In This Edition:
1.
Ring in the New
2.
Fight to Keep Your Desk Clear
3.
Stop Piling, Start Filing
4.
Parting Thought
Ring in the New
Welcome to the second half of the first decade of the 21st century. A new year is prime time for trying new things and adopting new habits. Why do so many people, however, abandon their "resolutions" so quickly? To have potency, a resolution needs to be treated like a formal goal, to be: written down, challenging yet reachable, and assigned a specific time frame. Without those three elements, you don't have goal, and you might as well wish upon a star...
Fight to Keep Your Desk Clear
New year or not, one of your primary and continuing challenges will be to stay in control of the spaces in your life, particularly the workspaces. If you keep the workspaces in your life clear, especially flat surfaces like the top of your desk, control of your time and your life tends to follow.
The first step toward keeping your desk clear is to strip down incoming documents immediately --discover what parts are vital and what can be tossed or recycled.
The sooner you respond to an item, the faster it gets clear of your desk and your mind. When an item doesn't require formal business protocol, there are many ways to handle it quickly. I clip return address labels when they're provided on envelopes, and use those labels to send a quick reply. I mark these letters with a big red rubber stamper that says "speed reply." Then I handwrite my response on the actual letter.
All I have to do is fax it back to the correct party, or copy the letter and mail it. This clears the letter off my desk, and I have a record of our correspondence. Of course, I wouldn't recommend this method for first-time contacts, but most people find this perfectly acceptable. You'll probably want to use the streamlined reply with personal correspondence and people with whom you have long-term relationships.
You will get your work done in a shorter amount of time if you arrange your desk and furniture in an intelligent fashion. You don't have to be an interior decorator to create a comfortable and workable desk arrangement. Items that you use at least twice a day, such as a dictionary, thesaurus, or style handbook, should be within arm's reach or in a nearby drawer. Other items that you use less frequently may be stored in an adjacent drawer, or in a filing cabinet that's not in the way when you're working.
Periodically consider different devices, such as computer trays, hanging lamps, and swivel mechanisms that could make you feel more comfortable and be more productive at your desk. Invest in a desk chair with rollers so you can move from one place to another and turn more easily. Whatever the item, as you begin reaping the benefits, you will quickly forget the cost.
Stop Piling, Start Filing
Instead of piling things on your desk, file them in the cabinet! Remove anything you can safely eliminate from your desktop. Items that you use on a daily basis, such as a stapler, a roll of tape, or pen, get to stay on top of your desk.
What you keep on top of your desk is uniquely individual. Your goal is to maintain the optimal number of items on and in your desk; enough so you function efficiently while there, but not so many that clutter inhibits work. Hold onto items you use at least once a week, but don't store those supplies too close by. Recognize that your desk drawers are not for storing supplies per se. You may store a pad of paper, but not pads of paper. You only need one pad at a time, and the general principle is to have the smallest number of a necessary item as you can get by with.
The fewer things you have in vital work spaces, the greater the sense of control you have over your immediate environment. For instance, if you choose to use one of your desk drawers for file folders, then these files should be as thin and potent as you can make them. Once your desk and flat surfaces are under control, you also gain a heightened sense of control over your time. Such a deal!
You may wish to place sentimental and familiar items, such as pictures, plants, and motivators near your desk, but not on it. Install items such as full spectrum lighting or ocean-wave music that support your productivity, efficiency, and creativity, near your work space, not on top of it.
From now on, manage your desktop as if it's one of the most important elements to staying organized, because it is.
Parting Thought: Managing Space is a Long Term Issue
In his book Democracy in America, French observer Alexis de Tocqueville remarks, "Everything about the Americans, from their social conditions to their laws, is extraordinary; but the most extraordinary thing of all is the land that supports them. When the Creator handed the earth over to men, it was young and inexhaustible, but they were weak and ignorant; and by the time that they had learned to take advantage of the treasures it contained, they had already covered its face, and soon they were having to fight for the right to an asylum where they could rest in freedom."
"It was then that North America was discovered, as if God had held it in reserve and it had only just arisen above the waters of the flood."
