10 Critical Tips for Clearing Office Clutter

Having trouble finding your desk amidst the clutter? Follow these easy steps, consistently, and you’ll experience greater focus and productivity as a result.

1. Define the purpose of each space in your office and be sure that everyone who shares the space understands how it is to be used.

2. Keep only high-use items on your desktop – computer, telephone, project files, good lighting, notepaper, stapler, To Do list, calendar/planner, and only what you are working on right now.

3. Use vertical space around your desk effectively – put photos and calendars on your wall, not on your desktop.

4. Organize supplies in a desk drawer organizer or supply drawer within “fingertip reach” of your desk chair.

5. Place a wastebasket, recycling bin, and/or shredder where you process your mail.

6. Trim the F.A.T. – File, Act, Toss. Professional Organizer, Barbara Hemphill tells us that the only choices we have for dealing with paper is to File it, Act on it, or Toss it.

7. Create zones in your workspace for incoming and outgoing paper, filing and a work surface. Resist co-mingling each zone.

8. Create an Action File System and place all “action required” items in the system. The Action File System works in-conjunction with your calendar. Simplified Spaces can help you implement this system in your office or home. CLICK HERE to learn more about our system.

9. File non-action required papers in an accessible “reference file system” CLICK HERE to learn more about the HomeFile System, a great reference file system we recommend.

10. Schedule office clean-up/organizing on your calendar, or you will always lean toward a competing priority. Face it … most of us would prefer to do about anything else than to spend a day organizing their office or home.

Being clear about what activities you want to perform in your workspace and where, having clear surfaces in which to work, and the tools you need to perform those activities in easy access, will significantly improve what you’re able to accomplish in a day. In the process, you’ll reduce your stress level and free up time and energy for what matters most. This is a preview from our upcoming booklet “The Simplified Office – A Complete Guide to Clear Office Clutter for Good!

Originally posted 2008-11-25 19:22:46. Republished by Old Post Promoter

Break the “I’ll just put this here for now” clutter habit

Much of the time, clutter around the home is caused by family members being too busy or careless to put things away after using them. Adults may say to themselves as they set purses, keys, shoes, mail or other personal items down “I’ll just put this here for now”, and pretty soon big piles and clutter results. Kids often leave out their toys, school supplies or other personal items lying around underfoot. One easy way to reduce clutter in your home is to remember to never leave a room empty-handed. You can teach this to kids too by providing them with a basket to throw things in, then carry to their rooms at the end of the day. Encourage your family to be responsible for their belongings by taking the time to put them where they go when they’re finished with them and not bring anything else out until they do.

As a professional Organizer, I’ve trained myself to do this little trick in my own home, but also when I am working in a client’s home. If I am taking items to another space to put away, I look around for an item that does not belong and I carry that item back to where I started. For example, I often see clothing and shoes laying around in cluttered homes. It’s so easy to just kick off your shoes where you light or peal off a jacket and leave it over a chair. Before long a pile has developed along with a bad habit. But leaving these items there is just delaying the inevitable and the more you succumb to this bad habit, the pile grows and creates a bigger clean up job. Instead, never leave a room empty handed. As you move around your home for various reasons, like going to the kitchen, to the restroom, to your closet to get shoes before leaving the house, pick up a misplaced item and carry it with you and drop it off during your trip. Before leaving that space, pick up another misplaced item and carry it with you and drop it off where it goes. Train yourself and your family to think this way and before you know it, you’ll have devoted time to clutter control without even realizing it! It takes minimal effort and it’s less work later on for all.

Originally posted 2008-09-23 15:23:59. Republished by Old Post Promoter

How will you observe “Buy Nothing Day?”

Here are some eye-opening facts as we approach the busiest buying season of the year.

• The average American wastes 55-minutes per day (roughly 12 weeks per year) looking for misplaced belongings.
• 75% of Americans visit malls each week. On average, Americans shop six hours a week.
• Today, many new homes are built with three-car garages the size of an entire house in the 1950s.
• We receive as much mail in a week as our parents received in a month and as much mail in a month as our grandparents received in a lifetime.” (source: USPS)

 

The Day After Thanksgiving is BUY NOTHING DAY! How will you observe it?

 

This internationally-recognized holiday is an opportunity to challenge yourself, your family, and your friends to take a day off from shopping. Recent statistics reveal that Americans spend 6 hours per week shopping. Instead of hitting the malls, spend some time – rather than money – doing things that bring you joy and fulfillment. Here are a few tips to get you started:

 

FOCUS ENERGY ELSEWHERE
Does your “To Do” list have you constantly running, buying, doing, and getting? Try simplifying your life by slowing down to appreciate the good around you. When do you find yourself smiling or happy? Pursue those activities that energize and revitalize you. Starting today, make a few conscious choices to spend your time and energy differently.

 

AVOID TEMPTATION
Do you find yourself running to multiple stores each week to get all those great sale items? Make a decision to try a few weeks without reading the Sunday sale ads. Make a running list of the items that you absolutely cannot live without, pledge to purchase only items that are on that list. You’ll be amazed at the time and money you save!

BE AWARE OF CLUTTER’S CURSE
When you spend money, you’re bound to accumulate clutter. Clutter takes up time, space, energy, and/or money without providing any tangible benefit. Consider the time and effort it takes to care for your belongings. Could you think of better ways to spend your time?

LOOK DEEPER
Before you buy, think about what’s truly important to you. What brings you joy, satisfaction, and fulfillment? Try to look beyond the initial “thrill of the purchase” and see what provides deeper moments of meaning. 

 

Anything less than a conscious commitment to the important is an unconscious commitment to the unimportant.

~ Stephen R. Covey, Ph.D.

Originally posted 2008-11-25 05:14:35. Republished by Old Post Promoter