I have worked with so many people over the years that have made me wonder how on earth they can work at their desk when everything that was in their drawers and in their filing cabinets have ended up in piles on top of their keyboard. One co-worker of mine couldnt remember what colour the top of his desk was! I had to say something, but when I did, he told me that he knew where everything was and needed all that paperwork for different projects he was working on.

Some study suggest that about 15% of our time is wasted on looking for misplaced files and paperwork at the office. People get really defensive when you tell them that their desk is a mess. They say that they dont have time to clean up, as they are too busy. And if they would file certain items they would forget to work on it and would therefore miss the deadline.

Let me tell you a secret: You cant work on four projects at once with a messy desk. You will misplace papers in wrong folders, spend 15 minutes looking for that form that you had right there, look for an important message that was in that folder but no longer is, etc. You will not be able to continue working like this without a major mistake happening.

Getting organised

It may take you all day to clean your desk but believe me when I say that it will save your sanity!

First things first. Get yourself some folders and a black marker. Take every piece of paper on your desk one by one and file them. Make sure that everything you need to do with these papers is written down on a to-do list or even better in your computer organiser. For example, if you have to work on your budget next Monday, write down work on budget in your computer organiser so that when Monday comes, your computer will send you a reminder that you need to work on your budget today. Then file that paper in a folder named budget. Put that folder away not on your desk!! But in your filing cabinet. Proceed this way with every bit of information that clutters your desk. Do not get distracted by a form that reminds you that you need to do something. Instead, jot it down on your to- do list or in your organiser. You wont forget it as it has been written down. File it and move on. Keep focused. Only do one thing at a time for the moment and that is to organise and clean your desk.

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