clean The link between organization and productivity isn’t hard to see. A clean, organized desk means less time looking for something and more time getting work done. If your desk is covered in junk, it is slowing you down. Here are a handful of tips that will keep your workspace organized:

Say Goodbye to Eating at Your Desk

Nothing helps you power through the afternoon like a snack, but snacks produce crumbs, and those crumbs will soon be scattered across your desk, around your chair, and between the keys of your keyboard. This is not the image you want to present to your coworkers or business partners. Keep snacks in the kitchen, especially crumb-producing snacks, like granola bars, cookies, and chips.

Admit You Don’t Need a Dozen Pens

Who doesn’t love free stuff? If you’re freebie lover, the supply closet is your best friend – but this can be a very dangerous relationship. Ask yourself: do I need three post-it pads? 12 pens? 3 staples? It’s time you need to ask yourself which materials are vital for completing your day-to-day tasks and which materials need to go. With online tools, chances are you might not need any of them.

Chuck Garbage ASAP

Are chewed coffee stirrers part of your office desk décor? You’ll get around to throwing those out later, right? Along with those old post-it notes, empty water bottles, and banana peels? Throwing out garbage immediately can be a hard thing to do if you’re in the habit of waiting until the end of the day to gather up your scraps and head to the bin. If you can’t bring yourself to go to the trash can, bring the trash can to you. Problem solved.

Make Cleaning Part of Your Routine

Some people just seem to have the whole neat and tidy thing down pat. Their desk is always well-organized and they don’t seem to put much time or energy into keeping it that way. This can be a hard pill to swallow for those who can’t keep organized if our lives depended on it – but don’t get too down on yourself. The messiest person in the office is often the most creative. None-the-less mess is distracting. Even if you’re OK with it – your neighbor may not be. You need to start looking at maintaining a clean desk as a responsibility like the rest of your work tasks.

Don’t Just Hide the Mess

Shoving everything in a filing cabinet under your desk may provide you with a short-term solution to unsightly clutter, but it will become a bigger problem down the road. Keeping your drawers in order is just as important as keep what’s on top of your desk in order. A great tip here is to

Closing

Keeping clutter under control will keep your thoughts focused, but you don’t have to take our word for it! Make it your goal to keep an organized desk for a week and you’ll soon learn how much more productive you can be!