I was visiting a friend out here on holiday and came across this great idea at her sister’s loft apartment.

This desk is ready for working at, but when they’re done, they simply let down the blinds and the “desk mess” is hidden from their living area.

So this is what it looks like as is…

close-up view of the cubbyhole shelves above

and a close-up view of the desk

This is way too cluttered for my working style but I really like the idea of having it all out mid-project and then just pulling down the blinds so you’re not distracted if you need to move onto other tasks.

What do you think?

You won’t believe all the excuses I get from people about their untidy desks!

“It’s because I’m creative”

“I know where everything is”

Sound familiar?

This may very well be true. However, for most people, an untidy desk makes you feel overwhelmed and out of control. And, in the workplace, it’s often perceived that you don’t know what you’re doing if your desk is a mess.

How can you be productive when you’re overwhelmed?

The good news is that it’s a lot easier than you think.

You can have a tidy desk in just 5 steps:

1. Set up your desk properly

If you answer the phone with your left hand, then keep the phone to the left of your computer. Now this might seem obvious but you’ll be surprised at the number of people I encounter who have to scramble and reach behind their computer to get to the phone. It’s like that game Twister!

2. Touch each piece of paper once only

This step forces you to make decisions – throw away, action, forward or file. Those are the only choices you have

Don’t start thinking about it and put that piece of paper back in another pile!

3. Have one notebook for all your notes

When you take messages or need to quickly jot down a note, write it in your ONE notebook. You shouldn’t have 10 post-it notes and lots of other pieces of paper on your desk. Better still, write the date on the top of every page so you can reference old information quickly. And start each day on a new page – literally!

4. Clear junk regularly

Every time you get up to go to the loo or for a coffee break, clear your desk of empty mugs, glasses, snacks, etc. The same goes for all those dry markers and pens that don’t work. Throw them out!

5. Have only the papers you’re actually working with on your desk

I have a rather strong fondness for plastic envelopes. I use these nifty tools to keep my many projects sorted. When I want to work on something, I just grab one of these and open up the contents on my desk. I even bought one on holiday in the UK.
See? Easy!

You can also have a neat and tidy desk in just 5 steps.

Now what I suggest you do is a quick, 30-second tidy every evening when you finish your work so you’re ready and raring to go the following day.

Just for today, here’s a quick office organising challenge.

1. Set your timer for 10 minutes
2. Put on some upbeat music (“You can’t hurry love” – Phil Collins does it for me)
3. Throw away all the stuff that doesn’t belong on your desk
4. Sort and make piles of paper – to action, to file, to pay, etc.
5. Label these piles with post-it notes
6. Return errant items to where they belong

That’s a really good start – well done!

Now doesn’t that feel better?

Hello, Hello!

My office is finished! Or at least the office area that I use daily… we will talk about my storage closet later.

Step 6 is to set up a filing system for the paper you need to keep. After all that sorting a few weeks ago, this is what I did with what was left:

One thing I did -over and above- *that I really like* I replaced all the file folders (at least until I ran out of folders) with no tab folders.

Geez Anne! No tab folders cost sooooo much more than regular folders. Was that really a wise financial choice??

Actually, a year and a half ago I bought a box of 100 file folders for $3.75. Tabs and all. But to me, the tabs are visual clutter when the drawer is open and really started to bother me. So I sat down with my trusty CM cutting mat, a razor knife and a metal straight edge and I sliced off all the tabs!

The only folders that still have tabs are the pretty ones on my desktop.

And you have to see this! This is 2 plastic file totes FULL of empty hanging folders! No joke! Can you believe that when I started this journey… all those hanging files were FULL!

Oh My Goodness!!!

Now, just to show that I have really been working my butt off on this… here are shots of my closet…

Before: full of scrapbook supplies with no hope of finding anything. (The bottom of the closet is 2 deep of boxes and totes and stuff… 2 deep!)

and After: One well-organized walk-in closet for hubby and me.

You will notice that I dragged up and old dresser from the basement. It now houses things that had no home, piles that had been taking up floor space… my jeans, my hubby’s hats, etc.

I also got a terrific deal on a labeler:($15 for a $40 labeler) and went to work making everything uniform and cleanly labeled.

Ok, so I am a little OCD… I admit it!

ANYWAY…. the point is that it looks good and I like it.

