The spring season makes us all think of fresh starts and new opportunities. With warmer weather and greener trees, our energy is renewed and we suddenly feel prepared to tackle and conquer just about anything. Well, almost anything, as long as it isn’t dealing with the stacks of paper sitting on our desks or the piles of crates leaning next to our desks or the mountain of to-do notes tacked onto our desks… but every workspace needs a good spring cleaning.
The same way you clean out the closets and store the winter sweaters at home, you should give the same attention to your workspace. The longer you procrastinate, the deeper you fall into an abyss of disorganization. The doldrums of winter often keep us complacent and unmotivated, but spring is the perfect time to take advantage of a newfound energy and enthusiasm and transform spring cleaning from a dreaded chore to a valuable exercise that does more than leave your workspace sparkling; it will also make you more productive.
Step 1: Purge
PortaFile expanding files are great for archiving documents. They're made from sturdy polypropylene and won't need replacing, plus they have a large area so you can clearly label contents. The fold-down front flap makes it easy to find what you need.
Sometimes you may feel like taking everything off your desk and tossing it into an incinerator. You daydream about the incredible sense of freedom you’ll feel when all that clutter is gone and you’ve got a wide open space… and then you come back to reality and realize that you just can’t part with your stuff. From paperwork to paper clips, you feel compelled to save it all.
Purging may be the toughest step, but it’s vital to a good spring cleaning and to your sanity and productivity. Throw away dated or unnecessary paperwork, especially if you already have a digital copy. If you haven’t used a stapler or other basic office supplies in years, give yours to someone who has. Trash the stack of coupons for restaurants you’d love to visit for lunch but never have and likely never will. It’s time to cut the cord with clutter. Sure, this will take some time and may even be a bit heart wrenching – after all, that stapler has been in your drawer for six years! But every time you pick something up off your desk, out of a file or from a drawer, you should ask yourself whether you truly need it or use it. If the answer is no, it’s got to go!
This t-card panel makes the perfect tickler file. Insert it into your reference organizer and track all of your open tasks and important notes. Best of all, keep them in one place and completely avoid the sticky-note mess on your desk.
If you must keep a paper copy of client or project files, archive them in a safe place that will give you easy access later if you ever need to retrieve them, but keep them out of your way from day to day. For long-term archiving of closed projects or other obscure reference materials that you may need one day, make sure you select a storage solution that is sturdy and won’t need replacing in a couple of years. The last thing you want to do is re-archive old files that you never use anyway. As you archive, be sure to label everything clearly so in the event that you need to dig out that old contract from 2004, you’ll be able to find it without a single bit of hair-pulling.
Either get rid of the 37 sticky notes randomly posted throughout your workspace, or take a few minutes to save the information you need and then get rid of them. Try keeping “sticky” information in a tickler file, daily planner, or even on a whiteboard that you can erase and reuse instead of cluttering your desk with tiny squares of paper, no matter how cute and colorful they may be.
This convex magnetic whiteboard is a 30-day planner that lets you keep track of your tasks and dates without a mess of notes on your desk. It's anti-glare and is even self-organizing with built-in drawers to store markers and magnets.
Step 2: Clean
It’s much easier to clean after the clutter is gone, but clutter-free does not equal clean. Somewhere along the line you probably lost half a sandwich under your pile of old paperwork or spilled coffee onto your keyboard. There’s probably a cobweb in a corner and a coating of dust in a spot or two you haven’t been able to reach in six or seven months. So grab a garbage bag, a roll of paper towels and a spritz bottle. This may sound a bit mundane, but you’ll feel much better about your workspace when the dust bunnies and musty odor are replaced by the aromas of spring. Hey, you like going home to a clean house, right? You’ll like walking into a clean office (almost) as much!
And do yourself a favor this winter and when next spring rolls around… spend a little time now organizing the things you use and need into a manageable and maintainable system so you’ll never wonder where that last bite of ham-on-rye went again!
