It’s not that successful people don’t have work to do; they’re running billion-dollar empires. And it’s not that they have a bevy of administrative assistants scurrying in to whisk away memos the moment they’ve been read. It may be that there’s a real relationship between the power to absorb and discard (or file) information and the power to become…well, powerful.
Organize Your Things, Organize Your Thoughts
Self-help gurus suggest that a cluttered desk is the sign of a cluttered mind. That thoughts and creativity flow more readily when not surrounded by teetering stacks of paper, business cards and receipts. If you're feeling stuck, they suggest, unclog your in-box. Real productivity and power can only be grounded in a work surface so pristine that it trumps even Trump’s.
So short of hiring an army of assistants, how do you get a billionaire's desk on a thousand-aire's salary? How do you turn disorganization into an organized, productive, clutter-free workspace?
Powerful Do's and Don'ts for Desk Cleaning
Don’t wait. There is no “perfect time” to clean – that’s how you ended up with the mess to begin with.
Do get started now. Right now. If you can devote a half-day or a day at a time, you may be able to make a serious dent in the clutter. But if you only have five minutes, pick a tiny corner of your desk to clean off. You may not get it to “pristine,” but it’ll still be better organized than it was when you started. Then find another five minutes later, or tomorrow. It’ll get done.
Don’t think. Put on some music – as loud as you can stand – to blast your brain out of analytical mode and into “fun” mode.
Do pile it on. Turn the chaotic jumble of stuff on your desk into a number of categorized piles. Put receipts in a receipt pile, books in a book pile, papers in a paper pile. If you must store these piles on your desk, do – but the objective is to clean off your desk, so try to put them elsewhere.
Don’t look. When you start to go through your piles, don’t start examining everything. You’ll get distracted by memories – the receipt for that book you loved, that two-year-old magazine article you always meant to read.
Do keep going. The word to remember here is “momentum.” Sort your piles into “keep,” “file” (meaning, you know, put it in a file), and “throw away.” That last pile can go right into the industrial-size trash bag you’ve positioned next to your desk.
Don’t beat yourself up. Yes, maybe you “should” have read that magazine two years ago, but think of all you’ve accomplished instead – and all you’ll accomplish once your desk and your head are clear.
Do keep it clean. Commit to saving the last 10 minutes of your day (yes, every day) for maintenance. File or toss the day’s papers so you can start the next day with an open desk and open mind.
Clutter-free at Last
Will having the organized, tidy desk of a billionaire turn you into a billionaire?
Don’t count on it…but...
Do try. What have you got to lose, but the cluttered workspace?
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