How to Organize Your Desk at Work

Many clients tend to judge your character and habits by looking at how your office and desk is organized. Because of this, you need to strive and make sure your office desk gives a striking first impression on all your guests. More importantly, ensure your desk looks good for you because you are likely to spend most of your time behind it. A colorful and personalized desk creates a comforting environment and helps you become more productive at work.

It’s important to integrate your tastes and preferences as you organize your desk, but ensure this is done well enough to enable you to manage your time properly, be comfortable, and entertain your guests as well. Whether you are working from home, in a cubicle, or in a public office, your desk should be the center of every other activity that happens inside or outside your workplace. 

Here are other reasons why organizing your desk is important.

• It boosts your creativity
• It bolsters your self-esteem and confidence
• It gives the impression of the quality of your services
• Keeps your organization’s information secure

As you can tell, having a clean and well-organized desk plays part in making you effective and productive at your duties. At Office Furniture Warehouse, we want you to thrive and provide quality office furniture and accessories so you can organize your work accordingly. In this article, we give you great ideas to make sitting at your desk an enjoyable thing to do – every day

Table of Contents

Simple Steps to Organize your Desk

There are many ideas to help you organize your desk. Some of these seem simple but contribute to the final look of your office. Having designated areas on your desk for placing your paperwork and office supplies is a great point to start. Doing this helps you trace important documents fast to continue with your work and spend time on what matters most. Below is a hands-on process to get you started.

Clear your Desk and Clean Everything

The first step to restructuring and organizing your desk is to begin on an empty desk. Remove everything from the top and drawers of your desk. Put the removed items on a separate desk or floor to enable you to sort them easily.

After clearing your desk, take time to tidy the drawers and the desk’s surfaces. Also clean your computer, paper holders, and other equipment. Make sure you clean away all the dust and grime.

Sort Your Items

Divide the items from your desk into two groups: items you will keep and items you will throw away. Throw or give away anything that’s not useful to you and retain only the most important stuff. What is important may vary from a person to another. Yours could be the desktop, bills, and other a few documents. Throw away pencils and pens that are no longer in use; One or two pens can be enough for all your writing work. Outdated documents are better of in the store or in a filing cabinet.

Label Everything

Labeling helps you to identify and locate files and other accessories you may need easily. Label all your personal items and cables using a label maker. You can also stick labels on the doors of specifically designated drawers for keeping your items for easier reference. Similar items can also be labeled using the same color label makers.

Tie Your Cables Together

Scattered cables don’t just look bad for your image but can be risky to anyone that comes to your workspace. They might trip someone or trigger fires. A leaking electricity cable could electrocute you any moment you make a wrong move. An exposed network cable could disrupt your work if it gets in touch with moisture or cut for some reason. Tethering the cables using zip ties will help you minimize all these possible distractions. Be careful not to touch necked wires as you wrap them. If possible, hide the cables under your desk or in a place that is out of your sight. You can also use covers to hide them. 

Hide Electronics

Keep electronics that you don’t frequently use away from your desk. You can look for a suitable place for your modem or router. Remember, you only need to focus on retaining gadgets that add value to your work. Less utilized electronics steal your concentration and occupy unnecessary space. Set aside a drawer or two or closets to put your electronics.

Set Aside Separate Charging Point for Your Electronics

For easy access, you might be tempted to bring charging cables close to your desk to charge your phone and other gadgets. This only creates the opportunity to place more items than necessary on your desk. If you charge your phone or other gadgets during your working hours, design a charging point that is far away from the desk. Have a drawer, about one meter away, on a separate desk, storage compartment, or place it in one of the drawers on your desk.

Divide Your Desk

To effectively organize your desk, segment it into different sections. Start by creating space for your desktop. Where your desktop is placed will give you the layout design for the other personal items. For most people, most of the work happens on the computer. But even if this is the case, you will still require a surface to review your paperwork, sign checks, or take notes. You can divide your desk based on its size. A bigger desk is the best to optimize your production because you will be able to complete multiple tasks from the same spot.

Sort what to Keep in your Drawers

Desk drawers are important because they help you keep what is not essentially needed on the top of your desk. You can keep files, pens, cell phones, and important notes in them. When keeping items inside drawers, you should make a choice on what items to fit in and what items to leave on your desk. Whatever steals your items should be hidden inside drawers. 

Hire an Organizer

Some tasks might appear simple but complicated to you. Some experts are good at designing offices. If you find it hard to organize your desktop, getting the services of an organizer at a small fee will save your cluttered desk situation. 

Desk Organization Ideas that will Inspire you at Work

Your focus determines your production. In order to focus accordingly, you need a tidy desk. Inspire your productivity from your desk using these 20 sensational office organization ideas.

A Hanging Shelf Over your Desk

Take a hammer and tap one or two shelves on the wall right beside your office desk. This will expand your workspace by creating room to keep items you need but are not essential to be kept on your desk. Colorful shelves can also be an exceptional way to decorate your office. Moreover, you can display your elegant artwork in them. 

Design and Organization Station

Make use of the space on the wall where your office desk sits. You can hang organizers on it. Your desk should be as clean as possible with only essential items on top of it. You need space to read and do calculations. You can fix a corkboard on the wall and use it to hang your schedule, to-do list, customized calendar, or mason jars to hold your office supplies. 

Combine Supplies with Décor

Use a pegboard to customize your office. With a pegboard, you can hang decorations and store your office supplies, or mix both. To utilize a pegboard sufficiently, attach shelves, cup holders, and wire baskets before adding your décor.

Sort Office Supplies by Color

Colors play an important role in our lives. They help us focus, relax, and identify items. Having different colors to represent different supplies in your office helps to coordinate your brain accordingly. You can have matching bins and clear jars to craft your supplies. Stick the jars and bins on lined shelves placed on free wall vertical space. Placing them on your desk will deny you extra free space.

