A “Mess-Free” Way to Declutter Your Desk
If you want to declutter your desk, but don’t like the idea of “creating more mess” during the process, you will find this article helpful.
I understand – your desk is already cluttered enough. There is no need to make it even messier by removing EVERYTHING from the drawers, shelves, and cabinet. If you’re a highly sensitive person, doing so might only make you feel more overwhelmed and demotivated to declutter.
In this blog post, I will share the “mess-free” way to achieve a clutter-free desk without the need to first empty everything out of its container.
Whether you’re a student, someone who works in the office, or works from home, a clutter-free desk is within reach. Let’s dive into the process.
How To Declutter Your Desk – The “Mess-Free” Way
Here are the steps.
Step #1: Visualize Your Goal:
Close your eyes and visualize the results you want to achieve.
Are you a visual person who needs to see work-related items on the desk in order to be more productive? Or do you prefer everything neatly tucked away so you can concentrate more on your work?
Depending on the goal you want to achieve, your storage objective will also change. For example, if you aim for a desktop with a “minimalist” look, you will need to make sure you have enough storage space for items not in use.
Knowing your goal will set the tone for the entire decluttering project and guide your choices along the way.
Step #2: Clear the “Obvious Trash”:
Go through your desk (including desktop surface, shelves, drawers, and any other storage spaces), remove any “obvious trash.” Some examples are:
- Pens/highlighters that are out of ink.
- Old flyers and newspaper.
- Broken office supplies
- Unwanted business cards
- Out of date calendars
- Expired sticky notes
Step #3: Return Items That Belong in another room:
If you see items on your desk (and its storage places) that aren’t work-related and there is no need for them to be there, return them to their proper storage location.
For instance, if you left an umbrella on your desk some time ago, you can return it to your garage (if you work from home) or hang it on the back of your office door (if you work on-site at your company).
You can also prepare a box that temporarily hold these items and return them all at once after decluttering is complete. This way you are less likely to be distracted while be away from the decluttering site. Just make sure you don’t forget about this task and leave the box in the corner of the office/room!
Step #4: Examine Current Storage Situations
Now it’s time to think about how to optimize these spaces.
Please note: at this point, you are only “examining” your spaces. There is no need to move things around yet. The point is to get more clarity on your space utilization.
Closely examine the storage options available at your desk, such as desktop space, drawers, storage bins, and stationary holders.
What’s inside each storage space? Do their placement make sense? What are better ways to group items of the same category together? What is the current situation for these spaces? Are they mostly empty, or are they already full?
If you think you need more storage solutions, make a list, but don’t rush to purchase them yet. Wait until decluttering is done to make informed decisions and select the appropriate storage solutions that match your needs.
Step #5: Declutter by categories
For an effective, mess-free decluttering session, focus on one category at a time.
I suggest you do it in size order. Start by picking a category of large-size items (such as paper, books, and binders). Once the big items are done, you can work on the smaller-sized supplies such as pens and binder clips.
Gather all items from the same category, get rid of unwanted ones, organize what’s left and put them in their proper storage place.
As for putting them in suitable storage solutions, store frequently used items within easy reach on your desk, while less frequently used ones can be placed in drawers or containers.
Have a recycle bin and a trash bag nearby for convenience.
Step #6: Purchase Additional Organizational Systems
Now that you are done with decluttering, if you need additional storage/organizational tools, you can purchase what suits your work style and needs.
Step #7: Give your desk a daily “reset”
To prevent clutter from piling up and having to declutter again soon, create a routine to “reset” your desk at the end of the day.
By tidying up your desk every day, you’ll spend less time overall on decluttering, and you’ll start each workday with a clean slate.
Conclusion:
Achieving a clutter-free desk involves 7 steps. Here are the steps:
Step #1: Visualize your goal
Step #2: Clear obvious trash
Step #3: Return items that belong in another room
Step #4: Examine current storage situation
Step #5: Declutter by category
Step #6: Purchase additional storage/organizational tools
Step# 7: Create daily reset routine
I hope this article is helpful. Say goodbye to a messy desk and welcome a clutter-free desk that enhances your work life!
