Want to organize and declutter your desk but don’t know where to start? Today’s post is for you! These simple and practical decluttering hacks for your desk will help you clear your desk so you have a space to work, improve your office organization, and win against clutter!
Simple and Practical Decluttering Hacks for Your Desk
It’s frustrating to sit down at a cluttered desk each day. And forget about getting any actual work done! By the time you shuffle piles and projects and find a space to work, your motivation (or your work time) is gone.
But there are a few simple hacks that will help you declutter your desk and keep it that way, so that your workspace can once again be a productive space for building your business!
Before we jump into the hacks, let’s talk a little more about the importance of your desk in the overall organization of your office.
The Kitchen Sink of Your Office
You know how when one or two dishes are left in the kitchen sink, they seem to multiply in minutes then migrate all over the kitchen?
A similar thing happens in your office.
Your desk is the “kitchen sink” of your office.
- If your desk is messy and cluttered, then your office probably is, too.
- If your desk is cleared off and free of clutter, then chances are the rest of your office will be less cluttered and messy, too!
By keeping your desk free of clutter you’ll not only keep your office cleaner and more organized, you’ll be able to better focus during your business building time and get more work done each day!
Decluttering Hacks for Your Desk
These decluttering hacks for your desk are simple and practical. They’ll help you uncover the top of your desk quickly and keep it clutter-free and organized!
A SIMPLE SYSTEM FOR DECLUTTERING
When you first start decluttering your desk, it’s important to create a system that will make it easy to sort and categorize items.
I like to round up a few empty bins and print sorting labels to affix to each one. That way, when I’m quickly sorting clutter, I can just drop each item into the appropriate bin without wasting mental or physical energy.
I have sorting bin labels for:
- trash
- recycling
- shredding
- give away
- belongs in another room
- paper
We have three different sets of sorting bin labels in our printables vault. Get access and snag your very own set by signing up HERE!
JUST START
Decluttering is overwhelming. There’s no way around that!
But I can promise you that it won’t get LESS overwhelming the longer you put it off. #beenthere #donethat
Take a few minutes today to JUST START!
Clear one piece of clutter or two or twelve. Or set a timer for 5, 10 or 15 minutes and clear clutter until it goes off. Then go back to your regularly scheduled day.
Do this each day, and you’ll be amazed at how quickly you hack your way through your desk clutter!
A QUICK WIN WITH A DUMP BIN
One of my favorite decluttering hacks for any area is to use a dump bin to experience a quick organizing win!
Grab an empty basket or bin and fill it with all of the stuff cluttering up the top of your desk. Then spend 5-15 minutes each day sorting the items in the dump bin until it’s empty.
By clearing off the top of your desk, you’ll feel immediate relief from the overwhelm that clutter causes, but you’ll know exactly where to find something if you end up needing it.
There is one caveat with this hack: you absolutely MUST spend time each day sorting the items in your dump bin. If you don’t, you’ve just relocated your clutter!
ONLY KEEP OUT WHAT YOU USE FREQUENTLY
There’s an “everything hidden away/everything in view” spectrum, and we all land at a different place on that continuum.
I prefer to have only the necessities out on my desk: task lighting, computer, water bottle, office inbox, and project supplies that are currently in use. I tuck every other thing in a drawer, out of sight.
Where do you fall on the “everything hidden away/everything in view” spectrum?
You may prefer to have many or all of your office supplies out on your desk along with your files, writing utensils, and tools.
Or maybe you fall somewhere in the middle?
No matter where you land on the spectrum, keep only the items you use most frequently on your desk. Typically, these are items that you use multiple times each day.
ASSIGN EVERY ITEM A HOME
Another simple and practical decluttering hack for your desk is to assign every item a home.
When every item has a home, picking up after yourself is a breeze! It’s easy to put items away and clear your desk in preparation for a new day of productive work (see below).
Assigning a home may be as simple as tossing a writing utensil in a caddy or slightly more complex like filing paper. But either way, you know exactly where items belong and where to find them when you need them again!
USE AN INBOX TO CATCH AND CORRAL PAPER CLUTTER
With home workspaces doing double or triple duty, it’s important to have a catch-all filter for incoming items.
An office inbox allows you to control the flow of information and papers into your office, avoid piles taking over your desk, and review all of the information coming into your home office.
Learn more about adding an inbox to your desk: My Favorite Clutter-Busting Tool for the Office
Get your inbox set up and working for you fast with the tips in this post: 5 Easy Ways to Set Up a Home Office Inbox.
CLEAR YOUR DESK AT THE END OF EVERY DAY
This one hack has vastly improved the organization in my office and greatly decreased the amount of time and energy required to maintain that organization!
And it’s no coincidence that it’s a HUGE part of my 7-Day Office Organization Challenge.
You can learn more and join the challenge by clicking the image below!
The one, super important, office organization-revolutionizing hack?
Clear your desk at the end of every workday!
At the end of every workday, start a 10-minute timer and:
- Put items away – which is easy because they all have assigned homes (see above).
- File papers – this step is super quick if your filing system is handily located within arm’s reach of your desk (learn How to Construct a Filing System That Works for You).
- Clear your inbox – which acts as a catch-all filter to help keep clutter off your desk (learn more: My Favorite Clutter-Busting Tool for the Office).
- Put anything else on your desk away.
By taking 5-10 minutes at the end of every work day to clear your desk,
you’ll never sit down to a messy and cluttered desk again, your productivity will improve, and your entire office will stay more organized!
Simple and Practical Decluttering Hacks for Your Desk
These simple and practical decluttering hacks for your desk will help you kick clutter to the curb and avoid the frustration and overwhelm that comes with sitting down at a messy and cluttered desk!
With a little time and effort your desk can once again be a productive space for building your business!
Get Even More Decluttering Hacks for Your Desk
Love these hacks and want even more ways to quickly and simply declutter the “kitchen sink” of your office?
Well, you’re in luck! We just added a list of nearly 30 decluttering hacks for your desk to the Printables Vault!
Related Posts
If you enjoyed today’s post, you might find these related posts helpful:
- The #1 Habit You Need to Make Office Organization Successful
- How to Use Labels to Organize Everything in Your Office
- 5-Minute Organization Hacks for Your Office
Do you have any helpful desk decluttering hacks? Be sure to share in the comments below!
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