How to Organize Your Desk at Work

In the office, your desk is your command center. Wonderful things happen when you take the time to rethink how you organize your workspace. Decluttering and organizing your workspace means less time spent searching and more time being productive. You’ll no longer have to interrupt your train of thought/conference call to find things or be distracted by the clutter that surrounds you on any given day.And experts said how well it's organized can help set the tone and productivity level at work.

Here are five suggestions for how to organize your desk:

Purge your space

Getting started is the hardest part. Organizing your desk space starts with a total purge. Clear everything off your desk, out of your filing system, out of your drawers and cabinets, and decide what’s worth keeping and what’s worth ditching. You may end up with large piles of files and old conference swag on the floor, but the end result will be worth it.

Triage your stuff

Your physical desktop is prime real estate, and you probably don’t need half the stuff that’s taking up valuable space. Here’s a method for culling your things: On Monday morning, remove nonessential items from your desktop and put them on the floor. As you get busy working, put back on your desk only what you need for completing each task. At the end of the week, find a new home for anything still on the floor — a drawer, supply closet or even the recycling bin.

Save the space

When you need to sign or spread out paperwork but don’t have empty space, your stress level can increase. Designate a section of your desk as a no-parking zone, and get into the habit of not letting things sit there while you aren’t working on them. This clean-up tip may require you to think vertically, such as getting a wall shelf and using it to house non-essential files and other items.

Label everything

If you so choose, investing in a good labelmaker will save you all the time you waste searching for things. Whether it’s a hard copy of product map or a stapler, you don’t have time to waste searching for misplaced items. It’s easier to stay organized when you know where everything is.

Reassess frequently

Keeping a desk organized requires frequent upkeep and assessments, so be sure to take a weekly scan of your desk to make sure everything still deserves a spot on your work space.