In plenty of organizing articles and books you see that old motto, do the worst part of organizing or cleaning first, and the easier stuff last.

What do you think?

I’m not sure I prescribe to this motto. I think you should do the fastest task first; here’s why. Let’s use a home office as an example. Let’s pretend it’s a disaster, and needs some organizing and cleaning. In fact, we’ll pretend it’s my home office. I’d clean and organize in the following order:

1. Pick up anything on the desktop (it would be rare for me to have a mess on my desktop, there’s likely just a pen or two sitting there, so super easy).
2. Clean laptop, mouse, and keyboard.
3. Dust top of desk and the bookshelf I keep next to my desk.
4. Clean out current box.
5. Take all extra files, books, and any other items that have ended up on or near my desk, and put them where they actually go. Note that all my extra files would need to be filed in my large filing cabinet, so it’d take a while.

This list starts with the easiest and quickest part of my desk clean-up, and ends with the most obnoxious part. Why I do this is because if I don’t happen to finish cleaning in one space in time, at least, hopefully I got the first 3 or 4 items on the list done. At least a lot of my office space is now clean, and more user friendly. I tend to do this with other tasks as well. I take care of stuff that’s fast and easy first, and put off the harder and longer tasks.

For me this works. That said, if you know that you ALWAYS put off the hardest tasks of organizing then maybe doing the worst first is going to be key to your success when it comes to organizing projects.

Now you tell me - which is better for you; organizing the worst or easiest first? 

The first two steps to an organized home or work office include creating proper office zones and having a current box (or something like a current box). After these major steps, there are some other things you can do to reduce office clutter and stay organized. Following are five ideas…

1. Keep your desktop clear: I’m not a fan of a paper pile anywhere, but a paper pile on a nearby shelf beats a paper pile on your desktop. Most of us work better when our space at least appears tidy. What you might consider are two small garbage bins on the side of your desk. Fill one with absolute recycling, and the other with stuff you’re unsure of. You can sort later.

2. Use a small file box:  If you keep the bulk of your work, research, necessary papers, or what have you, in a large file cabinet, purchase a small file holder box (like the one I refer to above in the current box link) and keep it near your desk. All you need to do is reach down for a file, which means file clutter stay off your desk. Once you’re done with the file return it to the larger cabinet.

3. Make daily clean up a habit: Each day, or at the very least every other day, pick up loose papers, old files, pens, and other collected desk items and put them where they actually go. If you spend five minutes at the end of each day picking up, you won’t accumulate as much desk clutter in the long run.

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A lot of people start organizing projects by clearing out clutter - that’s an excellent place to start. Getting rid of items that won’t be included in your reorganization is key to a successful room make-over (or make up for the first time, say, if you just moved in).

However, there’s another important first step than many miss, and it’s super simple too.

Define your spaces:

Before you do anything else you need to define your space, or spaces as the case may be. Defining your space is vital because it allows you to decide which items belong in the space, and which can go elsewhere. If space is at a minimum, then space defining is even more important, because there’s no room to lose or spare.

For example, if I was to define some rooms at my house, here’s what I’d do. Grab a pad of paper and pen and park myself in each room and take some notes, and the end result might look like this:

Living room: Used for TV watching, reading, sometimes eating, and one of Cedar’s play spaces (although his toys don’t stay). Also, Cedar likes to dance in there and I’ll exercise with my exercise ball, which means we need empty floor space o’plenty.

Back office: Used for my FT work office, Cedar’s art project room, our homeschool project room, and my clothing goes in the big closet in the room.

Dining room: Used for prepping meals, eating, the fish live there, and sometimes we do art at the table, but it’s rare.

And so on for each room. After my initial list is completed I’d make some notes about the space, such as how much furniture needs to be in each space, for example, obviously at bare minimum the back office will need an art table, my desk, and some shelving.

Being VERY careful and thinking clearly and realistically can save you lots of time. I messed up my own planning when we moved into our current place. I had thought we’d use a corner of the living room or dining room for Cedar’s art station, but if I’d thought it through and measured some furniture, I’d have realized that plan was too cluttered. In the end, Cedar’s art station ended up in my office, but it started in the dining room. It was plenty of extra work to move everything around too - so I should have planned better.

By defining your space before each and every organizing project you’ll save time and trouble.

