A couple of weeks ago I described how I had redesigned my office and I am still loving it. Everthing is now much neater and tidier and I am sitting pretty in my cheap-as-chips Recaro-style Racer 200
chair. At just £99.90 from Amazon this is a definite hit, even if the bright red artificial leather does clash a bit with the rest of the office decor.
At the same time as I rejigged the top of the desk, I squirrelled away much of the junk into IKEA Skubb trays and it is all now out of sight. Nirvana. But I was left with two desk drawers, either side of my work area. We all know these drawers: Stapler, loose paperclips, postage stamps, bottles of ink, business cards, marker pens, rulers and a 1996 diary. A mess, in other words. I have been putting off sorting these dual trashcans until I read this pragmatic article in Lifehacker Australia. There are ten useful tips here to help you keep your work area neat and tidy, including the use of rain guttering to tame the cables (now why didn’t I think of that one?).
But by far my favourite tip is the simplest: Empty those two desk drawers, lock stock and paperclip, into a big box and put it to one side. Then, as you need things, transfer them back to the drawers and, perhaps, into smaller containers. Unfortunately Skubbs are too tall for my desk but I will seek something similar.
After a couple of months, therefore, all the important stuff will have migrated back to the (now totally neat) desk drawers while the rest of the dross can be sent to recycling.
Sometimes the simplest ideas are the best. Stir vigorously and repeat every six months.