Creating a desk that makes you productive

I used to have to leave my dorm room to study because I was too distracted by what was on my desk, that was before I reorganized things. Now thanks to a few new tips I can help you get work done at your desk too.

Clean is Key

To start we are going to go with the obvious, you absolutely have to have a clean desk, when I started to reorganize my desk I pulled everything off of it and after dusting and cleaning my desk I placed everything in a nice orderly fashion.

Less is more

When I organized my desk I got rid of a bit of the junk that was on my desk. In order to get work done on your desk you have to have room to do so. Often times you will see desks with lots of little figurines or other “dustables” but I feel that a desk should only have what you need, having other things on the desk often made me distracted from my work.

Hide those cables

A clean desk looks at its best when cables are not visible, if it were up to me I would go completely wireless. Tucking those cables behind the desk, stranding them together, and keeping them organized is essential if you want to get work done at your desk.

Having cables going in every direction of your desk will only distract you, it leads to playing with cable and it takes up room.

Keep your area well lit

Lighting your table is also a valuable part of getting things done. We all know how boring work is and I know how easily I can go to sleep if my work gets too boring.

I feel that a desk lamp is absolutely essential not only for keeping me awake, but for not straining my eyes at my monitor.

What is on my desk?

Laptop

Obviously my Macbook Pro sits on my desk and it is not only a tool that I accomplish a lot of work on, but one that can also be very beneficial in taking getting me distracted.

That is why I feel that a good screen saver for your computer is a must. For my computer I decided to put pressure on my when I work, and I display a huge clock as my screen saver. Additionally, I have my computer read off the time at the hour because if I am distracted this immediately gets me back into my work.
The mug o’ pencils

Like most dusks my desk has a mug filled with my needed writing tools. I find that when I take my pens, pencils, and highlighters from this mug I focus on my work. However when I pull away from my desk and go into my bag for a writing utensil I often become distracted.

The Calender

To me my desk is my focal point of my room, I like to have everything in or around it, with out it having too much. My calender is dry erase and sits on the wall just above my desk. I carry a calender with my school work to keep track of assignments, keep track of my daily events with Google Calender, and I use this desk calender to write my exams, TV shows I watch, big assignments, and big events of my life.

Putting too much on this calender will make it useless, that is why I think keeping this calender to only the most important events of your day is a better idea than writing every little detail.

Daily Tasks

Finally, I keep a little list of everything I need to for the day written on the backs of the previous day’s “Duct Tape a Day” fact. I noticed that I was throwing a lot of paper away with my daily calender and I knew that I could use this paper to my benefit.

I take this paper and write tomorrow’s day on the top of it. Then below the day I write a bulleted list of tasks I need to complete in the next day. After this I stick the list to my wall above the calender, and in the morning I pull the list off, fold it, and carry it in my pocket. Through out the day I check off these tasks as I complete them.

Getting things done at your desk

Organization is the key to getting things done at your desk, you have to have a clean work area to successfully get things done. Your desk is your mission control, keep it tidy to get thins done!