LESS IS BEST

 Decluttering is a good way to reduce the number of items in your home, garage, basement, or office.  There is a policy I learned when practiced, that will keep you from accumulating the stuff in your office.  This application can be used in other areas of your home and office as well.  It is known as the 'clean desk policy'.  At the end of each day and before you turn out the light or shut your door take a look at your workspace.  Are there piles of paper strewn about your desktop?  Are there encrypted messages and manuals or invoices laying haphazardly about?  What is haphazard?  This is a collection of items without any organization.

I wrestle with this policy.  Not because I do not like it but, because I can work some long hours and am too tired some nights to clean up.  I get so involved in many tasks.  By nature, I am a multitasker.  It can frustrate me.  This is a skill I work on and hope to someday master.  When I successfully followed the policy of cleaning my desk off at the end of my work day, I realized the most wonderful things.   One, I looked back at my workspace as I left for the day and usually walked away with a smile on my face.  Two, I arrived the next workday and felt a freshness of a clean beginning to the day.  And, I had all my papers, manuals, and other work-related items filed or put away in a space (locked if needed) I could remember and easily access.

I begin by taking a look at my individual stacks.  Just typing this blog forced me to look at what is on my desk.  My agenda opened at all times with the week's appointments before me for easy access.  The two main booklets I use for notes on my book writing and business lie just underneath.  Business cards and a small indexed file box are within easy reach.  A stack of books for reading and my pens and highlighters and then...I realize something.  It happened again!  Clutter.  I put them in their place too!

Perhaps this blog will help you take a look at your desk and start the clean desk policy much as I just did yet once again-today!  Enjoy the relief of clutter and the awakening of creativity.