How to Declutter Your Office in a Day?

It is the time to declutter! Are you in desperate need to declutter your office or desk? Today I am going to share with you simple ways to declutter your office in a day.

I don’t know about you but the desk area is by far where I tend to fail. It drives me crazy! No matter how many times I put effort into keeping my desk organized it just gets messy again. Am I the only one out here?

Why you should declutter your office?

It becomes a problem to find the simplest of things. However, it is so easy to get things done when your workspace is clear from clutter. You can find things because everything has a place. Decluttering helps keep your desk and office tidy. It actually stays longer because you don’t have things lingering around.

We all want an area that lacks a tornado. No more papers and pens everywhere. Never have to wonder where something is on your desk or office. Finding the simplest items like a pen when you need it. Yes, that right there is the dream and today I am going to help you achieve that. We all know what a classic clutter bathroom can look like.

Let’s get the one area most people leave for last and let’s start decluttering your desk and office.

Declutter Desk

What are the most common items on a desk? Well, most desks have a computer, computer accessories such as a mouse, keyboards, and speakers. Along with that are the main essentials that you need while you are at your desks. Such as pencils, pens, sticky notes, notebooks, and paper storage. It can all get overwhelming if it does not correctly.

So, what to do first?

You first should go through your desk surface and get rid of floating papers, mail, paperwork and taxes. Take all of them off your desk onto the floor or alternate surfaces so that you can go through them comfortably.

Have a paper shredder and garbage/ recycling bin near so you can easily get rid of what you don’t need.

Why is it essential to take out old notebooks, planners, receipts, business cards and coupons that you don’t need or use? The reason why you recycle or throw away such things is that you don’t need them around your desk.

What you need around at your desk at all times are the essentials:

• A current planner.
• Receipts that you need can be stored in a file folder along with current coupons.
• Keep only pens or stationery you need or use.
• Broken office supplies and plants that are still alive and kicking.

If any of those things are dried, broken or dead then they need to go. If not those things can cause clutter very quickly. For inspiration on what you can get, check out some of my favourites!

Declutter File Cabinet

If you have a file cabinet or simply a file area, it is always a good idea to go through your files and take out things you do not need. I personally don’t have a file cabinet but a little area where I store all my files.

A simple trick is to only keep the essentials in your filing cabinets or filing system. All the rest can be scanned and filed onto a USB or onto your computer. This solves the problem of having overly full file folders yet provides you with more space.

Have a balance of paper and paperless.

I love having a balance of paper and paperless. Sometimes you can’t control having something in a paper form and in those cases you can use a file cabinet to store the most important and scan the nonessentials to your computer.

These days many companies offer electronic receipts, bills, and invoices. Consider downsizing the amount of paper by trying that option. Try to be as paperless as you can to keep from the clutter in your file cabinet and file system. I personally love being paperless and have three tips for going paperless articles that you can check out for more inspiration.

Declutter Computer

What is one of the main reasons your computer gets slow? Pictures and documents are usually the main storage hogger. There tend to be a lot of images or documents in our lives that we download and store so just like a physical file folder or cabinet it can get very full.

Go through each and get rid of files, documents, and pictures that you don’t need. Delete duplicated files and images as well. Only keep the most important things that you can’t live without.

What are alternate places you can store your document?

I prefer using a cloud service such as OneDrive or the Box over a USB.

Frankly, because I used to store everything on it until I lost everything when my son knocked on my laptop and the USB broke. Lost everything! Very sad day for me. I even tried to pay big bucks to get retrieved but no luck. Cloud service all the way.

How often should you clean your desktop?

When you are cleaning your computer be sure to take a moment to clean out your computer history, passwords and garbage can at least monthly. It is amazing how much space all of that takes up each month when it’s been collecting like dust daily. You would be surprised by the amount that can cause your computer to run slow.

Conclusion

Believe me when I say that it really makes a difference when you take a day out of your week to dedicate it to declutter your office or desk. Not only will you be able to find things faster. You also will feel more focused on the things that need to get done whether it is working or studying.

Decluttering is easy when you have the tools needed and a guide to get you there. For more parts of your home, that you can declutter in a day check out how to declutter your kitchen, living room, bedroom, and bathroom.