1) Don’t use post its
Post its initially where a great invention. But people using them a lot tend to have them scattered all over their working place. The risk is high to overlook them as well as to lose them. Instead you better a nice notepad on your desk, where you will input all notes and reminders. You will go through the note from time to time and update your to-do list and other information and strike out your note.
If you really can’t live without the colorful post its you can also use an electronic version on your computer. It will keep your desk clean, it will be easy to carry them with you and the probability of getting lost is lower.
2) Reduce the number of pens
Did you ever compare the number of pens in and on your desk to the number of pens your really use on a daily basis? Throw away all the pens you don’t need or don’t like and keep 2 or 3 you really like. The same accounts for markers - in general two or maximum three colors will be sufficient.
3) How about photo frames:
Having photos from the people we care about on our desk is a nice thing, but the frames also requires previous space on your desk. Reduce the photos as much s possible or even ban them from your desk. You can have these photos on your mobile phone or on a website like Flickr, where you can arrange nice photoshows. This also has the advantage that you will be able to look at them when you are on business trip.
4) Take your books home:
Many people keep a large number of private books in their office. Most of the time these libraries seem to serve as an impresive demonstration of the potential knowledge of the owner rather than being regularly used.
Take those books you don’t use frequently at work home and free up your desk. If you want to keep certain knowledge with you make an extract of the best information for you and store it on the Internet or your PC.
5) Don’t collect magazines, newspapers, etc.
A lot piles I have seen in other people’s offices are from all kind of staff they want to read later. In fact these piles tend to become higher and higher and correlate to the feeling of desperation just thinking of getting through all that staff.
If you see an article you want to read later, take out or copy the page and don’t keep the entire magazine or newspaper. If you keep the whole thing you sometimes even don’t remember anymore what you found interesting.
Never keep daily newspapers. You can find most articles online and the really important things wil be covered for more than one day anyhow. If you have difficulties geeting through your daily newspaper I recommend reading a weekly. They focus on the summary and you can skip the daily events.
6) Don’t print emails to read them
Don’t read emails to read them. This is waisting your time, printing costs and it is a very good source to keep your table scattered. If you feel that it is hard for you to read emails on the screan you shoudl consider purchasing a bigger screan. I am sure that this investment will pay off quickly.
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It’s funny you mention post-its. When I first started this job, the person training me constantly told me to put little notes on a post-it. Every single time I would tell her that I don’t use them & I don’t hilight. She just couldn’t get over that. I told her that I’ll take notes on things I’ll actually need to look at again, but otherwise that’s all I do. Of course, this is the same person who has her entire monitor surrounded by little post-its. For the most part, I just just Notes in Outlook for passwords, etc.
Thanks for the great tips!