It’s what’s in front of you everyday. Your clutter may be negatively impacting your progress at work. Chaos can immediately cause a feeling of being overwhelmed when it’s necessary to focus on a specific task. Time can easily become wasted looking for specific paperwork hidden in a stack that is taking up too much space. It’s time to organize your workspace if you are suffering from this.
What Does Clutter Say About Me?
A tidy workspace communicates to others that you have a strong work ethic and success is important. Keeping an organized workspace is significant not only to you but to your clients and co-workers. They are more likely to trust that you will complete a task effectively and efficiently. Here are some spring cleaning tips from the organizers at Omega.
Purging as a Regular Habit
If you are not already, make it a regular habit to purge. If the condition of the workspace is really cluttered, then it is a must to start with this task. If you do not use items that are in your workspace, give them away or toss them. Archive old files by sending them to storage in another area or scanning them and archiving them digitally. Shred old documents after digitally archiving them. Throw away things that are broken or send them away for repair immediately. Practice not hanging on to stuff. Too much stuff only gets in your way.
Catch the Clutter
To avoid a cluttered workspace in the future, designate a “catch space.” Have a place for incoming items. Practice keeping this area tidy before leaving work. Your catch space will function optimally if you provide a tray for documents, a box for items, a trashcan, a couple of shelves and a hook or two. Now when you walk in, you have a place to hang your coat, your keys and your umbrella as well as check for incoming documents and items. Now you can proactively catch the clutter avoiding overwhelming messes.
Try a Dual-Tray System for your Desktop
Practice only having two trays on your desktop for paperwork. One tray handles paperwork that needs opened and the other tray handles paperwork that you have looked at and will file, scan, recycle or trash by the end of the day. The dual-tray system works well especially if you have others that bring paperwork into your office.
Utilize Grommets and Cable Covers
Oftentimes we fail to use the grommet in our desktop to run our cables and we end up with a tangled messed and can’t tell which cord belongs to which device. Utilize grommets and cable covers. It can also help to label the cords to devices as well.
Designate a Place for Reminders
If you are one of those people that function by getting it out of your head and putting it on paper, learn to designate a place for all those reminders as well as other items such as to-do lists. Hang a cork board in an easily accessible place. As soon as the task is done, remove the reminder immediately. If you no longer write post-it and to-dos, you have probably caught onto good digital note taking applications that automatically sync across all devices.
Create Different Zones in your Workspace
If you have different types of activities that must be accomplished during the day, create different zones in your workspace for these activities. You might create an area specifically for printing, maybe another specifically for computer work and another specifically for mailing items. Each area contains the supplies, a work area and the tools to accomplish the task efficiently.
Set up File Systems
Set up file systems for all documents that are important to you. These documents can range from magazines to restaurant menus to binders to important documents. It’s crucial to have filing systems in place. Filing Cabinets and filing bins are necessary. Filing cabinets come in all varieties- lateral, vertical, mobile, flat, and side tab. Use bins for files that you need to tote. Setting up file systems labeled with alphabetized folders prevents loss of files subsequently saving you wasted time looking for them.
Remember, it’s what’s in front of you everyday. If you practice purging regularly, designate a place for everything that comes into the workspace and utilize the tools that are put in place for organization, you communicate to others around you that you have a strong work ethic and they respond by trusting you. If you need assistance with space organization, one of our designers at Omega is available for consultation.