A businessman from the Philippines once gave me priceless advice. He said, “Clear off your office desk every night before you leave. You’ll be thankful in the morning.” Since then, I have tried to do that very thing every evening before I leave. And I have seen numerous benefits from maintaining a clutterfree desk:
- Less Distraction. A cluttered office desk is filled with potential distractions. Sticky-notes, business cards, file folders, and uncompleted projects all clamor for our attention every moment of the day. Removing them and creating a minimalist desk allows our mind to better focus on the most important project of the moment: the one you are working on.
- More Freedom. A minimalist desk grants freedom to pursue the project of your choosing. Your to-do list is not held captive by the folders on your desk. It is determined by you – even if you are getting direction from someone else.
- New Opportunity. A new day brings new opportunities and the potential to accomplish something great. Walking into an office with yesterday’s work still visible immediately anchors you to the past, tying yesterday’s rope to today’s potential. But a clean desk breeds life, encouragement, and endless possibilities. Even if your new day is going to consist of completing yesterday’s project, starting again or reopening the file offers new opportunities and a new way to see a problem or accomplish a task.
- Increased Reputation. A clean desk indicates a clean and focused mind. It makes you look efficient, accomplished, thorough, and organized. And while nothing can replace a job well done, a clear desk can only help improve your reputation among your co-workers.
Granted, a minimalist desk comes more naturally to some than others. But I stand as proof that the principle of a clean desk can be applied to any worker’s personality. Here are six steps that I have found particularly helpful in making the transition:
- Reduce your Office Items. The first step in keeping your desk minimalistic is keeping fewer things on it and around it. Seems simple enough… almost so simple that it often gets overlooked. Take a look around your desk surface. What doesn’t absolutely need to be there? Photos, calendars, books, supplies, and food should all be considered. If it’s not essential, remove it permanently.
- Use Drawers. Using drawers isn’t cheating, it’s smart. It keeps your projects, tools, and supplies at your fingertips while still removing them from your line of sight. In my drawers, I store all of my supplies (pens, stapler, etc.) and my current projects. My current projects are stored in labeled folders in my top drawer for easy access. And only the current project that I’m working on gets to be on my actual desk surface.
- Finish Your Projects. One of the biggest enemies of desk clutter is unfinished projects. Sometimes, they lay on our desks for weeks distracting us and taunting us. The mind clutter of an unfinished project can be crippling at times. If the project can be completed in less than 20 minutes, see it through to completion right away. If the project will take longer, find a drawer to store it in until you are ready to pull it out and work on it again.
- Store Things Digitally. A simple Contacts program and Tasks program can probably remove 95-100% of the notes cluttering your workspace (I have always used Microsoft Outlook). Find one and learn to use it. Those sticky-notes will no longer clutter your screen or distract your mind. And you’ll never lose one again either. I have found this method to be both liberating and essential.
- Limit Computer Distractions. While your computer can be essential in helping to eliminate the clutter from your desk, it can provide distraction of its own. Help your cause by decluttering your computer desktop along with your physical desk. For starters, find a non-distracting wallpaper image and remove all unnecessary icons.
- Set aside 5 minutes. Take the last 5 minutes of every day to clear the surface of your desk. Rest assured that once you get started with the habit, it’ll take far less than 5 minutes. But set that much aside at the beginning. Trust me, your morning you will thank you.
A clear and minimalist office desk will grant you more focus, peace of mind, and productivity. And that’s good for both you and your company.
Lynette says
Perfect post, I do a lot of sewing, and the same advice applies to my sewing table, I can’t start until its tidy because I just can’t think !! Same applies to the kitchen, do your bench at night, so when you wake up you will smile instead of cringing at the mess !!
sunny says
Excellent ideas. (found you through AT’s post today on “the eternal sunshine of the spotless desk”). After hitting “send” in a moment, I will clear off my desk of the project papers I keep out “just in case” when really, they need a home if I’m not going to finish them today.
Great post. Can’t say it enough.
sunny says
PS: Wanted to add that I always felt closed in when at my desk – even with a window over my desk with a pretty view! When my big ol’ monitor (from 2000 or earlier) was replaced with a flat screen (yes – it was about time), suddenly my desk seemed much lighter. I then was motivated to get a pretty (pink!) letter tray set from ikea and organized my projects to be done in plastic folders and stacked in the top tray. All of those papers were on my desktop – looking quite messy and I felt overwhelmed by all the papers. Now I take your advice and clean off my desktop at the end of every day with the result of a clear mind each morning and the motivation to get those projects done so my basket can get to empty again.
Itay says
Thanks! I’ve always thought (and told people) that I need to have everything out that’s in process or it’ll get forgotten. After reading this post, I went thru some of the piles I had around and noticed that most of those things had been forgotten, too. I’m a big fan of Getting Things Done and have a pretty good system set up for that, so all it really took to clean up was adding a couple more items to my to-do list, storing some info digitally instead of on sticky notes, and POOF half the stuff just went away!
