There is a pile of papers in the upper left corner, a dirty coffee mug in the bottom right corner, wires peeking out like Medusa’s hair and, as good as your memory is, you’ve forgotten that meeting that you were supposed to attend 10 minutes ago.
Having a disorganized desk isn’t just unsightly. It leaks into your psychology, causing unnecessary stress and chaos that can easily be remedied.
Below are five tips and tricks to revamp your desk, free your surroundings and your mind of clutter, and help organize your life:
Tip 1: Hide Those Unsightly Wires
Wire management is key to keeping your desk mess free, and it can be one of the trickier elements of desk organization to master. A lot of desks have wire management holes in the back to help with this, but if you don’t, it’s not impossible to keep organized. And if you own a standing desk, there are flexible cable management options that will adjust with the height of the desk. Using surge protectors to plug in multiple plugs to one socket is very helpful with wire management as well.[LHL1] You can take this one step further by choosing a surge protector with multiple facets, one with USB outlets or even adjustable surge protectors to fit your workplace needs.
Trick: Zip Ties Are Your Friend
One trick you can use is zip-tying wires together. You can zip-tie multiple wires into one direction to help hide them. Additionally, if a wire is too long, you can wrap it in a circle, zip tie the excess, and hide that away behind the desk, or hide the excess wires using boxes. You can also use Command hooks to run cables along the desk legs. Wire management on a budget[LHL2] !
Tip 2: Place a Desk Organizer
Desk organizers come in many shapes and forms. They can be open-top towers that are placed directly on the desk, a hutch mounted on a wall, or a pegboard system to hang supplies directly on the wall to keep clutter off of the desk. No matter what the organization system, desk organizers are essential for keeping supplies in reach while also keeping them organized and tidy.
Trick: DIY a Desk Organizer
If you’re on a budget and don’t want to spend excess money on a desk organizer, you can instead opt to get a bit more crafty with it. If you’re wanting to place an organizer on your desk, empty tissue boxes are a great way to organize your things (especially if you don’t want to decorate them as they’re already decorative.) Additionally, mason jars and empty candle jars are good options for pencil holders because you can see the contents and they require little alteration. And if you’re looking to pull out the glue and construction paper, then paper towel rolls and cereal boxes can also be used, cut up, and decorated for a more personalized organization system[LHL3] .
Tip 3: Use a Drawer Divider
Most desk drawers are just a large rectangle of vast space. And placing all of your pencils, pens, notebooks, notepads and everything else under the sun in them can cause eye strain. Not to mention the frustration of hearing them all rolling about every time you open and close your desk. The solution is simple – drawer dividers! These drawer dividers can help you put everything in its place, minimize clutter and reduce that rolling sound every time you open the drawer.
Trick: DIY a Drawer Divider
Using any leftover cardboard around the house you can make your own dividers! These DIY dividers are recyclable and customizable, so you don’t have to worry about buying exact dimensions for your particular desk and you can have a use for every divider space available, since you’re the one making it.
Tip 4: Combine Your Organization with Aesthetic
Combining your organization with visual flair is easier said than done. How does one make a stack of papers look interesting? Well, there are a few ways to do this:
- Color coordinate — organizing your clutter based on color, using the ROY G BIV color organization, will help make your clutter look, well, uncluttered
- Introduce decor alongside supplies — simple tricks like placing a plant beside a desk organizer or putting a decorative coaster beneath your coffee mug can help the desk feel more put-together.
Trick: Use Color Psychology to Enhance Your Productivity
Color has been known to affect psychology since the dawn of man. Being able to quickly distinguish danger from safety via color is a necessary human trick. But one can tap into those primal instincts surrounding color to reduce stress and enhance productivity. For example, natural colors such as blue, green and brown tend to enhance relaxation and stability as they simulate the outdoors. Purple and yellow enhance creativity and red and orange inspire confidence.
Tip 5: Use Lists, Planners and/or Calendars
No matter how good your memory is, if you have a meeting on Thursday, a presentation at the end of the week, a project due at the end of the month, a birthday celebration at the office on Tuesday, an office event tomorrow and a meeting with your boss … five minutes ago, there’s no way you’re keeping all of that in your head. Therefore, having lists, calendars and planners to organize it all is imperative for your work survival!
Everyone thinks differently, which is both a blessing and a curse as it means no one organization style works for everyone. So finding the organization style that works for you can be tricky. However, here’s one method: Use checklists for daily tasks, wall calendars for monthly tasks and planners for yearly tasks. Being able to separate the daily, weekly, monthly and yearly can help compartmentalize everything and organize your schedule.
Trick: Go Digital
Schedule organization doesn’t have to be all pen and paper, although some people like having those tangible resources. However, there are desktop apps, phone apps and digital platforms that can act as substitutes to help organize your schedules. And digital scheduling solutions have one element above physical ones — reminders!
So, take control of your work life. Use the above steps as a guide and your desk will be decluttered, your mind will be at ease, and you’ll be early for that meeting.
More ideas:
https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/home/organizing/g25576393/desk-organization-ideas
https://modpodgerocksblog.com/diy-desk-organizer
https://thehomesihavemade.com/diy-drawer-dividers-using-what-youve-go
Emily Gist is an editor at Innovative Publishing. Reach her at emilyg@innovativepublishing.com.
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