Keep Your Desk Tidy In 5 Easy Steps

I appear to spend a lot of my time writing about home offices, de-cluttering, making the space functional, and yet my office looks like my business threw up in there!  Therefore, my half-term target is to get the clutter out and keep my office desk tidy (I mean there’s a hammer on my desk!?), shred unnecessary paperwork and reorganise.  Clearly, if my office space is getting into such a mess my current system (or lack of) it’s not working for me.

Keep Your Office Desk Tidy In 5 Easy Steps:

Zones: 

Have specific areas where the magic happens. The desk zone realistically what do you need on it? (I really do not need that hammer!) Probably just a computer, diary, pen, and notebook, not the million other things impeding on my creativity!

Have your filling cabinets in one area in my case I have all my stock on shelves in boxes so when I’m packing orders I can easily reach everything rather than wandering around the office.  Also, have all your books displayed nicely on a shelf instead of piled up.

The 4D Technique: 

Office trays provide a great way to systemise your paperwork. Bills, invoices, post! Anything that can be and does get left on your desk. should be placed into office trays freeing up work surfaces. Adopt the same technique as with your email inbox :

• Do It: Simple just get the task done.  Pay and file the invoice. Respond to letters from school/invites to parties. Get stuff done! This is why your office is overrun lack of doing!
• Delete It : If it’s junk, shred or bin it. Don’t hang on to it. This goes for invites to unless you need them pop the event in your diary and move on.
• Defer It : If it takes time to complete, put it on your to-do list and write a date to action in your diary.
• Delegate It : If you can pass it on to someone else to deal with.

Sort your trays weekly and shred anything you don’t need, remember you are working towards a paperless office: 11 reasons your small business should go paperless

Like With Like: 

People like me (disorganised) need someone to point out ways to keep … well organised and this tip is perfect. Organise your office belongings so they live together ie. paper clips, staplers, and staples all in the same drawer so you limited the possibility of wandering around looking for stuff (unless like me you factor “hunting for stuff” into your to-do list).

Storage Solutions:

Invest in storage that works for its purpose!  If your storage is messy, bookcase buckling under the weight, with paper peeping out of the cabinet this isn’t helping with productivity.   I was recently offered a Hobby Holster to help with my office clutter. They have been designed to make life around the home easier and safer and I for one am loving them! What makes them so special is each Hobby Holster is heat resistant to over 200°C and made from high-grade silicone construction, which makes them also waterproof which enables you to use them in the bathroom or kitchen, if you so wish. They make the perfect holder for hot glue guns, meaning it’s an invaluable tool in my home office. I struggle to find somewhere to prop the damn thing up.

What do you actually need in your office?  Realistically anything you don’t need to use on a daily doesn’t need to be in your office.  In my home office, I have utilised all the space with shelves just under the ceiling and stock boxes under my desk, this is dead space in the office. However, if you are working from the corner of your living room you might not want all these things on show.

Put It Away!: 

If I had a penny for every time I remind my children to put stuff away before getting MORE stuff out I wouldn’t need to write a blog (OK being a lady of leisure would soon grow boring *tells oneself willfully*).  However, I am so unaccustomed to practicing what I preach I appear to have EVERYTHING out on my own desk! This is where a good filing system and adequate storage come into play, also making time each day to put your pens away, close any notebooks, and take cups to the kitchen. Such simple tasks will soon have your office shipshape!

What top tips do you have to keep your office desk tidy?

This post complies with my Disclosure Policy and contains affiliate links.

Found this useful wondering how you can show me your appreciation? Well, there are some ways you can say thanks and support my website: ➡