Organise Your Workspace

An organised workspace assists productivity, aids time management and promotes a less stressful environment. Whilst an office plant can also add to the feng shui, the following tips will assist you in creating a more harmonious area in which you spend most of your day:

1. Design a plan: before setting up your desk, sketch the desk outline on a piece of paper. Now go through the motions of your normal work day. Think about how and when things are used. Whether you are right handed, or left handed may affect some items, such as the location of your computer mouse. You may discover that some items need not be on your desk at all, but in a draw close by. Completing a time and motion study can save you wasted movements, needless work and put everything within reach;

2. Designate space: designate a section of your desk for the bulky items and a section for your workspace. The side you use may depend on whether you are right handed, or left handed. For example, place your phone, computer and any other equipment on the left hand side of your desk and keep the right hand side free for work. Another excellent way to organise your desk is to assign an in/out wing. Assign one side of your desk for incoming projects to be addressed and the other side for completed and outgoing items. Not only does this maintain a directional flow, but it also helps to organise your work and gives you a sense of accomplishment as you move through your work;

3. Agree to anticlutter: the more unnecessary items on your desk, the less space you have, making it harder to work. The harder it is to work, the less you are likely to get done. The less you get done, the more you have on your desk, the less you get done ...;

4. Become an organiser: put things away after you have used them. Have a draw caddy and use it. Put paperclips, bulldog clips and rubber bands in their designated compartments. Tidy your desk at the end of the day and write your To Do list for the next day;

5. Do not become attached: regularly sort your desk, put away items that you have missed and go through your paperwork. Throw out things that are not used, not relevant and not worth keeping. File things that you may need at a later date;

6. Be honest with yourself: once you have set yourself up, keep to the guidelines. Maintain an organised work area. Although it is easy to fall into old habits, schedule a weekly ten minute clean up in your diary. Ten minutes is long enough to get things tidy, but short enough not to be intimidating, or drawn out;

Taken from Daytimer
www.daytimer.com.au

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