If a coworker needed eye drops, a red crayon, asked to see your twelve year old’s hand painting from five years ago or last year’s Wall St. Journal article on killer bees, you’d probably have three of the four, right?
There’s no better time than spring to blow the cobwebs and junk out of your office and free yourself of the clutter. Here are some suggestions to rid yourself of some your rubbish!
Only keep the projects and files you are working with on your desk. By doing this, you’re forcing yourself to put away the unnecessary clutter.
- Clean your in-box out every day. No matter how hectic your schedule, if you don’t take the last ten minutes of each day to empty it, envision just how bad it will look tomorrow morning 10am.
- DELEGATE! And that includes your “must read” reading material pile. Instead have your assistant scan those materials, highlighting what’s a must for your reading time and dumping all the rest.
- Reply to those e-mail writers who constantly send you memos unnecessary for you to see, to take you off their list.
- Make a new rule for yourself—if you haven’t referenced, used, needed what’s in your desk for over a year, get rid of it. Make gifts of your reference guide of “The Best White Wines of 1968” and “Five Easy Ways to Lose Five Pounds in Three Days.” You’ll feel so good seeing into your desk drawers and the wood that’s on top of your desk, you’ll feel like you lost five pounds!