You’ll likely be spending a lot of time in your workspace, but that doesn’t need to be a bad thing. If you keep your cubicle space clean, tidy, and well organized, it won’t just boost your productivity, but also make being at work a much more positive experience for you.
Whether you’re finding yourself feeling crowded, overwhelmed, and uninspired or you just want to make some small but positive changes to your working environment, these simple tips can help.
Keep It Clear
Having various papers, files, and documents scattered over the top of your desk can make it harder to find the one you need, and once you do it’ll likely be more difficult to focus on it. Exactly how best to arrange everything will vary depending on your job and just how many documents you handle each day, but you should aim to reserve most of your desk space for whatever you’re currently working on.
This may feel impractical if you find yourself switching between multiple tasks throughout the day, perhaps being stuck waiting on clients or colleagues to get back to you so you can finally clear them off. It’s actually surprisingly easy though, provided that you have an effective organizational system.
Keep Things Organized with Trays
Though it can feel old-fashioned, using document trays can really help things here, as they keep things together and prevent them from spilling across the desk. The classic in-tray is a good start, but you need to make sure you use it effectively and don’t just let letters and memos build up there. Setting aside a certain time each day to clear it keeps it under control without your workflow being disturbed each time something new arrives, and the tray keeps everything neat in the meantime as well as ensuring nothing is lost before you’ve even looked at it.
Which other trays you’ll want depends on the specifics of your situation, but some general suggestions include one for things you’ll need to deal with by the end of the day or matters that you’ve had to set aside as you’re waiting on someone else’s response. The out-tray, which used to be an office mainstay, could be useful if you do find yourself sending out a lot of physical correspondence but may simply be a waste of space if your outgoing correspondence is primarily digital.
Don’t Sacrifice Your Prime Desk “Real Estate”
If you find yourself consulting certain documents once per week or less, there’s no reason to sacrifice the prime “real estate” of your work surface to them. Keep them together in a drawer, or better still, return them to the office filing cabinet or wherever else is appropriate.
In many industries, there are documents that you’ll need to keep copies of for legal and compliance reasons but are unlikely to be looked at. There’s absolutely no reason to keep these in your own cubicle, and it’ll be better for both you and your company if they’re archived somewhere more appropriate. If your office already has a system for this, make sure you’re taking advantage of it, otherwise, it may be worth mentioning it to your office manager.
Don’t Let Your Drawers Get Out of Hand
We all suffer from the temptation to want to tidy quickly and the “out of sight, out of mind” mentality at times. That’s why, even if they look neat and tidy at a glance, our desks often hide an unfortunate secret. Having disorganized drawers means failing to take full advantage of easily available storage space, something which often comes at a premium in the modern office. It also means spending longer to find whatever it is you actually need.
Rather than putting things wherever they fit, each drawer should have a purpose, which will mean you don’t have to spend any time thinking about where to put something or where to find it when you need it. Again, the specifics will vary between each job and workplace but at a minimum, you’ll likely want a space for files and folders that you need to access regularly, a space for stationery, and a space for any personal items including snacks.
Clear Off and Wipe Down
The above tips should make it relatively easy for you to keep your desk clear, and ideally, everything should be back in its place by the end of the day. It’s worth setting aside a few minutes before you leave to make sure that this is the case and to quickly wipe everything down, something you’ll appreciate when you arrive the next morning and everything is clean and clear.
Those of you who sometimes eat at your desk should clear some space and set your keyboard aside at the start of your lunch break. This means that any crumbs or spillages can be cleared easily before you resume working and aren’t going to get trapped between keyboard keys or leave marks on your documents.
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