- Survey your desk area and determine if new storage solutions are necessary to store the items you need to manage at your desk. Everything at your desk, in the drawers, on shelves, and in cubbyholes should have a designated home; you need to train yourself always to put things away immediately after using them.
- Most desks (even home desks) manage a significant amount of papers each day. Create a system for managing the daily paperwork and implement the system each day. Create an in box for papers that come across your desk each day. This could be mail, assignments, kids' school papers, work or articles to read. Everything should be initially placed in the in box.
- Process the papers in the in box every day. From the in box papers should be sent on to a holding box (for papers that need action but you are undecided about), a tickler file (for papers that need action), a project box (for papers that you are currently working on), a filing cabinet (for finished papers), and the trash can (for papers that are trash).
- Once per week, go through the papers in the holding box. Process papers out of the holding box and put them in the appropriate place for action. Also go through the tickler file to make sure that you have taken care of everything that needs action for the current week. Look at what is in the project box to assess the status of current projects and make sure that things that need priority get done first. Place finished projects into the filing cabinet for long term storage and throw any papers away that can be discarded.
- For a effective and productive work area, try to keep clutter to a minimum. This will free up your work area, and help you to concentrate on the tasks that need attention while you are sitting at the desk.
- Keep a calendar with daily appointments on it. You also need a place to write down notes and memos to yourself--keeping these important memos in one place means there is no hunting or searching for information.
