The Cluttered Desk: Good or Bad?

My desk is a mess. Not all the time, just most of the time. I do go through a purge every month or so, and I usually clear it off for important video calls, but I always seem to end up at my default setting, which is: cluttered.

Perhaps I took comfort in Albert Einstein’s comment about the topic: “If a cluttered desk is the sign of a cluttered mind, of what then is an empty desk a sign?”

Research on the effect of a messy desk is mixed. Most critics are clean-desk advocates, saying it leads to stress. But a few cite it as being a sign of creativity, intelligence & productivity.

But that last word is the key word, right? Productivity. And it’s why I’m writing about it this week. Am I more productive with a messy desk or a clean one? I don’t know because it’s never been uncluttered long enough to tell. Maybe you’re in the same boat.

For me to have any chance of making uncluttered work, I know that I need to think about it differently. So I did some digging and found this advice that might help me. And if you’re a messy desk person who wants to convert, these tips I found may help you too:

Think of your desk as a tool - A desk should NOT be used as a storage cabinet or holding area. (I definitely do a bit of both. I like to have the things I access on a regular basis, both business and personal, handy to me. So there are manila folders and paper piles on my desktop. I call it my “low-tech dashboard”. But, like weeds in a garden, they grow over time. To continue both analogies, I probably need to do some weeding, to take a few dials off my dashboard.)

Have the right sized desk - One article pointed out that many desks are too big, so we fill them up with stuff. It should only be as wide on each side, left & right, as your reach. That’s your primary work space. If you have to get up from your chair to reach, then your desk has become something else than a work tool. Some people have even gone as far as replacing their big desks with a small writing desk, so they CAN’T use it to stack piles. (In a couple of past corporate jobs, where I worked at my place of employment and not from home, my desk was definitely bigger than I needed. And the analytical me likes information, so I filled it, all the drawers and the top. The desk I use today is a 60” wide by 30” deep convertible standing desk. The good news is that I can reach everything. The bad news is that I sit too much, probably because of the clutter on top of it. Removing the clutter should get me standing more.)

You should always be able to see the top of your desk - Many articles point out that when you have multiple projects in front of you, it’s easy to become distracted or bounce from one to another. And you should just work on one thing at a time. (I’m a big believer in focused work, not multi-tasking, and am pretty good at it. However, my messy desk does make it harder to concentrate. The desk faces a wall, and I keep it clear which erases the distraction element when I look up, but clearing the desktop is probably the best move for me.)

Use desk drawers wisely - The advice I found was that only your priority items should go in there. You want to make sure your drawers don’t become all-purpose containers for non-work things. Your files should be smartly-labeled so they’re easy to know what’s in them. Plus, your goal is fast retrieval, not wasting time searching. So, only keep active files in your desk drawers. The things you need to keep, but not access on a regular basis, should be stored elsewhere. (Since my standing/sitting desk has no drawers, my issue is where to keep the files on my desk. I just need to do a better job purging old files to create more room in my file cabinets and closet’s shelving.)

Give yourself enough time to get your desk organized - I thought this was good advice. They said to allow 2-4 hours to get organized. Don’t rush it. Take everything off the top and in the drawers and put them off to the side. Then go thru each piece. Was it used in the last month? Make a decision on what to do with it. File it in your drawer, file it somewhere else like a closet or non-desk filing cabinet, or toss it. Anything on your desk that distracts you or gets in the way of your work should be removed. (This is what I’ll be doing next Saturday morning.)

So, I’m going to give it a try. Wish me luck (and if you’re trying to de-clutter, I’ll do the same for you!)

As always, have a great week!

Bob

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