Our previous Declutter It blogger, Julie liked to do things like “Where’s my desk Wednesday” and “Tame those toys Thursdays” - special days at blogs are cool, but not for me. Ironically, I never stick to organized blog days. That said, I think we’ll be starting a new series here called “Motivation for Organization.” It won’t be on any particular day though. Mainly because when I find stuff, I find stuff.

The idea behind Motivation for Organization is that when I see a particularly well-organized and nicely designed space, it really inspires me to get it together. I suspect I’m not the only person on the planet that visual cues work well for either. I also suspect that my obsession with architecture and spaces in general, leads me to see quite a lot of spaces that may inspire you to get organized. Hence the new series. These will also be nice quick shots, you can take it or leave it (because I know we don’t all agree on design ideas). I’ll always link to info about how to design your own space like the one we’re seeing if you do choose to take it.

Today, I found a really nice uncluttered desk in a tidy little office nook that is part of a bungalow kitchen remodel. The desk has these great shelving aspects built in that can really help you to get your space organized, and the colors are soothing, not cluttering to your head. Note especially how the desk placement works to provide natural lighting. Overall, a great little organized office nook. I would suggest a more ergonomic chair though.

To learn more about this Sunset feature, read the entire kitchen remodel article.

In the recent Office Zoning Issues post we looked at how to arrange your office supplies zone-wise to cut down on clutter. However some people in the comments mentioned stuff creeping up on them. Also, I mentioned that if you have certain tasks or a job that changes, the supplies and papers you may need can change week to week.

Because I write full-time my job does change on a weekly basis. One week I’ve got so and so projects, and the next week a new one. Also, my bills change each week and so does mail I need to deal with. To get around this I pay most of my bills online, but that doesn’t solve all my bills (some old school people still want checks) and it doesn’t help me with my revolving work schedule. Luckily, I found a solution that works pretty well.

First I bought one of these:
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No, I’m not talking about whether your office is legit - usually, unless you’re working on the roof, or in the front yard, no one is going to comment on your home office zoning. I’m talking about zoning your desk for maximum efficiency.

Your goal when desk or whole home office zoning is to organize in such a way, that you can be more productive, easily find items, and not kill yourself reaching said items.

The best way to zone is to place high need objects nearby, mid-use items semi-close, and items you use once a month far, far, away.

Examples from my home office:

I use my office for work (full-time blogging) and for home issues (paying bills). So I zone items together.

My high-use zone: This zone is the zone I can reach from my desk without getting up. Items in my high-use zone include; a small collection of research books, clips, and articles that relate to all my blog topics, pens, my paper schedule, chapstick, hair clips, highlighters, eye drops, thesaurus, calculator, Advil, extra checks, cell phone, idea folder, and envelopes. Plus my record player and some essential oils. I also have my current box on the floor next to my desk (which I’ll explain in another post).

I can reach all my high-use items with a simple turn of my chair. I have a bookcase next to my desk for my topic books, and the record player/stereo (plus records) is on a shelf right behind me. The point is that when I start working, I don’t have to stop and get up. I also don’t hurt my back or neck reaching because all these items are less than an arms reach away.

My mid-use zone: This zone is stuff I sometimes do need, but the clutter of having it nearby would surely slow me down. My mid-use zone is a bookshelf in another corner of my office, but it used to be in my closet. The only items in my mid-zone currently are extra topic books - books I sometimes use, but not every day, and CDs. I usually listen to vinyl, but sometimes want a CD.

My low-use zone: These are items stored in a file cabinet, that I almost never use like blogging, and other project contracts, home files related to warranties and bills, big mailing envelopes, taxes, paper invoices, and copies of my published work. All of this is important for my work and home, but why have it in my way if I barely use it.

A major problem I see when I take a look at people’s desks or home office spaces is that they think they need to see everything in plain view. Not true. My file cabinet isn’t even in my office, I keep it in the hallway. A lot of people I know do something like this when desk and office organizing:

1. Gather anything and everything office related.
2. Lay it out all over the office area to get a good look.
3. Attempt to fit all of it into that little area where they actually sit and work - usually the desk itself and all the desk’s shelves.

NO! Not every item you’ll ever possibly use belongs in your work area. If you don’t use an item daily, or at least three times a week, it doesn’t belong in the immediate area. It’s guaranteed to create clutter and slow you down.

Now, if you have a job that changes a lot (like me) then you may have some items that you use frequently one week, and then not at all the next. Later I’ll tell you what I do with those items.

How is your office or desk area zoned?

[Cartoon by Dave Walker]