How to Reset Your Desk for Better Focus and Productivity
“What a mess!” I said out loud while getting up from my desk a couple of weeks ago. I’ve been in the middle of a very full time – preparing for a big EBTH pick up, processing several silver melts, researching a couple of jewelry lots, preparing for new headshots and a web revision…not to mention client sessions and new client consultations, as well as Board work for our HOA. Life is full, right? I have no one to “blame” but myself.
Do you ever find that an investment of time cleaning off your workspace makes a huge difference? When I worked in corporate America, there were times I was in the office on a weekend or very early/late in the day just to sort through things, restore order, and rewrite my TO DO list. For me, it brought peace and calm to do that, which made the time tradeoff totally worth it.
How about you? Need a quick 15-30 minutes to reset? Try these tips:
Remove everything from the surface. Dust if needed.
Sort your papers/items into relevant piles – by subject, project, deliverable date, client – however makes sense for you. (You might find little notes that bring you joy,; the client note below made my day!)
Create files if you need to do so. Just as containing items on a surface makes for a more streamlined look, putting related papers in a file serves the same purpose. Organize your files in a way that makes sense for your brain. (For me, there are large grouping in my file drawers, such as Back Office and Clients, and then files are alphabetical within those sections.)
Create a TO DO list with everything on it, noting due dates as appropriate. For those of us who are list makers (I see you, Myers Briggs J’s), the list allows us to plan accordingly, provides clarity, and gives us the joy of marking things off! (Raise your hand if you’ve ever added to your list something that was already done, just so you could cross it off!)
For those of you who aren’t big list makers, you might be surprised at how helpful it is to see a list of TO DOs; it might help you stay on task.
Once you sort through everything on your workspace, you might take a few minutes to consider how it can be organized for greater efficiency and to help you keep things tidy.
For those of us with limited surface space on our desks, surface organizers can be super helpful. For instance, the file organizer at the top left corner of my desk usually holds current work files and those I need to access regularly.
You might be surprised at how much better you feel sitting down to an orderly workspace…and you can be more productive too!
