How To Get Your Messy Workspace Organized

You know when you wake up and walk into a room that looks like a bomb went off?

Bills, socks, water bottles, magazines, dirty dishes, blankets, sweatshirts, beer koozies…uh…is that a pizza box in the corner? Gross.

It doesn’t exactly make you burst with energy. Instead, you start your day feeling overwhelmed and heavy. Not to mention unmotivated.

Now think about when you walk into a room that’s uncluttered and organized. It’s inviting, calm and inspiring.

Now that’s the type of space I love to start and end my day with!

As a former home organizer, I get how much your environment affects your mental and physical performance.

This applies to your workspace too. Your work environment determines your mood and feeling of overwhelm or calm.

A well-organized office provides a feeling of control and accomplishment, which leads to higher productivity. It also helps avoid distractions, which sets you up for success in delivering high-quality work.

On the other hand, working in a cluttered, messy or distracting workspace can negatively impact your results. It drains you of energy and time and keeps you feeling scattered and unfocused.

If you answer “yes” to any of the below questions, it’s probably time to consider a workspace makeover:

• Are you surrounded by personal items that distract you from your work?
• Are unnecessary furniture, papers or clutter taking up valuable space?
• Do you have piles of paper and/or overflowing filing cabinets and drawers?
• Are items preventing you from spreading out to do your work?
• Do you spend unnecessary time and energy looking for supplies, papers or reference material?

Before you can think about the workflow of your space, you need to get rid of unnecessary clutter. Clutter overloads your senses, just like multitasking overloads your brain. It steals your focus, increases stress, delays decision making, and costs you time and money.

It is easiest to start with large items that take up valuable real estates like furniture, cabinets, awards and other personal items.

Look at each item individually (and I mean really, pick up each separate item) and ask yourself:

Is this helping me achieve my work goals? 

Do I need access to this often?

Is this necessary for me to do my job better?

If your answer is no, eliminate the item from your workspace.

In case your eyes glazed over that, let me repeat. Eliminate that item from your workspace. It does not belong here.

Dispose of, donate or move it to another space. This will immediately free you of space and energy.

For items you have a many of, like pens, sticky pads, folders, and magazines, determine how much you really need.

“Even though I’ve received free pens from conferences and networking meetings, do I really need 42 of them?”

Then, go through the same exercise with your paper piles.

Begin with your most important area first, your desk. Pick up papers on your desk and ask yourself the same questions. The purpose of this exercise is to reduce paper to what you REALLY need.

Pick up each paper or folder individually and assess:

• Is this helping me achieve my work goals? 
• Do I need access to this often?
• Is this necessary for me to do my job better?

Here are some items you can get rid of because they are simply outdated or the same information is available online:

• Old receipts, newspapers, magazines and outdated information
  
• Bills/statements you have access to online
• Manuals, warranties, and directions (these are either outdated or can be found on The Google!)

Next, you want to think about where the items you are keeping (the ones that serve you well and help to reach your goals), in terms of zones.

Zones are areas dedicated to a specific type of thing, like papers, technology, reference materials or supplies. 

When organizing your office or workspace think along these terms and organize the workspace to store all the tools or data needed to complete tasks within that specific zone.

For example:

• The “Supplies Zone” would store your stapler, pads, and pens
• The “Electronics Zone” would have your desk phone, cell phone charger, earbuds, and laptop
• The “Personal Zone” would include your family photos and awards

Organizing your desk in zones makes it much easier to drop off and find items

Picture this.

You’re running from meeting to meeting, stopping in at your desk to drop off folders, grab other ones, get your laptop and charger, staple papers and grab a notebook and pen for taking notes.

With zones in place, you know exactly where to leave your items for easy access and where to pick up the items you need.

• Papers are with the papers.
• Notepad, pen, and stapler are with the supplies.
• Charger and headphones are with the electronics.

You don’t waste time searching under or over folders and binders, frantically looking for what you need.

At the very least you know what zone to look in, which minimizes time and energy. This keeps your anxiety lower, which positions you for getting to your next meeting with less stress.

By simply clearing all your clutter and organizing your workspace in zones, you’ll instantly feel a significant improvement in the flow of your work and day.

One last tip I’ll leave you with is:

Get as many papers off your desk as possible

Have a small filing cabinet (the size that fits under your desk) right next to you where you can store files and papers you need regularly.

Also have another filing cabinet somewhere else in your office or work environment (away from your desk) for papers you absolutely must save, but you do not need access to on a regular basis.

These are papers like closed projects, taxes, and reference materials. These type of long-term files do not need to be taking up the valuable real estate at your desk.

By separating everyday papers from reference papers, you will clear significant space –minimizing confusion and time looking for material when you need it.

So to recap:

• Declutter your workspace (Be ruthless. This is your office, not your lounge!)
• Create Zones
• Separate your every day (or every week) papers from everything else

You are so good at what you do and work so hard to be successful. Don’t let a cluttered or messy space be the reason you feel behind or aren’t on top of your game.

Nail these three easy steps and I’m confident you’ll make your workspace work for you!

Here’s to getting more of the right things done,

Xo,

Mridu