Organizing Your Desk for Real Work

Having a well-organized office is all about making your work more convenient and functional. Keep this in mind when you're choosing a desk. No matter how sleek and fashionable an office may look furnished with a table (no drawers), if you plan to do real work in your office, get a real desk with drawers. Honestly, have you ever seen a real working office that looks like those in the high-end shelter magazines?

Desks intended for real work are designed with drawers in order to provide a place for everyday office necessities and supplies. Usually, there is at least one relatively shallow drawer ideal for storing extra note pads, staples, highlighters, and such -- items that you want to keep handy but not necessarily on top of your desk. Outfit this drawer with some type of organizer to keep like items together so you can easily see and access what you have.

Real desks also have at least one file drawer. This drawer should be designated to for work-in-waiting, kept in a "tickler" file. This kind of file gets its name because it tickles you -- reminds you -- of upcoming tasks based on the date you plan to work on them. Documents, notes, reminders of all sorts are dropped into folders labeled for each day of the month. When you check them each day, they automatically trigger action on the proper date, relieving you of the need to think about them otherwise. Since this is a file you will refer to constantly, it should be close at hand and separated from all other files.

A second file drawer, if the desk has two, can be used for documents you refer to regularly. These could be priority projects, current customers, or administrative and financial records.

Some people decide on office furniture without thinking through how they actually work. If their desk doesn't have drawers, their supplies and paperwork end up creating clutter all over the place. Not only is this unsightly, it actually reduces efficiency and effectiveness since it's difficult to concentrate with unfinished tasks distracting you everywhere you look. It's hard to be productive when your workspace is a stressful mess.

Do yourself a favor; make your office organized, convenient and functional so you will enjoy working in it and can get more done. Get a real desk if you want to do real work.