How to Restore Order to a Desk

Papers accumulate upon a desk because each represents a decision which appeared, at the moment of arrival, capable of waiting until later. A quarter of an hour may be insufficient to decide them all, but it is ample time in which to separate the present business from the old envelopes, exhausted pens, and cables whose employment nobody can now recall.

Method

Remove cups, plates, clothing, and anything whose home is plainly elsewhere. Dispose of rubbish and collect loose notes into a single pile. Wipe the uncovered surface before the opportunity closes again.

Sort the papers into three groups: action, reference, and disposal. Put papers requiring action in one tray, with the urgent item uppermost. File reference papers and shred or recycle the rest.

Return the implements used each day: pen, pencil, notebook, spectacles, and perhaps a ruler. Lesser stationery belongs in a drawer. Test unidentified cables against the devices presently owned. Label the survivors at both ends and release the rest from service.

Leave enough open surface for the next piece of work. Write down the first action required by the tray. A tidy pile can still be a delay.

Common errors

Putting the entire accumulation into a drawer clears the surface at the expense of ever finding anything again. Equally troublesome is the elaborate organiser, which introduces a set of small categories that must themselves be maintained. Test the pens before returning them: sentiment is wasted upon the six dry examples which have lived in the mug since last winter.