How to Declutter Your Cluttered Office
I can’t find anything in here! Folders here, papers there, piles on the desk, windowsill and…. the floor as well. Stacks of emptied cartons, knickknacks scattered here and there, endless post-it notes stuck to every surface. It’s time to declutter your cluttered office as it’s a situation out of control. You’re wasting lots of time looking for important items like that file that went missing. Your anxiety levels are off the charts. You’re barely making your deadlines some days.
And our current times aren’t helping…it’s time to wage war on the clutter that is encroaching on your office. It’s time to declutter your cluttered office …NOW.
Identify a day or time when you are going to be able to work on this issue. You won’t have the mental bandwidth to work on your decluttering project if you are in the middle of a high priority project. Yes, you are probably adding to the clutter daily. Be realistic as you can’t attend to your cluttered office if you have clients waiting for their materials.
Schedule time for decluttering and be protective of that time. The benefits of getting your office organized should outweigh any excuses you think of for postponing this project. Decluttering can be done in stages so set a deadline for completing this task and then schedule sufficient 30-minute chunks of time to get the job done.
Gather the necessary supplies and store them in a corner of your space until this project is done. You’ll need more than the small wastepaper basket that is under your desk. Grab some large garbage bags, bins, or cartons and label accordingly… shredding, recycling, trash, file, to-do, etc.
Get in the right mindset for the task at hand. Be prepared to throw out those things which you no longer need and aren’t relevant for your business. A small number of knickknacks and photos are fine… reduce the number to your personal favorites. If you want to keep more than can be reasonably displayed, find a small space to store the extras.
Tackle the piles of paperwork that have collected. If you prefer to work on paper drafts instead of the digital versions, the piles will reflect this. When sorting the paperwork, reduce what you will keep to only the essentials. The most important question to ask yourself is “where can I get another copy if needed”.
As you complete each round of decluttering, file what needs to be kept and identify tasks to add to you to-do list. Your progress will be noticeable which is very motivating. Focus on getting the job done! Questions regarding decluttering your cluttered office? I’m here to support you…please reach out to me.