Organising Your Desk
What Does It Actually Mean?
A huge part of our work life is our desk, the place where we work. It can be the one at the office or your home. To keep that desk in a proper manner, to keep it organised is necessary. An organised desk is a place where you have all the essential things that you need for your work. The things on your table can include essential stationary, writing pad & notebooks, laptop/desktop, keyboard, mouse, etc. Basically, once you are at your desk, you don’t feel the need to get up to go and get something basic.
Why Is It Important?
Many of us think that keeping our desk organised is not that important, a messy desk does not affect anything, But, to tell, an organised desk determines our efficiency and productivity.
According to a study, on an average, a person spends 2 hours a day searching for information. By going for electronic documents instead of physical documents on your desk, you can save yourself a lot of time.
It has also been observed that if your desk is organised, your workplace is de-cluttered, it can improve your sleep and mental stability, improve your focus and most importantly, it can decrease your stress levels. As you know where everything is on your desk, it increases your efficiency and control.
Another point, a clean and an organised desk can also create a positive impact on the desk-visitors, boosting confidence, hence morale of the workplace.
There are several more advantages to keeping your desk organised. I agree it takes a lot of time, thought and effort to do so, according to me, it’s totally worth it.
How To Do?
There are several ways to keep your desk organised. To start with the process, first you need to clear out your desk. Next, clean your desk completely, which you have to do again in future too on a regular basis, and try to throw away all the unnecessary items. Often we develop attachment to certain things on your desk which are of no use, so, it’s better to throw them away.
Now, what we need to do first is to arrange all the big things, like computer systems, pen stands, phone holders, which I prefer you should use as it makes the phone screen to the level of the desktop/laptop screen so that you don’t have to move much. Another thing to keep in mind is that, take in consideration the proximity of things on your table, that is, you can pick up the thing without moving your body much. Also, try to keep pens, pencils, notepads, etc. in stock so that you don’t rush out of supply. If you need, you can have a few pictures or motivational quotes on your desk to keep your morale up and make you feel comfortable.
If you have a desk with drawers or shelves, keep your less-frequently used items like scissors, plain papers or sheets of other kinds, etc. in these. You can use desk-organisers for this purpose. Now, the most important thing is to keep the things back at their place after using them, otherwise, your desk will become messy again.
For your paperwork, you can use trays. This way, the papers won’t get messed up on your desk and will be in a single place, in the tray. In case you use multiple monitors, you can install a monitor-arm on your desk. This way, the monitors won’t take up much space on your desk, just the space for the stand base. If you have regular meetings or gatherings, you can use a physical calendar or electronic calendar at your desk. Levelled-desks can also help. This way, you have more space on your desk to keep your things and you can keep the things according to their needs on different levels.
One thing is to keep a trash-can near your desk, preferably, below your desk. This way, you won’t have to get up and throw away waste stuff. Now, for your cables, try using cable organisers on your desk. People often face problems with many wires on their table. Using an extension cord, surge protector, cable ties, etc., you can organise the cables and keep your desk much more organised.
Conclusion
So, to conclude, an organised desk is one of the most important things. Try keeping your desk organised in the best way suitable to you, so that you can be more efficient and productive, have a peaceful state of mind and face no trouble or extra time to find your things.
