Imagine having an organized work space you love and specifically a clear desk at the end of each day. Wait a minute, am I talking about a dream that I had the other evening, instead of my cluttered desk?
Even with more email and e-files, paper is still around. The reality is that for some of us it’s easy to keep our desks clutter free, and for others stuff simply seems to pile up. We make excuses that we don’t have the time to categorize and put papers and files away.
Your client’s on the phone, and you can’t find a particular document that you need right now. What happens when you you can’t put your fingers on that important piece of information? You’d swear that you know what pile it’s in or where it is on your computer.
A cluttered desk zaps your time and energy
Cluttered desk, familiar?
A cluttered desktop zaps your time and energy, including stacks of manila folders filled with current and not so current projects, random business cards, books, wires etc.
You may be running on empty as it is, and a messy desk only increases feeling overwhelmed.
If you are one of those people who say, “I need to have things visible,“ find a way to file so it works for you, while having a clear desktop. I am also talking about your computer desktop. Is your screen – desktop covered with lots of files that you’re meaning to put into folders for easy access? Do you have copies of copies of the same file on your personal computer, plus in dropbox and google docs?
Tips to overcome a cluttered desk and computer desktop.
Remember any suggestions that will help you design your life and lower your stress, have to make sense to you.
5-minute rule
David Allen who wrote Getting Things Done, popularized the 5-minute rule: if taking immediate action on a file will take 5 minutes or less, take care of it as soon as you encounter it. The same applies to your TO DO list, your TO DO folder, and email. As you go through your email, delete emails unless you need to file them or take immediate action on current items. The 5-minute rule really helps you to focus on what’s important, and that may be sending a 4 word email to a friend.
Name files and folders in a consistent manner
When you store information in folders, you decide what are the categories, and in which sequence. E.g. As you create subfolders for customers, co-workers, vendors etc., use the same colors and fonts so your mind quickly recognizes your system. And you will save yourself time, if you don’t use special characters.
Consider less is more when categorizing
If you get too specific with lots of subfolders, then you can get lost in figuring out where you put something.
Only keep current files at your fingertips
Consider what system you can use on your desk rather than piles, and once they are not super current put them in filing cabinets (preferably lateral.) The great thing about lateral cabinets is you can orient the files front to back and side to side.
Date all files.
Separate ongoing work from completed work. Where will you file ongoing projects versus completed projects? That’s why dates are SO IMPORTANT.
When naming and dating docs: Start with the date in YYYY-MM-DD format (also known as ISO 8601 format). Include descriptive text that makes sense to you. Include a version number, if you don’t want to throw away old versions or archive the old versions. Always end with a file extension, such as .doc. You’ll be grateful, when years later as you find yourself trying to open a file you can identify that the software has now been deleted from your computer.
Consider making digital copies of paper documents.
A scanner can come in really handy, and reduce the amount of paper archiving. Before you scan, ask yourself do I really need to keep this?
Color.
Can be really helpful to organize topics, projects or what to prioritize. The child in us loves color. If you are color blind then avoid green and red.
Consider ditching auto-organizing features.
Or at least make sure that you have the option to see all of your emails at once. When auto-organizing features are on, it may or may not make it easy to find important emails. I often find it much easier to decide whether to take action, file or hit delete when the auto-organizing features are off.
Commit to clearing off your desk
and your computer desktop at the end of each day or first thing in the morning. If you handle items while they are fresh, it’s much easier to figure out what bucket they belong in. And if you share your commitment with someone else, you can raise your likelihood of being consistent.
If you have a great filing tip please leave a comment below to share with others.
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