Focus - Leo Babauta [17]
Now imagine a different workspace: a clear desk, with only a couple of essential items on it. A clear computer desktop, with no icons to distract you. There's nothing on the floor around you, and very little on the walls. You have some nice ambient music to block out surrounding noise (perhaps using headphones), and there are no notifications that pop up to interrupt you. All you have on your computer is one open program with one open window, ready to work on your masterpiece.
The difference is striking, and it illustrates the importance of an uncluttered workspace with few interruptions, when it comes to focusing.
This is true not only of an office workspace, but of anywhere you want to focus: at home, outside, at a coffeeshop where you want to do some work. The less clutter and distractions you have, the better you'll be able to focus.
how to get started
It's important to remember that you don't need to create the perfect uncluttered environment right away. If you do it all in one go, you could spend hours or even all day working on this project, and then you'll have gotten nothing done.
My suggestion is to work in small chunks. Just 10-15minute improvements once or twice a day, and slowly you'll be creating a wonderful environment. But you'll see improvements immediately.
For example, you might do 10-15 minutes at a time, working in this order:
Clear your desk.
Turn off computer notifications.
Find soothing music and some headphones.
Clear your computer desktop.
Clear your floor.
Clear your walls.
And so on, improving one area at a time. Once you have things pretty clear, don't worry about tweaking things too much. Creating the "perfect" environment can become just as much a time-waster and distraction as anything else.
You could also do all those things at once if you really want to, and have the time. I don't recommend it, but I've done it myself in the past, so I understand this urge.
Let's look at how to do all of the above things as simply as possible.
start with your desk
We're going to focus just on the top of your desk. You can sort through the drawers another time.
First, take a quick survey -- what do you have on top of your desk? Papers, folders, binders? A computer, printer, fax machine, phone, stapler, file tray? Post-it notes, phone messages and other scraps of paper? Coffee cup, food, water bottle? Photos, mementos, trinkets, plaques? What else?
Now make a very short mental list: what on your desk is absolutely essential? Just pick 5 items, perhaps. Maybe something like this: computer, phone, water bottle, photo of loved one, inbox tray. Your list will probably be different.
Now take everything off the desk except those items. Put them on the floor. Wipe off your desk with a sponge or rag, so you have a nice clean desk, and arrange the few items you have left nicely. Isn't that lovely?
If you have time, deal with the items you put on the floor now. If not, stack them somewhere out of the way and deal with them the next time you have 10-15 minutes.
Here's what to do with them: pick up one item from the group, and make a quick decision: do you need it, or can you get rid of it or give it to someone else? If you need it, find a place for it that's not on top of your desk -- preferrably out of sight in a drawer. Always keep it there if you're not using it at the moment.
If you don't need it, give it to someone else or recycle/trash it. Work through all your items quickly -- it should only take 10-15 minutes to do this. If you have a bunch of files/papers that need to be sorted or filed, worry about those later. Put them in a to-be-filed drawer, and file them when you get your next 10-15 minute chunk.
From now on, you'll only have things on top of the desk that you're going to use at this moment. If you're not using the stapler, put it away. If you're not working on that file, file it. You could have a "working folder" and put files/papers in there that you're going to use later,