New Year’s Resolution: No More Office Clutter!

This article is sponsored by Quill Office Supplies, a proud supporter of OfficeArrow. You can also visit the Quill community right here on OfficeArrow.

Do you have piles of paper covering every inch of your office and desk? Do you find yourself wading through boxes and stacks of file folders that accumulate on the floor because there's just no where else to put them? Is every drawer in your desk a junk drawer?

Okay, maybe things aren't quite that bad...yet. But, more than likely, everyone reading this article could stand to declutter their office at least a little. According to the Wall Street Journal, the average employee wastes six weeks a year looking for information and things in their office. Multiply six times your weekly salary and you'll find that being disorganized costs a lot of money! Not to mention the frustration and wasted energy.

Why not add a new resolution to your list this year? One that says, "Get rid of office clutter once and for all." If you're ready to take on this challenge, our good friends at Quill Office Supplies have a few suggestions to help you on your journey.

• Take stock of your inventory. Do you have multiple products of the same type? Yes, we all need binders and folders to store information. But do we really need to keep those we haven't looked at in over a year? Get rid of outdated and expired information. Similarly, recycle or give away those extra empty binders you'll probably never use.
• If you're like most people, you have pictures on your desk to remind you of family and friends. While this is a great way to add personality and life to your area, these framed photos can really get in the way and take up valuable workspace. Instead of displaying the pictures on your desk, hang them on the walls or in your cube.
• Consider using wall mounted organizers in your office or cube to store and organize files you use on a daily basis. This helps keep your desk area clear of clutter by utilizing empty wall space.
• Use a rotary desk organizer to consolidate all of your tools in one easy-to-access location. This will help free up drawer space without taking too much room on top of the desk.
• Use drawer trays to organize your supplies. Keep like items in the same area and assign a specific location for each thing.
• Collect incoming and outgoing paperwork with stackable letter trays [Tracking link needed] on one corner of your desk. These will help keep paper piles separate and tidy. Alternatively, if you work with multiple file folders throughout the day, you may want to consider using a vertical desk organizer instead, which allows you to prop up multiple folders in a row.
• Invest in shelves or storage cabinets to manage items that don't belong in any specific place.
• Create a to-do list for yourself at the end of each work day and take a few minutes to clean up your desk before leaving the office. This will help you clear your mind and plan for the next day's activities. That way, when you arrive in the morning you'll be ready to jump right in.
• Check the floor around and beneath you. Are you keeping things on the floor simply because you've been too lazy to put them away? Do you have items that need to be taken home or returned to others? Get rid of that unnecessary junk that takes up valuable space. Determine what you can give away or recycle. If you're keeping it, find an appropriate place to put it. The floor is not a suitable storage area.
• Color code your files to sort information and keep like items in the same location. Most people can find things faster when scanning for colors versus reading through file labels.

Ok, folks. What are you waiting for? It's time to get organized! Take control of that clutter and stop wasting precious time and energy. Quill Office Supplies has everything you need to make the most of your space while keeping it neat and tidy. If the average employee wastes six weeks a year looking for information and things in their office, imagine what you could do with an extra six weeks each year. The possibilities are endless.