How to Declutter Your Workspace to Increase Productivity

Decluttering your workspace can be the first step to increasing productivity at work. Clutter can build up without realising it and before long, you spend more and more time looking for lost items. Knowing how to declutter your workspace can also make a better impression at work.

In this article, we will look at the benefits of working in a clutter-free environment and how to achieve that.

Benefits of Decluttering your Workspace

There are many benefits to keeping your office desk, drawers, and any other workspace free from unnecessary items. Here are just a few:

• Focus better. If your desk, wall, and computer screen are filled with sticky-notes, business cards, and other items, you will find yourself constantly distracted. What was once an important reminder on the side of your computer screen may become lost in a plethora of other notes.
• Start each day afresh. Arriving at your desk in the morning that has no clutter from the previous day gives you a fresh start. You may also become more productive because you start each day with new focus, even if you are continuing on a previous project. This will help you develop your time-management skills better.
• Professionalism. You will also appear more professional to your workmates and boss.

How to Declutter Your Workspace

So, what steps can you take to get rid of unnecessary items that are taking up space and distracting you?

Re-evaluate what’s necessary

The first step to getting a clutter-free workspace is to re-evaluate every item on your desk. Only keep what needs to be there. Sometimes, clutter builds up because we start to think about all the things that may be important. Ask yourself about each item: is this absolutely necessary to be on my desk?

Use drawers or other storage

Make good use of drawers to keep your workspace organised and make sure items you may need close at hand. For example, only keep your current project on your desk and keep any other unfinished projects in a drawer or folder. You could also have a hierarchy system when it comes to your drawers with the most important items in your top drawer.

Use digital storage

Taking advantage of new technology can be a great way to declutter your workspace and keep up to date on tasks. Rather than have a pile of business cards lying around your desk, scan them and add them to your online contact list. Use an online tasks manager like Trello to prevent sticky notes from decorating your monitor. The beauty of online organisation tools is that you can set up reminders. This can also help to unclutter your mind.

Tidy your desk every evening

Taking 5 or 10 minutes at the end of every day to tidy your desk is a great way to prevent your workspace becoming too cluttered. In fact, it can help make you more productive as well because it gives you a chance to evaluate what needs to be done the next day. You will also benefit from arriving at work every morning to find a clean, clutter-free environment.

File or trash

It’s important to deal property with reminders, messages, or emails that come in during the day. One way is to restrict yourself checking emails throughout the day but to set aside a 10 or 15-minute block in the morning and afternoon to check and answer any emails. This is when you need to trash any spam or items in your inbox that you don’t need. Important items can be added to your ‘to-do’ list or filed away appropriately.