Clear Up Your Desk

There will be a lot of things that would have piled up on your desk over the course of time. As you now have time, why not get to clearing it up.

Look into your inbox and clear out any documents that are not required. Old print outs, notes, brochures, letters. Those that are not required can be chucked out. Those that may be used for reference in future can be filed. Even better if you can recycle the used paper. (I usually collect old prints and get them bound so I can use the unused back for taking notes.)

Check your desk for pens that work. Those that do can be kept, those that do not should be thrown away. Check for paperclips on documents and remove any that are not used. Every paperclip saved is not only a saving in money but also your contribution to the environment.

Shred any documents that you are not going to use but which still contain confidential information. Before doing that make sure to give them a look over and remove any stapler pins so they do not jam up or damage your paper shredder.

While clearing up your physical desktop, you can also clear up your computer. Review all e-mails to make sure the inbox is clean. Clear out junk mail folders and deleted item folders. While best practices include putting files in correct folders on your computer to begin with, there will be chances of some files finding their way on your desktop. Review these and put them into the appropriate folders.

Also review the amount of space on your computer. Computers tend to slow down when the hard disks become full. It is suggested to backup data on external drives and delete any files and folders not in use. Since you’ve backed these up, you can return to the external drive in case you need them again.

Keeping a tidy desk will help you organize yourself better and ensure you can function at your maximum potential.