Our desk is a place where we turn our talents and abilities into a finished product. Here we carry out homework, prepare for exams, carry out freelance projects, and also make dreams come true. The organization in the workplace directly affects the order in our heads.
After all, when the table is full of many papers and various alien objects, it becomes quite difficult to find the necessary thing. Also, the mess distracts and causes irritability, and as we know, irritability is the main antagonist of creativity.
Therefore, for everyone who wants to spend their working and school hours at their desks with pleasure, we suggest paying attention to several important tips. They will help you to restore and maintain order, once and forever.
1.  Start from Scratch
Perhaps the easiest and most convenient option to begin your journey of mastering your organizing habits is to start from scratch. So, at this stage, the main task will be to free your table from all objects.
You should not throw off all things on the floor, unless of course, you want to recreate one of the movie scenes, when the heroes, in a fit of anger, sweep away all objects from the table with a wave of one hand. In order to avoid a long and tedious collecting of these same things, it is better to carefully transfer them to a neighbouring surface. After the table is cleaned, you need to wipe it. Let’s start to be not only organized but also hygienic.
And now, there is a blank canvas before your eyes on which you can create.
2.  Divide The Table into Zones
Visual zoning will help each item to be in the right place. There can be 4 zones:
- Paper zone. You can place here the necessary documents, letters, drawings and more.
- Clerical area. In that area, all the writing utensils that you may need should be located. But, try not to pile all the pencils together. Pick up a stylish organizer for all pens, pencils, brushes, rulers and so on.
- Electronic zone. Here you can place a PC, charger, flashcard tablet and more. By the way, for the organization of wires, it is convenient to use adhesive coloured stickers in order to understand the purpose of each wire.
- Personal area. If you are organizing your place at the office, then this area will contain your personal items that do not remain in the workplace, such as keys, phone, notebook.
The number of zones may vary, depending on the type of activity. But it will be easier to maintain order when there are up to four zones.
3.  Make Sure That Every Necessary Thing Has Its Own Place
Zoning of the working surface is just a convention. A systematic effort on oneself to return things to their places will help to achieve this order. Without this installation, the organization does not make sense, because it will be impossible to find the necessary thing in an emergency.
An orderly arrangement of things will help to avoid the appearance of excess items on the table. This, in turn, will save you from constant cleaning of the space and from the nervous search for the desired item.
4.  Avoid One-Time Entries
No one has managed to find a small piece of paper on which an important contact number was written down more than a week ago. Such pieces of paper are lost instantly. They seem to have small legs, and when ink gets on them, they come to life and hide from their creator.
Unfortunately, this is not just an allegory. It was verified by my own experience when the boss gave an important order to pick up the documents at a specific address and the time. And by my own carelessness, I wrote it down on such a piece of paper that was just at hand. And my boss does not like it when his employees ask him to repeat his tasks. As a result, at the end of a rather active and busy day, I remembered about his task, but could not find the address I needed.
Since then, I keep all the records exclusively in one notebook, which lies in a convenient place right at hand. Therefore, I sincerely recommend that anyone who does not want to get into a similar situation, refuse to write on paper, and draw up their daily planner with tasks and a schedule.
5.  Timely Throw Away the Unnecessary
Extraneous things such as candy wrappers after eating, envelopes from letters, etc., may appear on the table during the day. All these things can ruin your order, and therefore, you need to get rid of them as soon as they appear.
To do this, it is convenient to have a small bin under the table. This will help to eliminate extraneous and unnecessary objects without being distracted from the work process.
6.  Provide Yourself with Light
One of the reasons for disorganization and lack of productivity can be the lighting. Light is an individual factor that directly affects a person’s state and concentration. Therefore, to ensure productive work, you need to choose the lighting with which you will feel comfortable to create something.
7.  Get A Green “Friend”
Such a friend will help ensure workplace productivity. You can choose a plant of various sizes, it all depends on the size of your table. According to several studies, the plant will be able not only to enrich the room with additional oxygen, but will also help your eyes relax, and the brain will receive additional recharge to increase productivity.
8.  Rely On Electronic Gadgets
The only thing that accompanies us throughout the day is our phone. It is very capable, and therefore you need to accustom yourself to use the opportunities that it provides. Transferring all notes to the phone will help clean up the workplace from unnecessary papers, as well as provide an opportunity to improve the performance, thanks to reminders and time management applications.
9.  Avoid Old Fashioned Sources
One of the biggest mistakes people make is cluttering the table with various textbooks. For the competent organization of the workspace, this is unacceptable. Of course, books are good practice, only if they are for self-development. But in the world of technology, it’s completely impractical to use, for example, a paper dictionary, for completing the translation work. After all, it is much simpler and faster to find this word online, one website I use is The Word Point, with the help of which, any text will be translated in a few moments.
10.  Use the Cleanliness Rule
This rule is very simple and sounds as follows: put your table in order after every completed work. This behaviour will help develop a habit of cleanliness and organization, and will also cheer you up in the morning. Because after coming to work, you will sit down at already a clean table. Extra points to the mood are guaranteed!
Conclusion
Behind every great achievement is a daily small but regular work. So, cleanliness and organization is your investment in your own productivity!
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