The rest will disappear when I get back to work…
Just subscribed to your blog. Looking forward to more pearls of wisdom! (No pressure…)
Van says
I clear my desk every day before I leave work, and often in the middle of the day as well. Paperwork can get piled up throughout the day and sometimes I have to stop, clear everything off, and sort it before I can continue working. And if I can’t completely clear my desk when I leave, my papers are sorted and filed neatly and placed in one corner. I have drawers, but I don’t use them because if I don’t see the work in front of me, I’ll forget about it. And if I’m absent, someone will have to search through my drawers to find what they need. I have no knickknacks, photos or other decorations on my desk, everything is work-related only. My desk may look sparse and boring, but it keeps me focused. And in the very likely event of a layoff, all I have to do is grab my bag and go. No drawn out scene of having security stand by and wait while I pack my stuff up and haul it out in boxes.
I did wonder though, if having a clear desk could backfire? If corporate managers were visiting, they may mistake my sparse desk for someone who doesn’t do a lot. (Or worse, doesn’t have enough to do!) My coworkers’ desks are littered with papers and stickies, mugs filled with moldy coffee, crumbs, and ink stains. They present images of people who have so much going on, slaving over hot computers all day. In reality, they’re just messy. But the perception is that they’re overburdened with work and I look lazy by comparison.
Ron says
Clearing one’s desk is perhaps one of the easiest and simplest ways to increase personal and professional productivity. A no brainer to getting more things done. Well done.
Carl says
This may get long. Which I apologize for on your wonderfully minimal website. I have really enjoyed your insights, and I can appreciate a clean desk. However, I often find it is not how I can be most productive. As an architect I have done a lot of research into workplace design. Also as an architect I work with large information (in size and quantity).
My work desk is organized around a computer with large sheets (mostly 24×36 paper) on each side of me. I have a pile of drawings on my right that are projects that are in construction phase. I need a physical copy at my fingertips whenever I get a call from construction managers needing answers to questions. Digital storage in this case just isn’t feasible.
On my left are any number of projects in any number of design phases. They are a chronology of projects with notes, or redlines of what needs changed. The most productive way to do this is not digitally but pen to paper, and if they were filed it would be a nightmare to organize since it is many projects all in different stages of completion, but all are being worked on digitally at my computer workstation.
Also having these papers out allows a more collaborative environment in our open office to discuss projects with other designers. If everything was put away the sharing of information would stifle collaboration, hampering the design process.
Steelcase (the office furniture manufacturer) has done extensive research on work patterns. They attack the problem of “shaping order from chaos” by concentrating on “designing effective spaces for the ways people work.”
Some insight from Steelcase’s research:
“‘Getting organized’ has traditionally been associated with finding ‘a place for everything and everything in its place.’ Everyone talks about storage — putting things away in containers, drawers and cabinets, out of sight, out of the way. Emphasis is often on aesthetics rather than function — a “clean desk” represents a disciplined person. Messy desks reflect, well, messy minds. It’s no wonder many people begin to feel anxious when the subject of “organizing” comes up.
What happens if we consider organizing the work environment as a strategy for thriving on chaos? If we shift emphasis from simply storing information to a focus on effectively managing our knowledge resources? What if we say that how an office appears to others — tidy or messy — isn’t necessarily a reflection of effectiveness? In fact, what’s important is one thing: Can workers access what they need when they need it — and keep the flood of information from overwhelming their ability to work effectively?”
I think it is narrow to think the only productive workspace is a clean one as you showed from your office cleaning (which in my eyes went from productive to sterile– which doesn’t make it right or wrong if it is productive for you). I think we need to be mindful of how people work most productively and design around that to be the most organized. Ironically, there is a wholly different approach to how I organize at home, but how I am “productive” there is different than how I need to be productive at work.
Living the Balanced Life says
Oh, this post is another kick in the rear. I have been purging every other surface in my home and avoiding my desk! I need to purchase some hanging folders and set aside an hour or more to tackle this mountain!
Thanks for the kick!
Bernice
http://livingthebalancedlife.com/2010/secret-of-productivity/
FishMama says
This was just the nudge I needed. If only y’all could see my desk right. Project for the day…. Operation Desk Clear Off
Thanks!
Sandra Lee says
Joshua,
Thanks for the terrific tips. My computer desktop is a nightmare. I’m starting there!
Ruth says
This came at a great time for me! I’ve been working on decluttering and streamlining my office and the department file room since last summer. Everyone has noticed the progress and I feel much calmer and more productive. However, there still was too much “stuff” on my desk. After reading this, I downsized from three mugs of pens and pencils to one (what was I thinking), put the decorative stuff away, took my printer off it’s stand and set it directly on my desk, and traded a large “stuff holder” for a standalone tape dispenser and a newly purged and organized belly drawer ;-). I have a large L-shaped desk and now over one half of it is completely empty and ready to hold whatever the day brings! I love it ;-)
cheap car ins nj says
Great insight. Relieved I’m on the same side as you.