Forget about your New Year’s resolutions to become a tidier person. The truth is that most of us don’t stick to these promises. So, instead of focusing on unrealistic goals, let’s employ a few practical steps that will have a positive, long-term impact. Using organisation guru Marie Kondo’s tidying up tips, we have come up with a few basic steps on how to clean your work space in a way that makes you more comfortable and that will create a more fun place to work at.
Step 1 – Find a good reason
Have you ever wondered why most resolutions fail, despite a sincere effort? The most common reason is not having the right motivation. Ask yourself why you really want to become a tidy person with a neat and organised desk. Before you even start the process of going through all the clutter on, under and around your desk, find a solid reason that actually means something to you. That way you will be more motivated to actually go through with it and keep it up.
Step 2 – Visualise your ideal work space
When we talk about visualising your ideal work space using Marie Kondo’s method, we don’t refer to palm-filled beaches or massage chairs, but rather what type of environment will make you more productive and efficient. If you work best at an almost empty desk, then that’s what you should envision. After all, a tidy work space will make you feel more comfortable.
Step 3 – Consider, sort, discard
Depending on your work space, you may have a small box, a desk, a cubicle or entire room for yourself. No matter how big or small it may be, it’s important to get all your items out of the drawers, cupboards and boxes. Don’t go through each separately. Using Marie Kondo’s tidying up method, you need to have the entire overview of all papers, tools, folders and other random items you have. Once that’s done, sort all items by category – not by their location they had been stored in. From there, discard everything unnecessary.
Step 4 – Store by frequency
One of the main reasons for messy desks is the fact that people simply dump items and leave them there, never to be touched again. The truth is that probably more than half of the items on our desks are not in frequent use. While you might have a need for some items every now and then, and thus don’t want to throw them away, you can store these infrequently used items in a box under your desk or in a cupboard. Keep only the things you use daily on your desk.
Step 5 – Stick with it
Surely, maintaining a clean space is the hardest step. But once you have cleaned up your work space and have become more productive as a result, you might be more motivated to keep it that way.
To ensure you create a more comfortable environment for yourself, do remember what you imagine your ideal work space to look like when going through each step.
