Create a Minimalist Workspace

Mon, Apr 12, 2010

Do you ever feel like your desk is too cluttered? Do you feel like your mind is racing because you see too many things that need to get done? Are you getting distracted and jumping around to different tasks without any of them getting accomplished? Are you frustrated that you didn’t get anything done today? Well, maybe its time you work on your environment. If you do your work from a home office then you should take a day to get it straight. I’m a strong believer in the environment you work in has a great impact on how well you work. Here are my tips to keep in mind when you organize the home office of your dreams.

Use essentials - monitor, keyboard, mouse, pen and paper

If you want to create a simple, minimilistic desk you need to know what to keep and what to store. The only things you should keep on your desk is a monitor, keyboard, mouse, pen and paper. The monitor, keyboard and mouse are self-explanatory. You should keep a pad of paper and a pen at all times because you’ll need to jot down ideas, sketch out a design, brainstorm, etc. Other items that may come across your desk should be stored elsewhere.

Everything should have a home

If you do have papers that you need to work with, you should keep one tray and the rest that you don’t need should be filed. Keep it simple because one paper on a desk can lead to 10 that can lead to 25. Other items that may need a home (and not on your desk) are blank cd’s and dvd’s, iPod, calendar, etc.

Clean your desktop

Its useless to have a clean desk with no clutter while your computer’s desktop is filled with icons. It’s very time consuming to look through icons upon icons to find what your looking for. File those unneccessary icons into a folder that’s labeled properly.

Declutter the Walls

Alot of people have there walls covered with posters, cork boards, white boards and whatever that can be hung up. Take it down! I suggest leaving the white board for ideas and a couple motivating posters.