Analyze Your Desk Work

• An effective method for organizing your desk starts with deciding what work functions need to happen there. List the tasks you do at your desk. Beside each task, list out the equipment and supplies needed to do it.
  
  Next, if the list reflects too many different functions for the space you have, brainstorm a bit and think of other places some functions could take place. For instance, can your telephone be mounted on the wall? Or your computer placed on a side table? When you have finessed the list of tasks and their essential equipment, you are ready to arrange your equipment and supplies in and on your desk.
  
  

Topside and Inside

• Keep the surface of your desk as clear as possible. Clear everything off your desk into a box or two, clean the surface, and place on the top only those items critical to your everyday tasks. Work for a couple of days with the bare minimum of objects on your desk. Only add another item if you discover it really doesn't work to keep it in a drawer or on another piece of office furniture. Allow space for a meaningful decorative item or photo to give your eyes some beauty to rest upon during your workday.
  
  Examine what's left in your desktop box. Discard as much as possible, and find other storage for what remains. This means you need to analyze your drawers also. Hopefully your desk includes substantial interior storage in the form of drawers. From files to staplers, pens and pencils to reference books, much of what commonly clutters a desktop could be stored in a drawer and be at your fingertips just as much as if it took up valuable desktop real estate.
  
  To optimize your drawer space, empty one drawer at a time and discard pens that don't work; dried up white-out liquid; duplicate, broken or outdated items and materials; and things you just don't use. Use dividers to organize small supplies in the shallow center drawer. Deeper drawers can hold books, files, large staplers and hole punches, supplies of paper, telephone and appointment books.
  
  

Maintain

• After you have your desk organized to your liking, develop the habit of keeping it that way. Schedule a few minutes at the end of each day and week to tidy up whatever has gotten out of place. Adopt the Japanese business custom of oosooji and completely clean your desk and office at the end of each year, scrubbing, tossing and reorganizing for a fresh start in the new year.