How To Organize Your Desk So You Can Actually Work On It

Wondering how to organize your desk? Save time? Increase productivity? Here's exactly how to do it along with some awesome office desk organizer products!

Desk organization is essential to productivity in the office. Being able to easily navigate your way around your work space not only saves you time but also money. Who wouldn't want that?!

Imagine your boss asks your for a very specific important piece of paper that was put on your desk a few weeks ago. You look at your desk with wide eyes, because it could be in any one of the towering piles occupying the surface. You frantically start searching while the other pressing duties you have are put on the back burner. The stress builds, you start looking faster and faster until ahhhhhhh!!!

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Wouldn't you rather avoid this situation completely??? Wouldn't it be nice if you were able to find that piece of paper in two minutes or less and hand it to your boss as he is asking for it??

Desk organization is the solution to this problem as well as to many other high-stress office situations like it. The following tips on how to organize your desk will get you started.

How To Organize Your Desk: Start With Your Imagination

Desk organization increases productivity. But where do you begin when it comes to refreshing your office?

The first step when trying to figure out how to organize your desk is to imagine your ideal workspace. How does it feel? What does it look like? What colors do you see?

For some inspiration, HGTV and Pinterest have some fantastic home office design ideas as well as office organization tips no matter where you get your work done.

Find one you like and print it out. Use it as your guide when refreshing your workspace.

How To Organize Your Desk: The Organizing Process

Utilize the general organizing procedure of purge, sort and store, and apply it when organizing your desk.


PURGE:

• Start by emptying your desk of all its contents. This includes the desk top and drawers as well as underneath.

• Go through each item one by one, and decide if it is worth keeping.

• In order to make decisions for office supplies, ask yourself appropriate questions (Does it still work? How old is it? How many do I have?).

• Click here for help on organizing paper files. Look under the "Purge" section for help on making decisions.

• As you make decisions, put the discards in their corresponding pile, bag or box - Recycle, Shred, Trash.

• Complete the purge by taking out the discards.


SORT:

• Now that you can see what and how much you have, separate your items into categories (i.e. files, post-its & paper pads, writing utensils, paper clips, binder clips, and so on).


STORE:

• Take a damp cloth and some cleaning solution, and give your desk a good wipe down before returning the categorized items to it.

• The kind of desk you have determines how and where to store your categorized items.

• Let's say you have a home office corner desk with a few shallow drawers and a file drawer. Use the shallow drawers to hold your office supplies and the file drawer for your active (often referenced) files. Use some desk space for a office desk organizer to hold some office supplies, a file rack for the files you reference daily, and a paper tray for action items or incoming papers.

• Or let's say you have just a desk top with two shelves above it that run the length of the desk. Since you have no storage cabinets or drawers, utilize decorative but functional boxes to label and separate your office supplies.

• See the desk organization products suggested below and customize your solution to fit your storage situation.


MAINTAIN:

• Take 5-10 minutes at the end of each day to put items in their proper places. This simple task will maintain your initial desk organization efforts.

• A few times a year, go through your desk and get rid of all unnecessary items. This keeps your work space current and ready for the constant cycle of paper and supplies going in and out.

How To Organize Your Desk: The Organizing Products

Office organizing products and home office organizers are essential to desk organization. Check out the items suggested below in order to fulfill your specific needs.


Desks

Modern Home Office Desk
Interested in a modern home office desk? Check out these top-rated ones on Amazon!

Small Home Office Desks
Looking for a small home office desk? These are highly recommended. Take a look!

For more affordable home office furniture, I'd recommend IKEA, Amazon and Target (to name a few).


Desktop

Desk Station

Stylish, functional, lightweight and durable - this organizing product provides a home for all of the rogue office supplies that find their way onto your desk.


Design Ideas Letter Tray

This letter tray is modern, gorgeous and functional. It would be great as an inbox or for action items.


Desk File Sorter

This mesh wire file sorter has 5 slots and grippers on the feet, so it won't slide around. It's great for action files or current projects.


Storage Boxes

Match your office decor with these stylish storage boxes - great for holding office supplies, greeting cards, art supplies and more! You can see in the photo above, I use these boxes on my desk too.


Drawers

Silver Mesh Drawer Organizers

This modular system is convenient and defies dust accumulation! Combine the different sizes to fit your drawer and accommodate your supplies.


Acrylic Drawer Organizer Set

Also a modular system, this acrylic product comes in different sizes and can fit your customized needs. The clear design makes it easy to identify your items.

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