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Clean sweep
Declutter your office space with a few handy tips from a professional organizer.
We’ll admit it: The Get team is not always the most organized crew. We’re surrounded by a moat of incoming and outgoing packages, overstuffed drawers, piles of papers, notes and magazine clippings, and that’s just the beginning. So for the new year, we’ve vowed to clean up our act and start off 2010 clutter-free. We invited professional organizer Molly Boren (find her company, Simplicity Works, at sworganizing.com) to help us get our space under control. Five hours, three full gigantic trash bins and an overstuffed giveaway shelf for the TOC vultures later, our desks are bigger and brighter—and so are our minds. We suggest you follow suit with these simple tips that apply to any office space.
There’s no place like homes
The most important of all: “All items that deserve to be in your office space deserve homes,” Boren says. Group the items in broad enough categories (such as reference books, personal goods) so you can easily decide where to place new ones. At the same time, make the categories as narrow as is necessary. For instance, instead of one big file for research projects, you should have a folder for each one. That way, you can easily locate anything at any time. “Assign homes for each item that has the appropriate level of accessibility,” Boren says. Place the stuff you frequently use in your “cockpit” (a.k.a. nearby drawers or shelves, or even on your desktop). Categories you take from or add to only once in a while can live farther away. “That way, your most often-used items are always front and center and not fighting for attention with less-often-used items.”
Bag it
Store your bag or purse and any other personal goods you bring to work daily in a rolling bin beneath your desk to keep straps and eyesores out of the way.
Space saver
If you have the space, keep an empty drawer for hypothetical additions. That said, have a plan for what will fill it so that it doesn’t turn into an inevitable dump or junk drawer.
Gotta get outta here
“Establish an escape route for nonkeepers,” Boren says. In other words, know how you’re going to get rid of items you don’t want, such as a bin for paper to recycle or a shopping bag for collecting donations. Bottom line, make it impossible to procrastinate when it comes to making decisions.
It’s a date
The hardest part? Keeping it up. “Put an appointment in your calendar to spend 30 minutes or an hour making decisions and clearing space,” Boren says. If you share workspace, make the appointment with your coworker so you both tidy up at the same time. “Even decluttering for the length of a Lady Gaga song whenever you’re feeling cluttery will help!”
Products we’re using to stay organized: orange storage boxes, $10–$13; magazine holder, $10; filer folders, $4; small zig zag pot, $1; dot baskets, $8, all at the Container Store (908 W North Ave, 312-654-8450, containerstore.com).
TIPS
• Keep your desk space clear by storing only a few things you use every day on the desk surface.
• Store the books you use standing up (rather than stacked horizontally) so you can easily access them.
• Store similar items together. For instance, we arranged notepads, paperclips and staples, and recording equipment in separate containers inside our drawers.
• Plants can bring life and softness into a space that can get overwhelmed by the stress of deadlines and tasks.