Step 3: Prioritize
The PortaFile file carrier is great for being on-the-go. It can hold files, expanding files or even an entire PortaFile project box so you'll be able to organize your materials and keep them handy whenever you need to scoot out of the office quickly.
Determine what you use most often and what you use once in a blue moon. Priorities change, so this is the time to adjust accordingly. If a borderline prospect is now a major client, those files need to be more accessible. If you plan to spend more time on the road, your workspace needs to be even more organized so you can do your office work, grab the files you need and get back on the road. If you’ve been downsized into a small cubicle or a home office, you need a more streamlined solution that will take advantage of the minimal space you do have.
Organize your paperwork into three categories – high priority, medium priority and low priority. Then find a storage solution that will keep the documents you need in reach, and the ones you don’t out of the way. The trick to successful organizing is to find a system that works for you and then adjust to priority changes as they occur. You’ll never have the exact same set of files, folders or task lists at your side but if you have a method for dealing with those things you’ll be able to reprioritize not just this spring, but any time your business needs change.
Step 4: Organize
This doesn’t mean you should buy everything that’s on sale from a low-budget office supply catalog. Before you invest in more trays, boxes and bins, take a moment to reflect on what you need to store and organize and what tools will be most durable and timeless. Having too many organizing tools and containers just enables you to collect more clutter. Think strategically, identify your needs, find the most effective solutions, and invest in quality so you save money in the long run. If you purchase wisely now you won’t be re-purchasing later.
The Outpost monitor arm will keep your desk space clear and it can be used with more than one monitor, or a monitor plus reference organizer.
If you don’t have enough desk space, create space. A monitor arm takes your monitor off your desk and allows you to move it with the push of a finger. A reference organizer (especially one on an arm!) does the same with your reference materials. Take advantage of vertical space and even wall space to store, stack and hang supplies.
Remember, you shouldn’t try to fit your work style into any particular tool or strategy. Figure out how you work best and go from there. If you’re a visual person and would rather see your paperwork in piles rather than tucked away in files, find a tool that lets you keep what you need accessible and organized. If you take stock of what you need to organize, you can find solutions to help you do it. The tools are out there if you take time to plan, think and look!
Visual person? Look no further than the TierDrop paper organizer. Keep those piles in sight but neat and organized in this expandable system that lets you easily add "tiers" as you need more space.
Step 5: Maintain
Nobody is naïve enough to expect one good spring cleaning to magically transform a workspace from the depths of disorder and chaos to a utopian state of peace and serenity. But now is as good a time as any to start on your journey to a more organized and productive work space, and if you start somewhere and start slowly, you’ll reach your goal one small step at a time. Just remember that there’s more to being organized than being neat, and clutter is still clutter even if you can’t see it. In other words, if you come across something that’s not important enough to have a home in your workspace, its home should be the waste basket or recycle bin. If it’s not important – but may be one day – archive it neatly and keep it out of sight and out of mind until it’s needed again.
The VersaFile desktop organizer can change when your needs do. The slots and shelves are adjustable and can be reconfigured depending on what you need to store.
Take stock of what you need and what you use regularly, and be tough about getting rid of things that don’t offer any specific and real benefit. Don’t let your organizing tools become part of the clutter! If something isn’t working for you anymore, get it out of your space, toss it or donate it to someone whose style is different than yours.
As your workload, conditions and priorities change, adjust your strategies and you’ll stay ahead of the game. You may have to go through this process every spring to truly maintain an organized workspace, but if you do it right once and make the effort to stick with your plan, it won’t be nearly as painful down the road.
For more information or to buy these products:
PortaFile Expanding Files, letter size
T-Card Panel for Reference Organizers, with 50 T-Cards
Convex 30-Day Planner, 36″ x 24″
PortaFile Carrier, letter size
Outpost 2-Link Monitor Arm with Post
VersaFile 5 Divider/3 Shelf Organizer
About Ultimate Office
Ultimate Office provides innovative organization and storage solutions for your business and home office. Our passion is for taking the ordinary and making it not just extraordinary, but Ultimate.
