19 Office Organization Tips That Will Keep You on Target

19 Office Organization Tips That Will Keep You on Target

Work can be stressful. But when you’re battling against a disorganized desk, it can be even more difficult.

Believe it or not, a disorganized workspace can have a major impact on your productivity. The more cluttered it is, the harder it’ll be to focus on your work.

But you don’t have to settle for bad office organization! All it takes is a little effort.

Here are a few simple tips to help you clear the clutter and create an organized office desk.

1. Get Rid of Items You Don’t Use

The very first thing you should do when organizing your office is to get rid of any items you don’t use on a regular basis.

Look around your office. Do you have items on shelves that you haven’t touched in months? Are there piles of papers collecting dust?

Get rid of them!

The same goes for outdated electronics, damaged cables, and those printer ink cartridges you’ve been meaning to recycle for the last eight months.

As a general rule, if you haven’t used it in six months, ditch it.

2. Establish a Junk Drawer

After going through those items, you’ll probably come across a few things that you just aren’t ready to part with. But that doesn’t mean you absolutely need to get rid of them.

Instead, clear out a drawer in your desk and turn it into your designated junk drawer. Once it’s full, commit to getting rid of one item for every new item you want to put inside.

This will keep the clutter from building up and lets you enjoy those promotional items you pick up during your networking events.

Just make sure to only use one drawer as a junk drawer. Otherwise, the clutter will build up faster.

3. Make Use of Your Desk Drawers

It’s surprisingly easy for your desk to turn into a cluttered mess. But there’s an easy solution to your clutter problem: use your desk drawers.

Instead of keeping your frequently used items on the top of your desk, place them in a drawer as soon as you’re done.

The less stuff you keep on the surface of your desk, the less cluttered your office will feel. If possible, organize your desk drawers by purpose. Keep pens, sticky notes, and other office supplies in one, files and papers in another, and so on.

This will make work desk organization a breeze and might just improve your productivity in the process. You’ll eliminate all that time you’d otherwise spend searching for those items.

4. Keep Promotional Materials in a Designated Spot

Promotional products are a great way to get your name out there. And you always want to keep those items close at hand to give to clients and take to events.

But that doesn’t mean you should leave the boxes in a pile by the door. Instead, find a designated storage place and keep them there. This will make it easier to track your inventory and reduces the clutter in your office immediately.

After all, when you don’t look at something every day, you can more easily see when you’re almost out of your stash of custom calendars.

5. Buy a Labeler

Office and desk organization is far easier if you create a space for everything. But over time, your items can easily get mixed up and misplaced.

Instead of putting things away randomly, label your drawers and shelves.

You don’t even have to worry about bad handwriting. Just pick up one of these great label makers. They’ll print clear and easy-to-read labels so you’ll always know where to put your belongings.

6. Let Your Filing Go Digital

Papers take up a lot of space in any desk or cabinet. Instead of sticking to hard copies of every document, go digital.

Scan the originals and save them to your computer. Once everything is saved, shred the documents with sensitive information and recycle the rest.

If you’re worried about getting rid of the hard copies too soon, keep documents from the last 12 months on-hand. You can shred them when they’re no longer relevant.

As an added bonus, you’ll cut down on the number of filing cabinets you’ll need, freeing up space throughout the office.

7. Put Trashcans and Recycling Bins Throughout the Office

Empty coffee cups, food wrappers, and water bottles all have a way of making it to your desk.

Why? Because trashcans and recycling bins are often hard to find in a large office. This makes it hard to get rid of items when you’re done.

And by the time you make it back to your desk, your mind is already at work. You just forget to toss the waste.

Ask for additional trash cans and recycling bins for the common areas of the office. This way, you’ll be able to toss your trash before it makes it to your desk. This will help reduce clutter almost immediately.

You can also ditch disposable drinkware entirely. Order branded reusable water bottles and travel mugs to use in and around work.

You will have to wash them, but you won’t have to worry about countless plastic bottles taking up space on your desk.

8. Clean Up Every Day and Deep Clean Once a Week

Get in the habit of cleaning your desk at the end of the day. Put items you’ve left out in their designated drawers. Dust the surface with a soft cloth and toss any unneeded papers and trash in the trashcan.

Once a week, give your space a good deep clean. Dust shelves, clean your computer screen, and check beneath the desk for dust bunnies around your computer cords.

The whole process should only take about ten minutes. Come Monday morning when you’re in the office, you’ll be able to focus on work rather than the clutter.

Even if you have a professional janitorial team, these tasks often get overlooked or are your responsibility in the first place.

9. Focus on One Task at a Time

Work keeps you busy and to keep up with demand, you have to multitask, right? Well, doing so may be bad for your productivity. And it definitely wreaks havoc on your organizational skills.

When you multitask, you’ll have multiple tabs up on your computer, countless papers collecting on your desk, and about ten tasks to juggle at once.

