How to Declutter Your Workspace

At KellyMitchell, we are all about spring cleaning, and this extends to our desks. Are you literally drowning in mountains of old paperwork? Do you struggle to find a place for your coffee mug? Never fear; We have some helpful tips for how to declutter your workspace.

Set aside time for the task.

This one might seem like a no-brainer, but you’ll never actually get around to cleaning unless you set aside time for it. Scan your calendar and find a good date and time. Block it off so you don’t find yourself double-booking when you should be cleaning.

Remove everything from your desk.

Any fan of Marie Kondo or organization in general knows that sometimes, you need to take everything out to put it back again. Take everything off your desk and place it on a safe place on the floor or on a nearby surface.

Take stock of what you have.

Go through each item one by one and decide whether it’s worth keeping or not. Test pens to see if they still have ink. Look through that mountain of paperwork to determine which ones you need to keep and which ones you can pitch.

Find things a new home.

Maybe you have homes for items on your desk already, or maybe you need to get them. Either way, figure out how you want to store items, whether it’s in a drawer or in different bins on your desk. Classify items by category, so for example, all pens and highlighters go in a cup. File folders work wonders for sorting and classifying papers you need to keep.

Recycle, recycle, recycle.

It’s good for the environment and it’s good for you; Recycle anything that can be recycled, whether it’s empty water bottles, old papers, or paper file folders you don’t need anymore.

Look at your desktop.

This one might send a shiver down some people’s spines, but it pays to take a good, hard look at your desktop. Look at the files you’ve saved and decide whether to put them in new or existing folders. Delete anything that you don’t need anymore, and then empty the trash. Your computer will thank you.

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