Use Storage Caddies

If you prefer using a modern office desk, sticking storage caddies beside your desk will help you store all your essential items. Working in a small office should not be an excuse for a cluttered desk. In a space that holds only small office desks, storage caddies do better.

Have Your To-Do List With You

Use a peel-and-stick chalkboard to write your to-do list. A peel-and-stick chalkboard is the best because when you change your mind, you can easily replace your list with a new one. The list can be attached to your desk if you wish. Doing this helps leverage the space on your desk and at the same time have the to-do-list as your reminder.

Organize Your Accessories to One Side

You may require so many items on your desk like papers, a lamp, and pen holders to help you access them quickly. But having all these items thrown all over the top of your desk complicates your work, because of the congestion and disorder. You need clear space to put your laptop and much more space to write. Designate a specific position on top of your desk to keep your accessories. That way they are still easily accessible but leaving you with space to go on with your work.

Install Floating Shelves

Floating shelves are great installations for keeping light supplies, décor, and work accessories. Install beautifully carved floating shelves in your workspace to bolster the aesthetics of your workspace and create room to place your things. Instead of having books, magazines, photos, and other little stuff you might be putting on your desk, you just place them on the floating shelves. There’s a wide range of shelve designs and colors that can match your desk and wall painting.

Confine Office Supplies

Sometimes you may be too tired or too busy to arrange everything on your office desk. Shopping for an acrylic office tray will make your work easier. You can arrange all your paperwork and office supplies on it. The tray can be placed anywhere in your workspace apart from the top of your desk to save your working space.

Use Paper Clutter as Décor

You don’t have to throw old notes or postcards. Some can be too beautifully colored to be disposed of. However, that doesn’t mean you will have to keep them stacked on your desk. You can position your paper clutter vertically on the wall near your treasured art corner. The clutter could be inspirational quotes or photos from your favorite magazine.

Invest in Keyboard Support Tools

Having a keyboard support tool placed under your office desk saves the space that could be occupied by your keyboard when you are not using it. With it, you can also tow your phone, tablet or laptop safe when they are not engaged.

Have One Useful Item at a Time

One of the best ways to ensure your desk remains clutter-free by having only one item on it at a time. So if something is not in use, it’s better placed at its designated storage. This will not only clear your desk but also boost your focus increases.

Use Paper Holders

Office work still involves too much writing despite the continuous technological advancements. You need to organize these papers neatly on top of your desk. If not, you may end up wasting a lot of time trying to track an important document among cluttered paper. The best way to avoid such a situation and increase your production is to invest in paper holders. 

(SRM-0002) Friant Verity – 4 Person Workstation

Use Drawer Organizers

Ever lost a flash drive in a desk drawer and spent hours to find it? Another great way to beat your office drawer bits and pieces is by investing in drawer dividers. Drawer dividers help you create non-permanent compartments where you can store your notes, flash drives, and business cards for easier location. With these, you won’t lose even the smallest items in your collection.

Install a Floating Closet Organizer

Do you work in a small or shared workspace? Some offices let employees share a desk! If this is your situation, you need to be super creative to create storage space. Investing in floating storage is a great idea because it can be placed on a wall or a door. It creates extra room for your office supplies without consuming your office desk space. It can be utilized where a bookcase can’t fit.

Have a Rolling Cart Close to Your Desk

Get a rolling cart that occupies a small surface area but with several stacks high. This product would be particularly useful if your desk has no storage compartments. This cart can be used to sort your office items; pens, papers, flash discs, and other supplies using its different stacks.

Use a Lazy Susan

If you love convenience, a lazy susan should be your favorite item on your desk. Use it to hold the cups used to keep your tools and extra pens. It will help you keep all that you need within an arm’s reach. All you need to do is to place it at one corner of your desk or shelf and keep spinning for any item you need. 

Install a Pull-out Drawer Under Your Desk for Your Printer

A printer is an essential office electronic but conspicuous, especially on top of your desk. You can be innovative enough to fix a pull-out drawer under your desk to keep it. Storing it in a cabinet will inconvenience you any time you need to print documents. Therefore, what is the best solution for a dedicated cabinet? A pull-out shelf!

Mount a Bookshelf Against the Ceiling of Your Office

Having an office library is a smart idea, but where should you keep your books and other reference materials? Having them piled on your table denies your space to work on other tasks freely. In other situations, little office space could deny you your best books in the office. Get a small shelf and hammer it against the office ceiling. You place a blue or red lamp inside to make it attractive.

Don’t Leave Out Space Below Your Desk

In an office layout, every centimeter matters. If your office desk has enough room to hide less used supplies, and you still need space on your desk, use it. Add a CPU support tool, a storage cabinet, or a bookshelf. Just remember to leave room for your feet to move around.

Invest in a Wall-mounted Storage Cabinet for Extra Storage

As your organization expands, you may have many office supplies, paperwork, and files to keep. Without extra space, you may experience storage challenges. This challenge can be solved by adding a  storage cabinet against the office wall. 

Ask Us Any Questions About Furniture

Every millimeter matters when it comes to organizing your desk. If you can no longer go vertical, go horizontal. Add shelves and boxes on walls to hold your décor and supplies. Create more room on your desktop to create enough space to work on. If you have a big office, it’s better to invest in a big office desk. Office Furniture Warehouse is an expert in the office furniture solutions industry and ready to assist you to get the best desk for your workspace. We offer furniture that matches your taste and serves the purpose. Call us today or visit our website to scour through our collection and pick something that suits your office needs.

If you found this article helpful, share it!

Share on facebook
Share on twitter
Share on linkedin
Share on pinterest
Share on reddit