The Daily Edge by David Horsager

Author:David Horsager
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc.
Published: 2015-06-20T16:00:00+00:00

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58% of American workers take care of their most important business in the morning and 47% take care of it during mid-morning. —www.daytimer.com

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With each sunrise,

we start anew.

—Anonymous

Tip 18

Clear Desk

A clear desk leads to a clear mind, which leads to high productivity and laser focus. When you look at your workspace, what do you see? Is it clear and organized, prompting you to begin your most important tasks? Or is it cramped and cluttered, overflowing with printed reports, unopened mail, an array of sticky notes, and other distractions? The answer might be a strong indicator for how much you get done.

Many people have come to think of a disorganized area as the sign of a busy person who is getting lots of things done. The truth, however, is that a messy desk invites your mind to wander. No matter what you are doing, your attention is subconsciously pulled this way and that, wondering “what should I do with that thing...” and “when will I get to those?” Clean desks, on the other hand, lead to productivity and concentration by encouraging you to finish whatever you’re working on at the moment.

Here’s how to keep your desk distraction-free:

• Touch everything once. Dealing with the same file or piece of mail repeatedly is a waste of time. When something arrives to your desk, decide whether to file it, act on it, or throw it away the first time.

• Clean up your office. Naturally, it’s easier to keep your desk clean if your office isn’t overflowing with unaddressed paperwork or other distractions. Devote a few minutes each day to keeping your space orderly.

• Keep a tickler file. A tickler file is where you put paper you need to take action on in the future. To set up this system, follow these steps:

1. Clear out one of your file desk drawers.

2. Put in one hanging file folder labeled for each month of the year. Then label manila folders 1-31 to represent the possible days in a month. Put these 31 manila folders inside the current month’s hanging folder.

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