Create an organised desk for an organised mind

Organising your mind is a fantastic way to reduce information overload, decision fatigue and stress. If you are going to organise your mind, it is essential that you also organise your working environment. If your working environment is disorganised and chaotic; then your mind will be too. The state of your environment usually reflects the state of your mind i.e. a cluttered workspace equals a cluttered mind. Have you ever noticed how tidy and organised everything is during your periods of high focus and productivity? It is not a coincidence. When you are focused, things arrive on your desk, get dealt with appropriately and are removed from your desk. If you do not have an organised desk, you cannot be productive because you waste large chunks of time, searching beneath a pile of paper, trying to find the document you need to get your next task done.

There is another very important reason why having an organised desk leads to you having an organised mind. If you have things organised, you don’t need to remember them. You will have all the information you need captured on an appropriate task list or calendar appointment. Any extra information is filed in a location where you can access it when you need it i.e. you have a system. When you have this done; you remove the burden from your mind of having to remember everything. You have a system which ensures that everything has its place and, unless you are working on it right then, everything is in its place.

If you take the time to maintain an organised desk and workspace, you will find that your mind remains organised too.

​The following quick tips will help you to maintain a more organised desk and thus a more organised mind.

Before you can start to organise your space, you must first create as much space as possible. If you don’t have an organised desk, the number one problem is likely to be a build-up of stuff which is no longer useful or, even worse, was never useful. There is no point organising stuff which should be thrown out so your first task on the path to an organised desk is to declutter.

Go through your desk, your drawers, your filing cabinet and every other workspace. Pick up each individual item, document, sheet of paper etc. and determine whether you need it or not. If you do not need it, either shred it or bin it. If you do need it, determine whether you need to take some action with it (e.g. if it is a bill you may need to pay it). If action is required, put it in your in-tray. If no action is required; file it or store it in the appropriate location.

Do not try to deal with every item that comes your way, as soon as it comes your way. Instead, put it in your in-tray which you can process once per day. This reduces jumping between tasks and allows you to get more work done. It also prevents you from littering your desk with items which you are not working on at that time.

Simply put, if you are not working on it at that moment, it shouldn’t be on your desk; unless it is furniture (e.g. a lamp) or equipment which is too big to store (e.g. you printer).

Organisation is a series of skills. Read 5 Core organisational skills you possess for more clarity on these essential skills.

By proper, I mean you should have as many drawers as you need, with as many files as you need. Your files should be in alphabetical order with items stored under the most appropriate title. Also, don’t overfill the drawers as this will prevent you from finding things quickly.

After removing items which should be dumped; I usually find that my clients desks are littered with too many items which should be filed. If you don’t need access to it any time soon, it shouldn’t be on your desk; file it!

​A proper filing and organisational system will benefit each of the other essential time management skills. Read 17 Essential time management skills you must possess to learn more about these skills.

Set up a proper filing structure on your computer so that you can store and access important files quickly and easily. You would be amazed at how many people keep emails with files attached because they don’t have a proper filing system for their computer. Even worse, many people needlessly print these documents out to file them.

If you are like me and you hate paper; having a proper filing system on your computer allows you to scan documents and save them on your computer. Then you can throw away the original. Also, if you receive a hard copy (physical copy) of an important document, you can ask the sender to email you a soft copy instead.

​To understand the true importance of an organisational system, read Why you need an effective organisational system.

​To ensure that you have the best organisation system for you; model it on your brain. You should ensure that you cover the following bases:

​An organised mind is essential if you want to achieve your goals and progress with your career. An organised desk is essential if you want to maintain an organised mind. When your desk is organised, you remove a lot of strain from your mind as you don’t need to remember everything. You have your own personal system which provides you with the reminders you need; as and when you need them. You don’t have to search for anything either because everything has its place and, unless you are working on it right now, it will be in its place. Reduce the strain on your mind today by creating an organised desk.