5 Productivity Tips to Organize Your Office Workspace
When you organize your office, you boost productivity and credibility for yourself, your company, and your workplace environment as a whole.
It’s really that simple.
For example; recent studies have shown your boss actually favors a neat and organized person for promotion over your peers.
True story.
“Favoritism” in the workplace is an unspoken truth never talked about. But as long as it still exists, there’s no reason you can’t leverage it.
As a professional in a work environment, you intuitively know clutter is always accompanied by procrastination and a guilty subconscious mind. This is why it’s so important to organize your office workspace.
When you’re surrounded by uncontrollable clutter like:
- Papers piled on the desk
- Folders stacked on the floor
- And you can’t find supplies when you need them…
You’re wasting valuable time which could be spent on more productive tasks to help you achieve your goals.
Take Control of Your Office Environment
Watch the video below (and read on) for 5 simple pro-tips to organize your office space for optimal efficiency.
(video source: How 2 Organize Your Office Space- by Mission2Organize)
1. Organize Your Office with the “Bullseye Method”
Organizing your office doesn’t have to be hard. To start off, let’s use a metaphor…
Think of your office like a target. In this metaphorical bullseye, every ring has its own purpose…
- Ring 1- (in the center)- You are the bullseye
- Ring 2- The items used most frequently
- Rings 3, 4, etc.- Items used less frequently (in order of immediate importance)
For example, if you use your printer all day, every day, you’ll want to place the machine close to your desk.
However, if you’re not using sheet protectors very often, you can place those further away.
This next sub-tip is from the popular 2001 book, Getting Things Done, by David Allen.
Have a paper inbox on your desk (or close to it). Then, instead of being surrounded by a mountain of papers, you’ll have a neatly contained paper filing system.
Using this “physical inbox”, you can label each tier according to your needs.
We usually recommend a two or three tier inbox with the following labels:
- “action” or “inbox”
- “to file”
- “to mail” (if you have 3 tiers)
The only papers which DO NOT go in this paper inbox are the ones you need RIGHT NOW.
File away any completed projects immediately and you could even create folders for any upcoming projects.
This helps you feel less overwhelmed and anxious.
You’ll also be able to focus better on the tasks at hand without any peripheral distractions.
2. Keep Your Desk Tidy with Minimal Clutter
Keep only minimal and necessary office supplies on the top of your desk.
Less frequently used supplies should always be kept in the drawers of your desk.
Desk Drawer Storage
When using desk drawers to store any paperwork, make sure to use drawer dividers to keep everything neat and organized.
Supply Room Storage
Excess supplies can be kept either in a supply room or a supply closet.
3. Important Items in One Central Place
It’s important to have all of your lists and notes in one place.
Some people prefer to keep their action lists or notes online (using Google Keep, Trello, or other free services), while others prefer a notebook.
Either way is fine, just make sure you choose one single place. This one simple action frees you from having to store Post-its and ad-hoc notes all over the place.
Plus, when you need to use them for reference, you’ll know exactly where to find those important notes or lists.
4. Leverage Office Airspace with Shelves
If you need to keep books, binders or physical products for your line of work, add a bookshelf or install shelves inside of your office.
This is a great way to take advantage of vertical space (also known as “airspace”).
5. End Of Day Clean-up
Clear off your desk at the end of each work day. This may sound simple, but you’d be surprised how many people leave their workspaces cluttered with yesterday’s “thought residue“.
From a psychological standpoint, this sort of clutter can cause instant anxiety the moment you come back to your workspace the next day.
Cleaning up for the next day is incredibly easy. File away any papers and put your office supplies back where they belong.
A Place for Everything and Everything in Its Place
The cheeky old adage, “A place for everything and everything in its place” is great advise to follow. (And probably why it’s been around for so long.)
Following these 5 simple steps to organizing your office workspace will let you start every work day feeling:
- Fresh
- Less overwhelmed
- And guaranteed to boost the productivity of your office
Now, Go Organize Your Office…
Have you found any other simple ways to organize your office workplace for optimal productivity?
Let us know if these tips have helped you out or if you have any additional tips in the comments below.
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