumstances. What you need to remember is that you have to accept what works for you – and not what other productivity gurus say you should do.
Understanding your own body clock is the key to time management. Without it, you end up exhausted chasing a never-ending cycle of tasks and frustrations.
