Office desks tend to become cluttered and overflowing with documents and stationery. If your desk becomes cluttered, your work efficiency will decrease and there will be risks from a security and disaster prevention perspective.
In this article, we will show you how to organize your office desk. We will introduce practical methods along with specific points, so if you want to keep your office desk neat and tidy, please use this as a reference.
Reasons why office desks are cluttered
Here are three main reasons why your office desk is cluttered.
Things unrelated to work are scattered around.
One of the reasons why office desks are cluttered is because things unrelated to work are scattered around. If you keep a lot of things unrelated to work, your desk will naturally become cluttered.
It's okay to have personal items for a change of pace, but it's important to keep them in moderation. If you have too many personal items on your desk, you will have less work space, which can hinder your ability to concentrate on your work.
Try to keep only the things you need on your desk, and put things you don't need for work in drawers or storage spaces.
I keep putting off organizing things.
It's inevitable that your desk will be busy and cluttered, but if you put off organizing your desk, things will pile up and it will take more time to clean up.
Especially during busy periods, it's easy to put off organizing, and your desk often becomes cluttered. If possible, we recommend setting aside time to organize your desk regularly.
For example, just dedicating the first five minutes of your workday to organizing your desk will help keep it tidy.
I don't have the habit of cleaning up
If you don't get into the habit of tidying up on a daily basis, your desk will quickly become a mess. Especially if you don't have the habit of not deciding where to store things or not putting unnecessary things away as much as possible or throwing them away immediately, you tend to easily clutter your desk.
If you don't have the habit of tidying up, start by deciding where things should be placed and getting into the habit of putting them back in that place. Also, in order to make cleaning a habit, it is effective to create a checklist and periodically check whether things are stored in their proper places and whether unnecessary items are thrown away.
Benefits of organizing your office desk
Here are four main benefits of organizing your office desk.
Be able to concentrate on work
By keeping your desk tidy, you can create an environment that makes it easier to concentrate on your work. Maintaining an organized desk will improve your ability to complete tasks.
In fact, the Osaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry conducted a survey titledAbout the “Hospitality through cleaning” project (study sessions, survey results, seminars)According to ``, 36.2% of the respondents said ``Improved work/business efficiency and reduced costs'' as an effect of office cleaning.
This research is about the office environment as a whole, but similarly, keeping your desk tidy and organized can help eliminate distractions and improve your work efficiency.
In addition, the human brain prioritizes processing of information that comes into view, so it is said that task processing ability decreases when things unrelated to work are scattered around. Always keep your desk tidy to avoid giving your brain unnecessary information.
Find what you need quickly
An organized desk will help you find things when you need them. If you can quickly find what you need for your work, you can save time and improve your work efficiency.
For example, if an employee spends 5 minutes a day looking for something and works 200 days a year, that would result in 16.7 hours of lost time per year. If there are 50 such employees, all of whom earn an hourly wage of 3,000 yen, the company will be wasting approximately 2.5 million yen per year.
The more time a company spends searching for what it needs, the more it can lead to losses. From the perspective of corporate cost management, it is important to create an environment where people can quickly find what they need.
Reduces the risk of information leakage and document loss
A cluttered desk increases the risk of losing documents. From the perspective of internal information security, it is essential to keep your desk organized.
In recent years, society has become increasingly strict regarding information leaks. Particularly for larger companies, the loss of one important document can lead to information leaks and be featured in news or online articles, greatly damaging the company's credibility.
To reduce the risk of information leaks and document loss, it is a good idea to set rules such as organizing documents by department and storing documents in designated storage areas rather than on individual desks depending on their importance.
It can reduce the amount of falling objects when an earthquake occurs.
By keeping your desk organized, you will be more likely to prevent accidents caused by falling objects in the event of an earthquake.
If your desk is cluttered with items, the slightest shake will cause it to lose its balance and items will easily fall. In particular, if heavy electronic equipment falls, it may cause serious accidents or damage to the equipment.
Additionally, if electronic devices fall, they may block evacuation routes, creating a disaster prevention problem. Keeping your desk organized is important to keep your employees safe.
How to organize your office desk
Now that we have introduced the benefits of organizing your office desk, we will introduce five specific ways to organize your desk, depending on the location of your desk.
On the desk: keep things to a minimum
First, keep the items on your desk to a minimum. Make sure to only leave behind things you need for work, such as your computer, phone, and stationery. Be careful not to leave personal items that are not necessary for work as much as possible.
Use trays or file stands to store documents upright so you can quickly access them when you need them.
Furthermore, if you get into the habit of resetting your desk every time you finish work or after work, you will always be able to keep your desk with minimal items.
