January 11th is National Clean Off Your Desk Day, and with all the work and life that happens at our desks, it couldn’t come at a better time. A clear surface and organized space means lower stress, easier transitions, and fewer steps needed to get your work done.
Part of the reason our desks get so cluttered to begin with is that, sometimes, leaving clutter sitting is easier than putting it away. So National Clean Off Your Desk Day isn’t just about clearing the surface — it’s about creating a system to prevent clutter in the future. (But it’s okay if you need to do a thorough clean again next year!)
We’ve split the process into three steps, from planning, to organizing, to a clean workspace:
Prioritize what you use most
See that coating of clutter on top? Leave it there, for now. It’s no use trying to put desktop detritus away before you’ve carved out a space to put it — if you cram things into drawers right now, they’ll come right back out when you reorganize!
Instead, strategize first. Develop an organization system that gives you easy access to what you use most, and saves less-accessible drawers for lesser-used items.
Items you pick up every few minutes, like a calculator or pencil, belong on top of your desk. Items you use several times every day belong in your easiest-to-access drawers, and items you rarely use at all belong in your desk’s least convenient drawer: that one at the very bottom, or maybe the one that jams upon opening. Think about ease of use, and also think about saving your back from bending over twenty times a day just for a fresh sheet of paper!
Reorganize your drawers
Now that you’ve strategized, it’s time to set that organization system to use. If your organization system hasn’t changed at all, that might be a matter of just shifting a few things around—but if your desk has been working against you for a long time, especially if you can’t figure out why, it’s time to take everything out. This cuts down on organization time in the short term, and makes for a smoother system in the long term. You’re not just patching up what’s not working, you’re organizing from scratch!
For quick access to small items, like paper clips or thumbtacks, consider a drawer divider. If you have to file papers, now might be the time to invest in a drawer insert to hang your files vertically, rather than creating a pile to dig through. If you find items you don’t use at your desk at all, set them aside in a small box or bin.
Complete this step with what’s already in your drawers before moving on to your desk’s surface. I know that clutter on top looks tempting, but the finished-job feeling of clearing your desk is another reason we’re saving the best for last.
Put away things you don’t need
Now you can shift your focus to the top of your desk. Look for simple ways to slim down which tools earn the honor of staying on your desk’s top. Do you need a pen cup filled with two dozen working pens, or will two or three suffice? Consider decorations too: Your workspace should be uplifting, but too much decoration can still cause more stress than it alleviates. Moving some decor up off your desk’s surface and onto the wall will help give you some breathing room.
It’s also time to clear away coffee mugs, water bottles, old scraps of paper or wrappers. Bring cups or dishes to the sink and garbage all the way to the trash can. Everything feels better when the job is done all the way.
If there’s extra room in your bottommost desk drawers, those items you don’t use can be shuffled back into them — we understand the need to make the most of your storage! But if you have the storage space, try to give anything you don’t use at your desk a home away from it.
