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Hi,

This may be a dumb post, but I'll proceed with it anyway. It's time to pick all your brains.

My question is, "How do you keep a busy desk organized?" I start working on one thing, then something else pops up. I lay that project down and look at the next thing. Then the phone rings and that starts another task. Then before that task is fully completed, something else comes up and you lay it down. Pretty soon you have papers and piles of papers all over the place. So when I do get a minute, time is wasted figuring out which piles to dig thru to get the tasks completed.

Give me some tips? How do you keep your desk organized? My new year's resolution was to have a neater desk -- and so far I'm failing miserably! LOL.

Mark

What I used to do with the Tree co. was keep EVERYTHING in a file folder, simply close the folder and everything stayes together. Greg

Hi Mark

Below is how I manage my desk. Each person’s needs are of course different.

- In Basket – all incoming docs goes here. You must empty the in basket before going home. Docs you can’t work today go in the “B” or “C” drawer.
- Out Basket – all docs going to someone else and to the file cabinet go here.
- Desk Top – nothing else goes here except the project you are working on.
- “A” Drawer – high priority docs you must work today before you go home.
- “B” Drawer – medium priority …one or two days
- “C” Drawer – docs for your reading when you get time most of which will be thrown away.
- File Cabinet– docs you need to keep.

Basically “have a system and work your system”.

Good Luck

Harry

Hey Mark,

My business is very small compared to yours and I have a very tiny desk...

I do have the in/out baskets, they only work well if you utilize them.

For phone calls I have 2 different colored sticky note pads, one color represents call now/soon/today, the other color when I get to them. These stickies I stick to the edge of my computer monitor. Since I do like order it doesn't take me long to get the calls completed.

Papers on desk...for me as new estimates/projects/etc come in I turn them over and stagger the pile of papers. As I complete one I turn the next set of papers over and continue on down to the end of the pile. As each is completed it goes into the "file" basket...

As Harry said you can formulate your own system, but nothing will work well if you don't follow the plan.

Yanita

Organized desk??? There is a desk under my papers? That is good news! Makes the pile seem a lot smaller.

JD

Two key words I noticed are "pile" and "lay down". Long b4 computers the Mail Service used vertical slots for sorting mail.

Maybe you could try that system. Nothing fancy, just in your line of sight, but sorted. Maybe even a DVD storage rack on it's side?

http://www.transendworldwide.com/Cultur ... orizontal/

About half way down this page. LOL

http://mikes.railhistory.railfan.net/r049.html

Having a system and using it is probably the key here. Our hockey director has a saying that a bad system is better than no system.

With the way I work, right now I'm leaning towards the 3-drawer system. I have 3 desks in my office, so I should be able to find 3 drawers! LOL. Then there's all those mobile home parts that end up on my desks! Baby steps -- baby steps.

Mark

OK so NOW we see a pattern. perhaps you don't need a desk as much as a parts counter!! Parts go on the counter, papers go on the desk. Well, it works on paper !! Greg

Yo

If a cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind....

What is an empty desk a sign of??

Harry

Mark, I think this is a good question. I find it interesting to know how others keep order.

I proofread, edit, and translate, so have piles and piles of books and papers. I've been self-employed for thirty years and have found I need more than one work surface, in order to have an overview of what's going on. I need things out where I can see them.

I have three surfaces for ongoing work:

1) current projects
2) research and study
3) bills, stuff that needs to be handled now or soon, and papers/receipts to file, things that have recently arrived in the mail

My favorite reference books are within reach of the study table, with some duplicates at the "handle now" table. My "handle now" table is in the kitchen. This keeps my main work area for thinking, research, and the projects.

All things not related to these three categories must go somewhere else. That's the only way I keep personal interest items separate from professional projects. It can be a bit much, as the reading material gets stacked high. My living room is my main work area, which contains my work surfaces, bookcases, computer contraptions, a wooden armless chair, a rocking chair, and a piano.

I do not keep a tv, stereo, or other distracting things in my work area. I put a few restful-looking things on the walls, and have sheers on the windows where I read, so I can look out and still have my privacy. There are mini-blinds and sheers on the windows toward the street for privacy.

I've found that if I'm not comfortable in the room, then I don't work well. I have a notebook computer and one of those go-anywhere, internet plug-in devices. This enables me to switch gears in my thinking by sitting somewhere else to work.

I put no work-related items in the rest of my house. Only the kitchen and "living room". I keep my bedroom and spare room for my own use. This keeps work at work, and home space intact.

There are little things that help, too. I like pencils, pens, scissors, rulers, erasers, etc., in mugs, rather than in drawers. I keep different strengths of reading glasses and magnifiers handy. I'm careful to read by lighting I like: no glare, no flickers, from the right height, distance, and angle, etc.

Am looking forward to reading what else is posted. Thanks for this thread!