How to organise your office desk

The impact of COVID-19 on businesses and workforces is unquestionable. As many offices remain closed under latest government restrictions, countless office staff continue to adapt to working from home.

Whether you’re based at home or working in the office, a well-organised workspace is key to increasing productivity, improving focus and helping to reduce stress.

We’ve compiled a host of top tips to having a perfectly organised desk that will be the envy of your colleagues and help to transform your working day.  

Personal space

It is common to fall victim of using office desks as a dumping ground, especially for personal items. There are items that find their way onto our office desks daily, such as mobile phone, keys, wallets or purses. While essential, personal possessions can easily clutter up your space throughout the day and lead to unhealthy and unproductive distractions.

Select a designated desk area where your essential personal items can permanently live, such as a drawer or shelf. This not only declutters your space, but means you always know where to find them.

Reduce distractions

With an increasing number of employees working from home, the potential for day-to-day distractions is higher.

Whenever possible, remove any item from your office desk that is going to cause unnecessary distractions. Keep your phone out of sight in a drawer or in a defined area that won’t tempt you to check messages or take unrelated work calls. Reducing distractions will pave the way for increased efficiency and more productive working hours.

Throw away unnecessary items

Ever heard of the phrase ‘Tidy desk, tidy mind?’ If you are looking to create a well-organised desk, the starting point is to be ruthless and dispose of unnecessary items. Go through each item in your desk and ask yourself if it is essential. From paperwork to old notebooks, dried up pens to disregarded Post-It notes, there is sure to be a host of items that can be disposed of to clear much-needed space. Ensure essential items are kept together and ordered appropriately.   

Disposing of unnecessary items and doing this regularly will de-clutter your workspace and pave the way for clarity and clearer thinking.

You  may also like our article: Feng Shui Office  –  The Ultimate Guide 

Daily desk hygiene

The current climate calls for desk hygiene to be top priority, however, it is also essential to aid positive wellbeing.

Adopt a desk hygiene routine by wiping your desk down at the end of each day before leaving your workplace or home office. This daily ritual will force you to put away paperwork, files or any other items left on your desktop, and will ensure you return to your desk each morning with a clean workspace and fresh start.

Rid your space of cables

When we think of cluttered workspaces, we are often focused on desktops. However, it is important to acknowledge that what lies underneath your desk should also be addressed and properly organised, such as cables.

Tangled cables are unsightly, are likely to cause a distraction as well as being a potential trip hazard. Minimise the risk of distraction by tying up loose cables and tuck them out of sight with effective desk cable management.

Avoid tangled cables and ensure they’re in the right place. We’ve compiled our own guide on cable management.

Segment your desk

While it is likely that the majority of the day will be spent on your computer, it is important to have desk areas sectioned off for non-computer tasks. From reading files and documents to mapping out tasks and to-do lists, segmenting your desk will help achieve clear-cut organisation and help keep your thoughts in order.

Keep a notebook to hand

We’ve all been there; taking an unexpected call or having that ‘lightbulb’ moment in a meeting and not being able to jot the idea down. Not everything can go straight into an email or digital document, so it’s always handy to keep a notebook on standby to quickly write down tasks, to-dos, reminders or moments of inspiration.

Use a rubbish bin

It might seem simple but investing in a recycling rubbish bin and placing this either next to your desk or underneath it will transform your workspace from cluttered to pristine.

Ensure any notes and documents you no longer need are instantly thrown in the bin and recycled appropriately. Getting into the routine of doing this will avoid paper piles building up and will get you into the healthy habit of discarding unnecessary documents regularly. If they contain sensitive information, we always recommend shredding documents before recycling.

Prioritise by importance

With so many desk items frequently cluttering up space, it can become challenging to decipher which ones are needed most frequently.

Use your office desk and drawers to prioritise items by importance. Place the things you use most frequently in the drawer nearest to you, and place what you least use in the bottom drawer or under your desk, tidied furthest away. Items that aren’t used as often could be placed in a separate cupboard or drawer to free-up valuable space and help you to also maintain a clutter-free brain.

Why choose BT Office Furniture?

BT Office has been a leading UK office furniture supplier since 1994. We use our own fleet of vehicles and team of specialist fitters to ensure your modern and executive office furniture arrives undamaged and is installed by people who are familiar with the products.

If you’re looking to reorganise your office and give it a new lease of life, check out our full range of furniture today for inspiration or contact our expert team who are on hand and happy to help with your enquiry.