Getting back on track with the clean desk

17 May 2012

In January of 2008, I created a habit of clearing off my desk at end of every work day. I blogged about it relentlessly, since it was one of the first daily habits I really managed to create and it had such an impact on my productivity.

But you know what’s weird? Sometime at the beginning of 2012 (and intermittently in 2011), that habit fell by the wayside. I think it might have started with my allowing one pile to remain on the corner of the desk (the pile was related to immediate tasks and task lists). And then I stopped putting away little stuff and before I knew it, I just stopped worrying about clearing my desk at all.

It never got to a ridiculous level and I was functioning fine. But the habit I was so proud of had vanished.

So last weekend, I decided to take it back. I cleared off my desk entirely. I dusted it. I admired the expanse of wood. And then I started working on family history research and, when I was through, I put everything away.

I’m happy to say that every day since, I’ve cleared off my desk. And, I observed, as I discovered before, it’s very easy to clear off the desk when there’s just one day’s worth of stuff out.

The key to having a clean desk is to have a place for everything, so that you can actually put stuff away. It’s that simple, really. I allowed one pile to grow because I hadn’t created a space for that stuff. And that one made it easy for disorder to creep back. That pile is gone, permanently.

Seeing the clean desk first thing in the morning is a great reward. And it makes it easy for me to get right to work without distractions.

I’m back on track, baby.

Tagged with: clean desk, habits