When those stacks and piles just won’t go away on their own, it is time to get busy. Organizing your desktop can definitely ease your stress level, not to mention help you become more productive.

 

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A great way to organize your desktop is to clear it. Grab a couple of empty boxes or baskets. Place papers and projects into one. If they are stacked, then turn the stacks opposite directions so they don’t get mixed together. Place office supplies, like your stapler and pencil cup, into the other box. Give your desk a good cleaning.

 

Now, restock your desk as if it was your first day at work, or at that desk, and you were just moving in. Keep these ideas in mind:

1. Only place supplies used daily on the desk, such as a stapler. Place items used occasionally, such as a three-hole-punch, in a cabinet, drawer or adjacent bookshelf. The less cluttered your desk, the less visual interference you’ll have in your day. 
   
2. Next, work on your paperwork box. Begin by recognizing that you need to make some changes or you’ll be back to the same-old-mess in no time. If you don’t have an “in” box, establish one now so that people don’t leave papers all over your desk. This causes them to easily get lost in other projects. Place the in-basket closest to the door or even get a wall-pocket for on the door or wall. If you’ve a home office, an in-box is still essential to keep incoming mail and bills from being lost.
3. Consider getting a vertical file holder. The horizontal stacking baskets tend to hide things. As you stack one paper and file on another, you soon forget what is in the stacks. Projects get lost. With a vertical file, you see everything as you flip through it to find something. The very nature of it makes it serve as a reminder to you. Place projects you are working on now or this week in the vertical file holder.
4. Place files that you pull occasionally in a desk drawer. Make sure they are labeled.
5. With loose papers, place them each with the project they belong to. For the miscellaneous, one-of-a-kind items, create a to-do folder for the very front of your vertical file. Make it a habit to check it daily.
6. Create a file for anything you handle frequently. If you are in a club, serve on a committee, are doing on-line shopping or any other category of activity, create a file to hold notes for that venture.
7. For projects and papers you are finished with, take the time to file them. If you’ve accumulated too many for today, then make a plan to file some each day until caught up. For future finished projects, create a to-be-filed basket. Instead of filing when the basket over-flows, add a reminder to your calendar, email or phone so that twice a month you are prompted to file away the things that are completed.
8. Finally, organize the vertical file folders of projects by priority. It’s easy to walk in and pull a project and get to work.

 

About Lea Schneider

Professional Organizer Lea Schneider’s organizing advice has appeared in Woman’s Day, Natural Health and Better Homes and Gardens Kids’ Rooms magazines. She is the Grand Prize Winner of the Rolodex Office Makeover Challenge. Her team of professional organizers, at Organize Right Now, provides organizing assistance through her Organize Online program. She is the author of Growing Up Organized: A Mom-to-Mom Guide. Learn more at www.organizerightnow.com.