When entering the office, you never know what the day will bring. There may be unexpected projects that develop, there may be a task that need to be completed right away or there may be an unexpected client that comes in. The possibilities are endless, and throughout these events, we tend to leave work and files on our desk with the intention of coming back to it later.
Before you know it, your work day is over and even though you have gotten a lot done, you are now left with a giant mess on your desk full of all those uncompleted tasks. Having clutter in the office can cause confusion, disorganization and stress, and we don’t want that! So here are some tips on how to reduce clutter in the office right in time for that spring cleaning you’ve been meaning to do….
First things first, go through it all! Depending on how long you have let the clutter accumulate there may be a little or a lot to go through. Regardless you need to go through everything to determine what you need and what you can toss (and by toss, we mean recycle!). Once you determine what is important to keep and what can be recycled, then it is time to organize. You need to put things back in their designated positions or you need to create a new space for it. Throughout the work day you may want to go back to a file, and instead of going through a stack of papers, it is easier to have everything labeled. Your day will be so much easier and stress free when you know where everything is, and can find it instantaneously.
Once you have everything organized, start planning out your days. For example, going through emails can be very time consuming, so it is important to set a certain period of time where you focus just on emails and get the chance to go through them all so you don’t overlook something important. You also shouldn’t allow people to come and sit in your workspace, because it may just cause more chaos. When someone usually asks for a few minutes of your time, it typically runs 20-30 minutes, so set a specific time that works for the both of you.
After we have gotten rid of all that clutter and we are more organized, we obviously want to stay that way. At the end of each day, use the last 15 minutes to file any paperwork and return any supplies to their initial position. Using those few extra minutes at the end of each workday will ensure that you come into an organized office the next day and you, and your office, will be glad you did!