For many of us, we spend a huge portion of every week in our workspace. Whether it’s a home office, a cubicle in a ten story building, or just a small corner of your kitchen counter, keeping that space clean and organized is crucial. Remember: physical clutter is mental clutter! When our work areas are clean and clutter free, it encourages creativity and productivity— both of which are essential for a successful day in the office. Getting bombarded with mail, important documents, and new tasks daily can make it difficult to keep our workspaces organized, so today we’re sharing seven fool-proof ways to help keep your workspace clean. Write them down. Make them a priority. Be intentional about keeping your workspace free from clutter, and you won’t have to blame an unproductive day on an unorganized office ever again.

1. Keep things in close proximity. Do you use it everyday? Keep it out on your desk, or in the drawer right next to you. Put that label printer that you only use once a month away in the closet where you don’t see it everyday. Make your workspace work for you.
2. Create a place for everything. Nothing should be in your workspace without a home! Assign a specific place for everything, and make sure you put it back there whenever you’re not using it. Not only does this help with clutter, but it also helps keep you from losing important items.
3. Never set trash down. Setting trash down on your desk gives it a temporary home there. Don’t let that happen! As soon as trash comes in, throw it away. Keep a trash can by your desk to make this even easier.
4. Get rid of unnecessary clutter. Don’t allow things to pile up. Little trinkets and cute desk accessories are fun, but if they’re just taking up space (i.e.: not functional and not bringing you joy), don’t hesitate to get rid of them!
5. Give discard dates to important documents. Most papers don’t need to be kept forever. Assign dates to each paper with when you can throw them away. Once that date passes, toss it!
6. Invest in some storage boxes. Sometimes there are random objects and loose papers that we can’t get rid of, but they aren’t pretty to look at and don’t fit inside our desk drawers. Having a few storage boxes handy gets these things out of the way and keeps your office looking fresh + clean.
7. Restart daily. At the end of each day, make sure all the trash is taken out and everything is in it’s place. Coming into work the next day to a clean office will help jumpstart your productivity before the day has even started!