NYC Professional Organizer: Your Office Can be a Temple, Too

Those people who go to the gym a lot and eat very carefully are fond of repeating what has come to be a common saying: “The body is a temple.”

Temples, of course, are hallowed places where layers of intention toward the divine build on one another, until there is a sense of transcendent peace. If you have ever visited a Zen shrine or Chartres cathedral or any of our magnificent cathedrals here in New York City, you know what I’m talking about.

When we treat ourselves well, the likelihood of feeling good, and of resonating with others at a comfortable frequency, is notably heightened, much like we can feel tranquil and in-tune when we’re visiting, say, St. John the Divine.

Well, speaking as your NYC professional organizer, here’s another place that can be a temple: your office. More than you may have considered, taking the time to discover ways to make your office harmonious, and efficient, is well worth it.

I have an abundance of office organizing tips that can help with this. And, believe it or not, they are generally the same types of things that those charged with creating and preserving temples have to attend to:

• Declutter! Put away what isn’t strictly necessary today (throw away what you can now, schedule time tomorrow to do more)
• Raise up what is most important, and most beautiful (a few framed photos of loved ones, special times and places, etc.)
• Binder clips, binder clips, binder clips (when it comes to paper, lots of loose papers is overwhelming)
• Create a hierarchy system for email folders (with A in front of most used folders and z for those used least)
• Reduce, reuse, recycle (devote at least 10 minutes a week specifically to recycling paper)
• Get and use a quality labeler (to signal yourself and others that everything has a place)
• Completely clear your desk and only put back what is absolutely necessary
• Organize your desk drawers the same way – empty them and only put back what you actually need
• Straighten your desk daily – before you leave each day take a few moments to clear the day’s folders, papers and coffee cups (you’ll enjoy coming back to it more the next day and go home feeling peaceful, too)

All of these are office organizing tips that I have taught many, many clients, and put to good use myself. As your NYC professional organizer, I am far from superhuman and need to follow commonsense advice myself! In the process, I get to enjoy some of the sense of a temple, one of the beautiful ones I’ve been fortunate enough to visit, every time I come and go from my own office. And that is exactly the sort of peace, and satisfaction, that I strive to bring to my clients each day. Thank you for reading!