But let’s talk about the nitty gritty… Step 6: make a system for YOUR papers. That would be a personalized way to file your papers. FOR EXAMPLE: No sence in filing alphabetically when you think in themes or time. Me? I just hate filing at all. I hardly ever reference anything again. It takes forever to file and then just becomes a forgotten set of papers. That seems like a real waste of time!

So what I did is to get rid of the things that do not get referenced and to highlight the ones that do get used.

Out went:

• receipts from the last 5 years.
• extra papers such as registration cards
• assembly sheets for Barbie dolls
• magazine pages for crafts I like the looks of but will never actually make

In went:

• tax files
• Creditor contact information
• Appliance Manuals

Then I made monthly files in my action drawer. Almost everything that I would file will go in there. So I no longer file statements by company … I stick them in the folder for the month they were paid. Easy.

I filed my warranties and manuals by room. I made a hanging file for each area of the house and stuck in the appropriate stuff. Now it will be much easier to find the manual for the TV in my daughter’s room… I will just pull the file for her room and it is the only TV manual in there.

*GRIN* Easy works for me!

Now to Step 7. The last step. This step was a “D’oh” moment for me. Simply stated… step 7 says Make your tools work for you. The suggestion Marcia made was that if you are using organizing tools that give you more work rather than less… perhaps it is better to switch to something else.

That really got me thinking. I have been using my Frankin Planner since 1995. I started using it because it was the only planner/calendar on the market that listed evening hours. I was working 12 hour shifts, working 6 days a week… and the traditional 5 day work week, 9 to 5 calendar did not cover what I needed. PLUS I needed to be able to keep personal information and my family calendar together with work so that I didnt double schedule myself. And that happened often… 60 hours a week wasnt enough for a customer and I would end up coming in on my time off to meet with them on their schedule… completely forgetting about family plans. So the Franklin worked for me.

And now I am a Stay at Home Mom. If I do work, it doesnt involve appointments outside of business hours.

But I do like having all my personal information in one place… no more searching for notes or reference materials. It is all in my planner.

I looked back over months of planner pages.

• I never use the appointment section. That is half a page wasted.
• And on the notes section I always note the same things… menu selections, medications I take, what I ate, how much I weigh and what the weather is. Hmmmm.
• I even noticed that in the last month or so I have gotten to the point that I write my TO DOs right over the appointment section. I have more TO DOs than anything else.

I need to personalize my planner to make it work for me. I drew out what I thought would work and formatted new planner pages.

Well…. I tried. I used Word. I used Excel. I used Publisher. I even downloaded Open Office. No matter what, I just could NOT get it to look the way I wanted. I mean it has to be cute and easy on the eyes or I will just quit using it no matter how efficient it is.

My solution? My 16 year old daughter!

I gave her the drawing and she set to work. Within a matter of hours she sent me a doc file with EXACLTY what I wanted in it! Thank God for technically savvy kids!

In fact, she did such a great job on it that I had her make my monthly financial planning form too!

Whoo hoo! I love my new planner pages! LOVE LOVE LOVE

That is it! I have completed all 7 steps! REALLY! I did it! And it feels amazing! Now it is your turn!

~Anne

P.S. Remember Anne’s cute file folders? She did a file folder tutorial so we can all learn how to do them here.

And Anne’s also sharing her daily planner and monthly financial pages with all of us.

Anne here! It is Week #4 and my desk is still clean!

Clean, but honestly, for me, this week was the most difficult by far!

Why? Because Step Four is all about the Paper Clutter. And not only do I have tons of paper clutter on my desk, but I have tons in my drawer, tons in my files and more hidden in boxes in the Long-Term Storage closet. My oh My!

Where do I even start?

I started by clearing off the top of my desk, clearing out the drawer, pulling all long-term files, and pulling out all the regular files.

YES… I took everything out of everywhere! And to make sure I worked on it, I piled it on my bed… no sleep for me until it was better!

I know what you are thinking…

Why, yes! It would have been, and considering I have been taking the easy way out for years, I thought that the only way I would finish this step was if I did something drastic! (Marcia here - don’t you love her spirit? LOL)

Mountain of paper in the middle of my bed = drastic!

1. The old tax and real estate files will go into the tubs and into Long Term Storage in the big closet.
2. The Action and Reference Idea files will go in the desk drawer.
3. The rest of the files will go in the file cabinet. I am going to make them fit! Surprise! It won’t be as hard as you might think! When I culled through all the files, I reduced the amount down to one action file drawer, one tub of long term, one drawer (not full) of manuals, and one drawer of Current tax, bills, medical, insurance files. REALLY! That is all that is left! I KNOW! I can’t believe it myself! (Marcia here - Anne, I’m so proud of you!)

