Organize Your Workspace

One day I walked into my office and got sick to my stomach. It was Monday morning, I had an overwhelming amount of work to get through, and my desk was covered with stacks of paper. As my stress level increased I remembered a book titled Getting Things Done that I had read several years before. This book had some great ideas to help organize your workspace.

One topic that resonated with me was the idea of establishing collection systems. I needed a place to put all the stuff that was on my desk and I wanted to be sure I would not only get organized, but stay organized.

I now have a goal of clearing my desk each day. I do one of five things with every piece of paper:

Throw it away. If I’ve read it, acted on it, and no longer need it, it goes into the circular file.
Put it in my inbox. I use this for items I must get to within the next few days.
Insert it into a desktop file organizer. This holds file folders on my desktop, which I use for documents I need to reference on an ongoing basis.
File it in permanent folders. This is for documents I need to keep long term like tax returns, expense reports, and legal documents.
Scan it. If it’s something I will need to reference again, especially if I may need access away from my office (I always travel with my Mac Book Air). Scanning into digital folders accounts for the vast majority documents that in the past would have been filed in permanent folders and desktop files.

If you take a few minutes a day to organize your workspace, not only will it reduce stress in your life, it will increase your productivity.