Dew Recommends: Stay Focused with a Clean Office

I remember the accomplishment I felt the first time I cleaned my office (OK, it was a cubicle) at my first job out of college. In fact, my coworker peeked her head around my wall and said, “Your desk is way too clean, is today your last day?”

I read a great article on clutter by Mikael Cho recently, and it got me thinking about how clutter effects our desks and work spaces. Mikael refers to clutter (or “our stuff”) as the noise around us. How true.

Check out this quote:

Clutter’s impact on your brain

Whether it be your closet or office desk, excess things in your surroundings can have a negative impact on your ability to focus and process information.

So, getting rid of the clutter in your office cuts down on distractions and can help you stay focused on the important things (like selling!).

Here are some things that I have done to try and limit clutter on my desk and in my office:

Stay Focused with the No-clutter Checklist

1. I don’t have a physical inbox on my desk – so I can’t dump stuff into a “someday I’ll deal with it” pile. I have to take care of it by Friday afternoon or I toss it.
2. Keep a recycle bin in your office so papers don’t pile up.
3. When you collect business cards, deal with them right away: add them to your CRM, connect with them on LinkedIn and then recycle them.
4. Every December TOSS everything – literally. Take things off your wall, clean out your desks, and shred. Make people in your office think it’s your last day. Then only keep the necessities. Think of it this way: if you were a brand new employee, what you need? I promise you don’t need 47 pens, 14 pencils, and 22 highlighters. Purge! BTW – I picked December because it’s my slowest month of the year. Pick a time that works for you and DEW it.

…and #5 is my Power Tip:

Add an appointment to your calendar for every Friday afternoon at 4:30 to clean your desk and prepare for next week. The best way to make a permanent change is to make it a habit – blocking out time on your calendar is the best way to do that.

Tip: Every Friday at 4:30 clean your desk, straighten up your office and prepare for next week.

— Dew Tinnin (@SalesCoachDew) October 15, 2013

Just imagine how good it will feel to sit down to a clean desk next Monday morning!

Check out Mikael’s entire article here…

Until next time – go sell some stuff!