Let me give you some specific examples of what I did:

My piles of actionable papers were reduced into good looking Immediate Action Folders located on the desktop and As Convenient Action Folders in the desk drawer. (Marcia here - Gee! those are very good-looking files!)

Business cards were input into My Contacts and then tossed.

Notes and ideas on little pieces of paper, previously stuffed in the drawers, in my inbox, in the pockets of my planner and in my purse were added to the Notes section in my Franklin planner, appointments listed on my calendar and tasks noted on my Master To-Do List to be referenced when I do my weekly planning.

Bills were also noted on my calendar then put in an action folder.

I consolidated 3 notepads -full of lists and ideas and thoughts -into one notebook with the plan to make notations ONLY in this one place. (Marcia here - this is going to work out so well – no more looking for that “bright idea” in several places)

My projects were planned step-by-step to help track goals and documentation/supplies were filed in separate labeled folders and buckets for each project.

WHEW! But I didn’t stop there.

I made new folders for my bills… I threw away all the old statements. I only kept account policies and such.

Then I added an information sheet to the inside of each folder on which I listed all the contact information, website, password, APR and such. Now the folders will only need to be referenced if I have to make contact and can be kept in a more long term storage area. (Marcia here - I absolutely LOVE this idea!)

Part of clearing the paper clutter involves keeping the volume of paper to a minimum.

Keeping this in mind, I went online and went paperless on as many bills as possible.
I now also review the day’s mail over the trash can, tossing all ads and junk immediately.
Then the rest gets handled immediately… Bills listed on the calendar and stuck in the BILLS to Pay action file. When the bill is paid, it is crossed off the calendar, noted on a yearly financial spreadsheet that is in the BILLS folder, and filed in the monthly file.

“But Anne,” you say, “doesn’t this just give you more email to deal with?”

Why, yes! It does!

And when you join me next week for Step Five… we will talk about how I dealt with my electronic clutter –all 40 Gigs of it!

Marcia here - I can’t WAIT to see how she handles the email clutter – can you?

Anne, this was an outstanding effort on your part and I’m sending all my clients (past and present) to this post to see how beautifully you broke the whole process down!

Anne’s busy working through 7 easy steps to organise your office. If you’d like to check it out, have a read.

Hi! Anne here again!

Have you been following my Office Organizing Journey? Let me recap:

Week One -Look at this mess! What in the world am I going to do with this chaos?

Week Two -I do so many things in this area. It is no wonder it is such chaos!

And this week…

Week Three -I absolutely do not need ALL this stuff. Watch the chaos diminish!

Part of my chaos was because supplies were put where they fit, not where they were needed.

Consequently the items closest at hand were often the least accessed and the items used most frequently had to be found and retrieved.

This created a feeling of anxiety because what would have been a quick task or a delightful craft opportunity took more time to recover the supplies… and often, even more time to stash them back where they came from.

Crazy! I know!

And because it was so crazy, I either avoided tasks or I left the supplies out because returning them was a hassle. So…

• Papers were on the desk because the files were difficult to access.
• Stamping and scrapbooking became a thing of the past.
• The day my favorite pen ran out of ink my life stopped until I found another one.
• My bills were lost and often paid late and my kids’ school papers weren’t returned on time.
• Shredding done inconsistently takes entire weekends.
• Projects barely get started let alone finished.

Now that I have identified what isn’t working, the necessary uses for my space and removed the non-essentials, it is time to enhance the function-ability of the work areas.

That means gathering necessary supplies and putting them in the area where they will be used. (Step Two)

I also learned that I am a VISUAL person and I do not act on things if I can’t see them… and equally… I respond negatively to a disorderly work area making it highly important that action items are not only accessible, but obvious. Also making it important that tools and supplies are close at hand, but either hidden or attractive. (Step Three)

What does this all mean?

Well… just look at the differences!

My desktop has been cleared!

But more than just swiping an arm across it and hiding it in a box, my desk has been revitalized!

• I relocated the printer to the table next to the desk
• I removed the TV
• I even removed the lamp because the base took up too much space.
• I removed the messy boxes from below the desk and used the space for drawers (that had been in the closet) that hold my most essential scrapbook items.

