December 2022 tiny projects challenge: Day 1

12 December 2022

During the lockdown in 2020, I did three tiny projects challenges and blogged about them. These were small organizing projects I could complete in about 30 minutes or less that I did for five days in a row. It was a great way to keep busy and I loved the results. I resurrected it in December 2021 and I’ve decided to make it an annual December tradition. Feel free to join me in challenging yourself to complete one small organizing project a day!

Day 1: Decluttering my monitor riser

I thought I’d kick off this tiny projects challenge with a high-impact project: decluttering and organizing something I look at every day. I use a 14” MacBook Pro, which I love, especially when I travel. But when I’m in my home office, I like a larger monitor. So I have my laptop hooked up to a 27-inch HP monitor. I put the monitor atop an Uprise Monitor Riser so that it’s at an ergonomically beneficial height. The riser has the advantage of providing storage space for small items that I want close at hand. That’s especially great since my 25-year-old IKEA desk doesn’t have any drawers.

The storage seems great, that is, until the riser gets so cluttered that becomes a distracting, disorganized mess. That’s what happened this year. Here’s a before photo.

I set a timer for 30 minutes and dug in. I started by emptying everything from the riser into a container. (There were things I didn’t realize were even in there!) Then, I sorted the items into categories, recycled some loose note paper whose scribbles were no longer relevant, relocated a couple of items, and used a shallow box that a journal had come in (plus its lid) to contain the items I really need close at hand.

Here’s the after photo:

Ahh, so much better. I used black Post-it® Notes and a white gel pen to create labels in a jiffy. (And I didn’t let perfectionism get in the way!) I moved the unsightly check-sized accordion file, which really didn’t need to be on my desk, to a nearby shelf. Everything fits nicely and nothing is spilling off onto the desk. Best of all, I can easily put my hands on what I need.

This ended up taking me only about 15 minutes. What a high return for the investment of 15 minutes! It’s a pleasure to sit at my desk now.

I encourage you to take a look around your house for a tiny project. Is there something that’s bugging you that you could change in just a few minutes?

Tagged with: decluttering, desk, tiny projects