After only a few minutes, your desk might look like a tornado hit it. Instead of trying to multitask, focus on one thing at once.

You’ll work faster, your desk will stay more organized, and you’ll feel less stressed at the end of the day.

10. Follow the Two-Tray Rule

Even when you’re focusing on a single task, work has a way of piling up…literally. To keep papers and notes from collecting on your desk, follow the two-tray rule.

Use one paper tray for tasks and documents that still need to be handled and another to hold the papers when you’re done with them. This will cut down on the number of piles on your desk.

At the end of the day, you’ll have a visual of how much you completed and you’ll know where to start when you get back the next day.

11. Use a To-Do List

It can be hard to keep track of tasks, deadlines, and meetings. And while it might not clutter up your desk, it can clutter up your mind.

Instead of trying to remember all those important dates and times, jot them down on a to-do list. Start a new list each day and plan out your schedule, goals, and priorities.

If you prefer working with paper, all you need is a notepad and a pen. But if you’re a bit more tech savvy, to-do list apps are a wonderful alternative.

The apps can integrate with your calendar and other members of your team. You’ll all know how much work you have left to do, when those meetings are, and what deadlines are coming up throughout the week.

The less stressed and scatterbrained you feel, the better organized your desk will stay.

12. Bundle Your Cables

Computer cables have a way of turning into a tangled mess in a matter of minutes. Worse, they collect dust and catch on your feet while you’re working.

Take the time to bundle your cables. Straighten out the ones that have curled or bent and wrap them together with hook and loop fastener strips. The strips will consolidate the cords without damaging the rubber.

13. Make the Switch to Wireless Accessories

If you have a bunch of wired accessories like a keyboard, mouse, and headphones, all those cords can make even a clean desk look disorganized.

Instead of constantly fidgeting with the cords to keep them out of the way, make the switch to wireless accessories.

These work just as effectively as standard wired models but can move around your desk without taking up valuable workspace. The result is a cleaner more organized desk that can streamline your productivity.

14. Get Rid of Old Pens

How many times have you held onto used up pens just because you liked the design or were too busy to toss them in the trash?

If you’re like most people, you probably have a handful of old pens taking up space in your drawers or pen and pencil cup. But all these pens do is add to your clutter.

Instead of holding onto them, get rid of ’em. Grab a piece of paper and check each pen in your drawer. The ones that write can stick around, but the ones that don’t need to be disposed of.

Remember, you can always order a new case of branded pens for your office. There’s no reason to keep the ones you can’t use.

15. Install Shelves If You Don’t Have ‘Em

Sometimes, you just don’t have enough storage space in the office. And that leads you to pile boxes of supplies along the walls.

While it is effective, it does add to the cluttered and dirty feel of the space. Instead, think vertical.

Add a few bookshelves to your office. If you don’t have room for floor-to-ceiling shelves or are working on a budget, choose a small half-shelf. Even a single two-shelf system can help keep items off the floor and make you feel more organized.

16. Organize Your Computer

If your computer is cluttered, even a clean desk won’t help you feel more organized.

Take a few minutes to see what’s cluttering up your desktop. Do you have a bunch of files for the same client lurking in different spaces? Consolidate them into a single folder.

Get rid of applications and icons that you don’t use. They’re just taking up valuable digital real estate.

It helps to think of your computer as an extension of your desk. We’ve already discussed creating designated storage spots for items you use frequently. And the same thought applies to your computer.

Put documents into folders organized by client, purpose, project, etc. Anytime you create a new document, save it to the correct folder so you’ll always know where it is.

Still want fast access to your documents? Display the folders on the desktop.

17. Get a Monitor Stand

Make good posture part of your office organization list.

Invest in a quality monitor stand. By lifting the monitor off the surface of the desk, you’ll open up space and make it feel more clutter-free.

But you’ll also put the monitor at a better height for your neck and back. If you’re staring down at the screen throughout the day, you put a strain on the muscles in your neck, shoulders, and low back.

Over time, this can lead to severe pain and discomfort. With the monitor stand in place, you’ll work with better posture and reduce muscle strain and fatigue.

18. Place a Trashcan Near Your Desk

If you don’t have a place to throw items away in your office, they’ll start collecting on your desk.

Solve this problem by placing a trashcan near your desk. Even a small waste bin is better than nothing.

Anytime you have papers that you don’t need or notice an empty food container, toss it in the bin. The clutter won’t have a chance to collect!

19. Put Items Back Where They Belong

Once you’ve implemented these office organization tips, you’ll need to maintain them.

And the easiest way? To put items back where they belong.

As soon as you’re done with an item, put it back in its designated storage space. This will keep clutter to a minimum throughout the day and make the office feel more organized more consistently.

Make Office Organization Easy

The best way to keep your office organization efforts consistent is to have the right tools in place. Make use of smart desk accessories, reusable drinkware, and show off your brand to anyone who comes in.

Ready to place an order for custom branded office supplies? Contact us today to discuss your needs.

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