• My use-them-for-every-project scrapbooking tools were moved from the closet to a small bin on the desktop.
• The pen cup was emptied except for necessary writing utensils that are used daily.
• The paper piles and desktop files were eliminated.

• I removed unused and overstocked amounts of supplies from the drawers.
• I removed haven’t-touched-them-in-years reference CDs and Program CDs from the drawer.

The top desk drawer now holds at-hand tools and supplies such as a hole punch, staple remover, package of staples (I used to have 3 packages of them) and rubber bands.

The middle drawer holds printer ink refills, pencils and markers not used everyday and a *new* label maker.

Everything I need is right here!

I won’t have to get up to get supplies. I certainly won’t need to go digging through things to find what I need!

My space looks good, is clean and has stayed this way all week!

This whole process is sooooo exciting! I never thought I would have a well-functioning work area at home without spending THOUSANDS on custom furniture and a space planner!

The changes this system has brought are more than just physical…

Marcia has taught me a new way of thinking about what I do and how I do it. Who knew… the problem was me, not my space!

Hi, Marcia here.

I am continually amazed at Anne’s progress. She’s not just throwing stuff away, labelling and putting things in pretty boxes (which is what most people think organising is) but she’s actually asking herself the hard questions – why do I do this? what will work best for me? etc.

Well done, Anne – you’re inspiring me and hundreds of other readers

Anne’s busy working through 7 easy steps to organise your office. If you’d like to check it out, have a read.

I’m so excited.

I had many, many great entries to the office organising makeover that made my job really, really hard but I finally selected Anne Alagna at Confessions are good for the soul.

Anne is working through my 7 easy steps to organise your office MP3 and ebook system and she’ll be posting here once a week until she’s done. I’m putting no pressure on her

To give you a taste of Anne’s blogging style, go over and read this post where she showed us how she creatively organised her kitchen, which she says is her favourite room in the house.

Mine is, of course, the office. All that yummy paper, computer and email organising

Don’t forget to come back every Tuesday to read Anne’s office organising post.

P.S. If paper is your downfall, there’s a free Clear the Paper Clutter book for you in my Organise Your Life Success Pack, over there on the sidebar —–>>>

Notice the piles on the floor. Every evening he moves the piles onto the desk so the cleaning ladies don’t throw it all away.

Anyway, I try not to tease him too much about his messy desk but the other guys have no such qualms. In fact, his line manager regularly asks me to help him “sort it all out”. To which I reply, “sorry, I only work with people who want to change”

So in typical guy fashion, they bet him that he wouldn’t be able to sort it all out in a week. And in typical guy fashion, he rose to the occasion and did it.

It looks a MILLION times better and I’m so proud of him. It really made my heart proud and he did it within the deadline (I think my camera said 3.22 pm on a Friday afternoon). Just goes to show what you can do when you put your mind to it because he did it in about 2 hours.

As promised, here are some pictures of my desk at work. Looking at the pictures it actually looks a lot more cluttered than it feels…

Anyway, some things I want to point out to you:

1. the wall of inspiration on the right under my name (pictures of my hubby, inspirational quotes, scriptures from the Bible, pictures of friends and some SARK cards – my favourite is “you are a delicious, succulent human bean”, which fits into my Big, Juicy goals theme)
2. my glass of water
3. my office control journal (in that vertical organiser)
4. minimal paper – only have 3 files and I’m actually cheating because one of them contains my performance appraisals, certificates, etc.

Now let’s look at my desk head-on:

• computer with picture of Wicklow, Ireland as a screensaver
• in the top left corner, I have my “only four things to do with paper and email” from Help! I need more time
• radio and mirror (essentials!)
• to the left of the computer, my “things to do today” papers
• right in front of the keyboard, my master to-do list of all my projects and where they’re all at, on top of the notebook where I write my 6 (or less) Eat the Frog items every day, and other assorted notes

For the most part, the desk works for me (although that vertical organiser is taking up too much space – I think I’ll “release” it) because it’s empty of stuff while still being inspiring to me. I can’t work in a cold work space so I like to be surrounded by things that are “me”.

If you have any questions about some things in the pics or how I do certain things, put them in the comments so everyone else can also benefit when I answer them. Thanks.

Now for the fun part, show me your desk (please link to a post with a pic of your desk, not to your entire blog)

Share in the comments - does this kind of work environment make you do the happy dance, or is it too minimalistic?

I love it! But mine is a LOT more colourful and happy.