Minimalism: How to Declutter Your Workspace Tips and Tricks

I will explain why and how to declutter your workspace to achieve workspace nirvana.

Decluttering your workspace will not only improve your appearance but also positively affect your mindset, decrease stress, and increase productivity.

Spending all day immersed in clutter will negatively affect your ability to concentrate. I am sure you have stumbled into a co-worker’s workspace and wondered how they get anything done there.

Do me a favor and take a picture of your workspace. Then, take an honest look at it and ask yourself if anyone could say the same about it.

Deep down inside, a well-organized, clean, clutter-free workspace will lead to better productivity, health, and well-being.

Workspace clutter defeats the purpose of having a dedicated workspace in the first place.

Practice these simple tips and tricks to declutter your workspace and make it an enjoyable productivity oasis.

Declutter Your Desk

You should not clean your desk as often as you should. You should periodically do a complete edit of your desk and work area a few times a year.

Clear everything off the top of it and take everything out of the drawers. Put all of the items into piles on the floor. Don’t be surprised at how many once thought to be valuable pieces of paper, booklets, and old junk you may find and have to discard. Take this time to wipe down and clean everything.

Begin your first edit and throw out everything you do not need. Now for the hard part. Create a filing system that works with your preferred workflow.

Designate shelf space, draw, or a spot on your desk for everything you decide to keep. This will ensure they are readily available and out of the way. I have found labeling everything helps me keep everything in its place.

Keep all surfaces clear and create a space for all incoming papers. Sort them each day as soon as they come in. Nothing should be left undecided, and nothing should be left on your desk except maybe a phone, a photo, a keyboard and mouse, and anything you are working on at the time.

All your items will need a home or space to keep your desk looking its best. Hopefully, once this is done, you will feel more space and freedom of movement.

Declutter For Better Health

Let’s face it. If your desk is cluttered and messy, it probably hasn’t been cleaned in a while. In this day and age of the coronavirus, this could be a double whammy.

Germs not only from you but also from your co-workers can congregate within the mess on your desk. Periodically de-cluttering, cleaning, and wiping your desk with disinfectant will help minimize your chances of becoming ill.

Clear all the items off your desk and wipe them down with your favorite disinfectant, including your keyboard, mouse, computer displays, and other peripherals. You will not believe how good it will make you feel every time you do this; know you have a spotless and disinfected environment.

Declutter Your Computer

Let’s try to make the need for a filing cabinet obsolete. Instead, start scanning and converting some of that paper to digital documents. Use apps like Google Drive, business card scanners, project management apps, Cloud storage, and whatever you can to help you get rid of physical documents, make them easily accessible, and create more room.

When digitizing needed documents, set up an organization system to locate them easily as you go. Next, remove or consolidate files and programs you no longer need. If you are unsure about a file or program, check and confirm.

Sometimes, you may have a new program and an old one installed on your computer simultaneously. Also, there are times when the new program does the job of two or more programs you have installed on your computer.

Get rid of all (or most) of the Icons on your desktop. They are not as convenient as you think, and they also slow down your computer and cause visual clutter.

To avoid falling back into old habits, limit the amount of information you add to your computer each day. Remember things you believe may be useful someday, but that day never comes.

Declutter For Better Productivity

Decluttering and getting clutter out of your work area can be essential to becoming more productive.

Unfortunately, we are always trying to get more things done in less time. I am more of a fan of getting what is necessary and things you love doing most in a reasonable time.

Conversely, if you spend time-fighting through the clutter and searching for essential components to complete your task, it will be almost impossible to become more productive.

Showcase everything you need in the place you designated to be readily available when needed. Believe it or not, decluttering your desk decreases stress and boosts confidence.

When you are confident that you have everything you need readily available, that nothing will be misplaced, and that you can produce everything you need, you become more relaxed and empowered.

Conclusion

Once you put these suggestions into practice, work through trial and error, and create the perfect declutter for your workplace workflow, keep it up.

That’s right; this is just the beginning. Enjoy the benefits of your accomplishments, but continue to be vigilant and look for ways to improve.

Clutter NEVER sleeps. It has a way of creeping up on you and taking root in your workplace again in the blink of an eye.

Please take a picture of your workplace as a reminder of what it should look like. Posting the picture in your workplace will help motivate you to spend 5 to 10 minutes a day decluttering it.

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