7 Steps for a Clean Desk

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It’s Tuesday… time to clean your desk!

Being a wedding invitations designer, my desk is often a mess of papers and clutter.  This clutter starts to invade not only my physical space by my mind.  And, it affects my clarity and productivity.  I know that when things are hectic and busy, the best thing I can do is clean my desk.  Here are my 7 steps to a clean desk:

1. Remove everything from the desk except your computer, printer or any large equipment you have.
2. Place all that stuff on another workspace (if all else fails, use the floor)… we’ll come back to that.
3. Wipe down your desk, computer, printer, and anything left on your desk.
4. Now onto the other “stuff” you removed from your desk… Put all the thingy-majiggers (paperclips, pens, odds, ends) back into their place on your desk.  Separate all these thingies for easier access.  Use pen cups for pens, scissors, etc.  Use little boxes to hold paperclips, post-its, etc.
5. Now onto the papers… make piles of all the papers that you removed from the desk.  I like to separate mine by clients, accounting, etc.  Throw away anything you don’t need.
6. Slowly start to separate the papers into file folders.  Place them in a file cabinet, or a desk-top file accordion if you need them for quick access.
7. Breathe, enjoy… get back to work!