My desk at work has always looked as though it’s been hit by a hurricane. I have always had piles of unnecessary old paperwork, empty packets of things, partially eaten packets of things and just general rubbish that had no real purpose. So, the other day I took the plunge and cleaned off my entire desk as well as all my drawers (I’ll be honest I was prompted to do this because one of my drawers would barely open).
All in all I’d probably say it took about half an hour of my day, most of which was spent sorting through old paperwork that was to be recycled. I went through all my files and got rid of old and out of date correspondence that no longer has any relevance and cleaned out my drawers so they now open and close easily.
To be honest, I was surprised at how refreshed I felt afterwards but I don’t know why I felt surprised. After all, I consider myself to be a minimalist and this is exactly what I have been doing at home…why was it so different at the office? Part of me thinks I just became used to the situation of ‘organised chaos’ as I so affectionately used to describe the state of my desk. Part of me thought that I was so used to working in clutter that I didn’t want to change this in case I didn’t like it.
I find that now I’m able to think more clearly and find the things I need far more easily- again I don’t know why I’m surprised. But it’s definitely made me far more productive at work and I feel mentally better for it. It’s so much more pleasant to walk up to a clean open space at the start of every day as opposed to one where the surface can barely be seen.
The real bonus? The packet of long lost Wizz Fizz Sherbet I found at the back of my snack drawer (yes, I have a snack drawer and if you don’t, you should).
What does your office desk look like? Is it minimalist?
This is Minimalism 