So, I’m pretty tidy already, and my desk wasn’t that much of mess to begin with, but there were still quite a few unnecessary items accumulated there, like a printer I’m never going to use, a stapler I use maybe once a month, etc. I only spent about ten minutes decluttering, but the benefits were huge. So huge that I had to write it again in bold AND italics.

Along with office type stuff, I cleared off some knick knacks–little bits of art and what have you.

Did I mention the huge effect all this had? Wow. There’s a sense of openness and space. There’s more room to work and breathe. There’s also less distracting visual clutter.

This is only an anecdote, but I was more productive today than I’ve been in a while.

I recommend giving this a try. What do you really need on your desk and in your immediate working environment? What I’ve found, at least for myself, is that it’s actually not much. I’m guessing everyone’s got at least a couple items that can be tossed or sold or given away. Things that only get used once in a while can be put out of sight in an easy to reach place. Things that are visually interesting (photos, say) eventually become visually distracting, especially when there’s too much of it.

Of course, there’s no precise recipe, and everyone’s got their personal preferences. For me, just thinking about this, or anything, consciously is what’s important. The “right” changes naturally precipitate from awareness.