For those of you with an organized desk...

[Anonymous]

How do you do it? I have such a hard time keeping my desk (both at home and at work) neat and organized. Does anyone have any tips or organizing products that help? TIA!

[Anonymous]

I have a place and a folder for everything. I don't allow clutter to build but instead take a few minutes at the end of every day, whether at work or at home, putting away and filing. At home, it takes longer because we're a family of 5 so there are a lot of people's stuff to put away or to remind them to put away. But we live in a small house so cannot allow things to get disorganized or the whole house will look like chaos. I also have a basket at home that is under a shelf where I can just throw stuff, and then every few days, I take everything out of the basket and sort and organize that -- so there is a place for "organized chaos" but it's not big enough that it can become too overwhelming.

At work, I often have people in and out of my office for meetings, and since I like to project an image of calm and competence, knowing where everything is and having it look organized matters quite a bit. DH on the other hand has the messiest office in the world, and I don't know how he gets anything done! Fortunately, he is helpful about keeping our house organized, as he hates clutter at our small home as much as I do (I wish he would take that attitude to work, though - I always worry he won't get further promoted due to the way his office looks).

My sister, who works a million hours a week and is still a very hands-on mom to her kids, was the one who taught me to invest in the small things to keep organized - a shelf where you need it, a hook for each item that needs hanging, a basket for certain things, a file sorter for other things, a label maker, etc, and then you spend an entire day getting yourself set up. Once you have the basic things you need to be organized, it is a lot easier to sustain.

Good luck!

[Anonymous]

I hate clutter, but I'm also terrible about staying organized at work. The only thing that works for me is to be super-disciplined and force myself to do what the PP does, which is take a few minutes at the end of the day to put stuff in files, create new files for new paper that mysteriously landed on my desk, and to make a to do list for the next day. I definitely get into ruts where I just don't make time to do this, and it ends up paralyzing me at work b/c I can't find the things I need to do my job. Like the PP, I have a small house and two little kids, so I'm really obsessed with decluttering and getting things organized at home, but it's easier there b/c I can just throw all the toys into bins, and all the mail goes into a sorter thing-y. There's just so much more paper at work and I have to fight my lazy tendencies and force myself to stay neat and organized. Otherwise I end up wasting the time I'm in the office by hunting for papers.

One specific tip that may or may not be useful for you: I never use baskets any more. I find that I never would go through them and file the stuff that I put in them, and that instead I would just let stuff pile up. Now I force myself to create files for everything, and I put the active files in one of those mini file stands right next to my computer. Files of background resources related to my active projects go in a file box in the corner of my desk, so they're handy but not in the way. Everything else (old projects, resources not directly related to anything active) are filed in file cabinets. So for me the answer is to file, and never pile. But everyone is different and the trick is to find a solution that will work for you, and one that you can keep up.

[Anonymous]

Thanks folks, I really need your wisdom!

[Anonymous]

The problem with files, for me, is that it adds to paper in my office. Much of the stuff that is filling my desk right now, is temporary and will be thrown away, and never need to be filed (since everything is on my computer which is backed up and I don't deal with official/important documents of any sort).

So I prefer piles, but it does get messy. I am pretty good about tackling it every few weeks, and then having a pristine office for a few days, and then it backs up again. But if stuff is filed away, I'm less likely to go through it and frankly most of the stuff I don't need long term or have electronically if I do, and that is how I search for things anyway.

I do admire you neat office folks though!