We’ll show you in five easy steps how to organize your desk. We’ll also reveal the best tools for organization.
Office, home office or study place: the desk is part of everyday life for many. An organized workplace is an important prerequisite for the working day to run as smoothly as possible. Does your desk look like a battlefield? Don’t worry, that will change quickly!
Why should you have your desk organized? A tidy workplace helps you to find a lot faster and save time! Also, so many distractions disappear, so that you can work more concentrated. And if you work in the office or even have customer contact, this often makes for a positive impression on others.
Clean desk: necessarily or not?
The Clean Desk Policy (CDP) is practiced in some companies. This means that the desk organization is structured according to a standardized system and the workplace has to be tidied up every evening, e.g. B. no more documents may be open on it. Depending on the company, personal items such as photos or decorations are also not desired. That can have advantages and disadvantages, as the work psychologist Christa Schirl told the magazine karriere.at explains: On the one hand, it facilitates routine processes that are carried out throughout the day by different people who may work under time pressure, such as in hospitals. And a tidy desk is also an advantage in some industries, e.g. B. in banks that benefit from a serious impression on the customer.
On the other hand, however, individuality can be lost and creative people in particular sometimes simply need their creative chaos in order to be able to work. You decide for yourself whether it has to be a total clean desk for you or you just need a certain basic order! We’ll show you step by step how to get started at the beginning.
Organize your desk in 5 steps
1. Mucking out
It doesn’t help: In order to create order, you should first clear out vigorously! The used coffee mug is best kept in the kitchen, the outdated notes go to the wastebasket and all unnecessary odds and ends are thrown out. Gradually take all the documents and objects on your desk and ask yourself whether you really need them to work.
Reading tip: By the way, you can find the retention periods for private individuals here.
2. Get an overview
Then you get an overview. What work materials do you still have and how can they best be organized? The clean-up queen Marie Kondo proceeds according to categories in her tidying up actions. Instead of looking at all the books room by room, then all the folders, etc. Perhaps this method will help you to get a little structure on your desk. Take, for example, the files first, then the loose documents, then other work materials …
3. Arrange
That’s the time to organize! A number of tools have proven themselves so that everything does not just fly over the desk at random or disappear under documents. In addition to the classic folders and storage compartments, you can click on Stand folder, Wall organizer and Utensil Organizer To fall back on.
4. Fixed places
If certain things have their fixed places, this makes routine work easier for you. Don’t forget to include the work materials you need in the new order. Do you do a lot of video calls and always use headphones? Then assign them a permanent place!
5. Maintain state
Now the hardest point: keep order. So after the video call, put the headphones back in their usual place, take the pens in the organizer and the coffee mug with you the next time you go to the kitchen …
Ideas for organization on the desk
So that the introduced structure is retained, you can fall back on a large number of order systems. Here are some ideas:
Notebook
A sticky note with a callback number here, a slip of paper with to-dos there? Get one Notebook, in which you can write down quick memos while making calls etc. In addition, you can create a bullet journal with which you can plan your days and weeks precisely and ensure that you never miss an appointment.
Memo board
On one Memo board or a blackboard you can keep an eye on the most important tasks or documents! After doing this, the to-dos should of course be deleted immediately!
Storage compartments
Sounds old-fashioned, but depending on the job it can be very useful! For example, if you have a lot of appointments or regular inboxes with to-dos, they will support you subjects in the overview. Depending on which system makes sense for your job, you can use it e.g. B. Mark with urgent, next week and done.
Wall organizer
You don’t have a roll container, but you don’t have any space either? Wall organizer are then a good compromise! So you don’t fill up your desk and use space that would otherwise remain unused. Small things that are not used that often disappear here.
Utensil Organizer
You need the pen every two minutes, as well as the scissors and paper clips? In one Organizer you have everything ready within reach. You can get a desk organizer in different designs, from small metal pen holders to a larger box with an integrated letter compartment.
DIY organizer
You can also easily make some of the practical organizational aids yourself or use objects for purposes other than those intended.
You can find out here how you can make a pin board yourself. You can also find more decoration and DIY ideas for the apartment on Pinterest!
More tips for the workplace
lighting
For work at the PC and desk is the optimal one lighting a must! If you work in the home office, the table should be at a 90-degree angle to the window. So you shouldn’t sit with your face facing the front or your back to the window. The side light is more advantageous, because it doesn’t shine directly in your face and blind you. In addition, there is no annoying reflection of the sun from behind.
decoration
If you (or your company) are not an advocate of the clean desk policy, you can treat yourself to a little feel-good decoration! Maybe a photo of your family or motivational quotes will make you enjoy working.
plants
Plants on the desk are said to increase productivity, improve cognitive perception and also improve air quality.
waste paper bin
Usually common in companies: one for each or a group of employees waste paper bin provide. In the home office, too, it can make sense to bring a basket to the workplace. If you have a lot of materials or paperwork that you work with, this will prevent unnecessary piles of paper from accumulating.
Interruptions
Constantly private on your cell phone? Does a sound pop with every incoming mail that gets you out? Try to organize your desk and yourself in such a way that you have as few interruptions as possible. Of course, this is not one hundred percent possible, but such time wasters can definitely be reduced. First, find out what is costing you unnecessary attention. Is it the smartphone that beeps with every Instagram comment? Mute it and put it far enough away that you don’t automatically reach for it all the time.
self-organisation
The best workplace is of little use if the self-organization is not right. How you do this depends on your individual day, your activity and your preferred work-life balance.
What can help you are e.g. B. Time management methods. When it comes to projects or specific tasks, use the timeboxing method to set a goal and a time frame and block time in your calendar for this. An all-encompassing concept that also includes your other areas of life is the Getting Things Done (GTD) method. We’ll tell you what’s behind it and how you proceed in the article about GTD.
Sources used: karriere.at, t3n.de