Many people feel that in order to properly focus that they need a tidy, well ordered space work in. If your study is slowly disappearing under a pile of paperwork, there are some tips to help you get better organized to help you to keep things tidy so you can find what you need easily and work in an uncluttered, focussing space.
Start By Decluttering
As a starting point, go through everything in the study to see if there is anything that you can declutter. Do you have old paperwork from years ago that you don’t need anymore? Is your desk full of pens that don’t work? If you don’t need, get rid of it. If you aren’t you what you can get rid of, keep the maybe items in self storage and wait and see if you miss them.
Add Storage
The easiest way to stay organised is to give everything a proper home. Make this easy for yourself by adding some helpful storage, inspired by minimalism. If behind your desk is a mess of cables, add some cable tides to keep them under control. Drawer dividers can help you to find things in the desk drawers. On top of the desk, pieces like an in-tray or some file organisers are a great, easy solution to keep things tidy that you want to be able to reach quickly, such as any paperwork you know you’ll need to refer to or letters you need to reply to still.
Reset At Night
When you’ve finished working in the study, take a tip from minimalism and spend a few minutes resetting it to how it was before you started work. Put things away where they belong, find the lid of the pen you were using and take any empty coffee mugs you’ve left on top of your desk back to the kitchen. This should only take a couple of minutes, but means everything will be tidy when you next need the study. It also stops the clutter from piling up again to a point where you need to have a major clear out.
Keep A Clear Desk
Take a leaf out of the book of minimalist modern offices and aim to keep a clear desk. On the top of your desk, keep only what you need. Obviously your computer should stay there, and you can keep something like a pot of pens or an in-tray for items you need close by. Everything else should go into your desk drawers. You can still reach things easily from there, but you aren’t cluttering up the top of your desk. Keep personal items to a minimum, as they can be distracting. Your desk should be for work and keeping it clear can encourage that.
Go Paper Free
Another modern office is to try and go as paperfree as possible. It’s impossible to go entirely paper-free, but by cutting out as much of your paperwork as you can, you can make your office much more clutter free. To help this goal, move things like your bank statements and bills to online only or via email so save you having to store them. Keep track of your to do list with an app instead of a notebook. Cut back on the paper you use to keep your desk clear.