Documents: sort by category
We recommend organizing documents on your desk by categorizing them and labeling them. By using file boxes and document cases, you can classify and manage documents according to type, importance, urgency, etc.
Another important point is to dispose of documents that have not been used for a certain period of time and keep only the necessary documents. If you have documents that you are worried about whether to dispose of or not, you can scan them, convert them to PDF, and save them on the cloud.
Front drawer: Place materials you will use that day and items you usually use on your desk.
The drawer in front of the desk is a convenient place to store materials you will use that day and items you use on a daily basis. Specifically, it stores things you use on a daily basis, such as pens, memo pads, staplers, and schedule books.
Additionally, using partitions to separate items in your drawers will make it easier to take out items without mixing them up.
First drawer: stores small items
Separating the purpose of each drawer tier will make it easier to organize your items. The first row is easy to reach, so it's convenient to store frequently used items. Specifically, notebooks, calculators, schedule books, etc. are suitable.
There are many types of items that are used frequently, and they tend to become cluttered. Therefore, it is easier to organize them by separating them using trays or drawer dividers.
Second drawer: Store items you don't use often but need.
The second drawer is harder to reach than the first drawer. Therefore, it is recommended to use the second tier to store items that are not used frequently but are often needed.
Depending on the industry and job content, scissors, a utility knife, or a business card case may be suitable.
Third drawer: Store items that are used less frequently.
The third drawer is the hardest to reach, so it's a good place to store rarely used items. Also, depending on the desk design, the third drawer (the lowest drawer) often has more storage space than the other drawers.
Therefore, it is convenient for storing files, books, power cords, etc. that are not often used. However, carelessly stuffing things you don't use into the third drawer will make the inside cluttered, so it's also a good idea to get into the habit of not putting unnecessary things in the drawer.
Points to keep in mind when organizing your office desk
Finally, we have summarized some points you should know when organizing your office desk. If you are worried about not being good at organizing, please use this as a reference.
Dispose of unnecessary items according to Naremko's law
When organizing documents on your desk, we recommend following Naremko's Law. Naremko's Law is a probability theory that states that 99% of documents used at work were created within the past year; in other words, documents created more than a year ago are rarely used.
In other words, with the exception of contracts and other documents that need to be kept, documents created more than a year ago are rarely used, so it can be said that there is no big problem in throwing them away. One option is to take the plunge and destroy documents that were created more than a year ago and are no longer in use or need to be kept.
Get into the habit of cleaning up after using it
The reason your desk gradually becomes cluttered is because you leave it there after you use it. Therefore, make it a habit to clean up regularly after finishing work.
Many business people are busy, but they don't need to spend a lot of time cleaning up. Simply taking 5 minutes, or at least 30 seconds, to clean up after you're done is enough.
By returning used items to their original places immediately and throwing away unnecessary items, you can keep your desk tidy even if you only have a short time to clean up after work.
Determine the fixed position of desk supplies
Clutter on your desk is often caused by not having fixed positions for things. It's important to set your own rules regarding where you will place your desk supplies.
If you have a fixed location, you won't have to worry about where to put it each time, and you can quickly store it in the same place.
When deciding on a fixed position, it is convenient to use trays and drawer dividers. If you classify each storage space into ``frequently used items'', ``stationery'', ``documents'', etc., it will be easier to decide on the correct location.
Organize as vertically as possible
When organizing your desk, it's a good idea to try to organize it vertically. When documents and stationery are stacked flat on your desk, it tends to become cluttered and you won't be able to quickly access the documents you need.
Therefore, it is best to place items and documents on your desk vertically. It is even more convenient to use boxes that can be used to store documents upright and label them to make them easier to find. Stationery such as ballpoint pens and staplers will be easier to use if you organize them in a pen holder.
Suminoe for office carpets
Organizing your office desk is essential for improving work efficiency. The causes of clutter on your desk include scattering unnecessary items, putting off cleaning up, and not having the habit of keeping things tidy.
Organizing your office desk has benefits such as improving concentration, strengthening information security, and improving safety in the event of a disaster. In order to always keep your desk organized, it is important to keep things on your desk to a minimum, sort documents into categories, and use drawers for different purposes.
In order to create an office environment where it is easy to concentrate on work, one of the important factors is not only the organization of the desk, but also the selection of flooring materials. Suminoe's carpets are antistatic, antifouling,Flame retardantIt has excellent functionality, and is available in a wide variety of designs, making it possible to contribute to improving the office environment.
Furthermore, we also offer products made from recycled materials, including the environmentally friendly ECOS® series. If you are a company that wants to create a comfortable and stylish office space, please consider Suminoe carpets.