3 Keys Thursday: 3 Reasons for Clearing off My Desk at the End of the Day

LUM3N via Pixabay

For most of my professional life, I have fallen short of membership in the clean desk club. A variety of factors, not the least of which is my I need to see it personal style, led me to adopt piles as the norm, leaving them stacked on my desk at the end of a (good) day. At the end of a not-so-good day? Piles not only littered the desktop, but spilled over into one another, with confidential information tucked away and the next day's "starting point" on top of whatever pile of information was front and center.

Sometime last spring, after my home office and my work office became one and the same, I did a desk re-vamp. My desk, with its personal touches and clear workspace, looked so good at the end of that day that I determined to end each day with a clear work area. 

And a new habit was born. 

Lately, I've gotten lazy/busy (or busy/lazy -- not sure which it is) and I've let things go a little. While my desk bears no resemblance to the mayhem that used to be the norm, I've also fallen short of a clear workspace several times in the last few weeks. I'm not sure which bothered me more -- the encroaching papers or the fact that I'd broken a habit that had been difficult (and that's an understatement!) to cultivate, but I knew it was time to rejoin the club.

Here are three reasons why being a member of the clean desk club matters to me. 

A clear workspace looks nice. Quite honestly, that was the main reason I decided to make this a habit. For me, clear space is the gold standard of organization and a clear desk meets that standard.

A clear workspace gives me a sense of accomplishment. Tying up loose ends and putting everything back where it belongs at the end of the day signals just that -- the end off the day -- and creates closure. In retrospect, I hadn't been closing out my days at all -- just relocating my laptop and to-do list to another spot in the house to continue the day's work in the same room as my family -- and my workspace was a casualty of burning the candle at both ends. 

A clear workspace reduces anxiety. I'd forgotten what facing a fully loaded desk in the morning feels like. Let's just say I don't recommend it. Once I rejoined the clean desk club, walking into my office each morning felt less daunting, despite the length of the day's to-do list.

During the semester, it's impossible (for me, anyway) not to have piles. They just can't live on my desk unless I'm actively working on them. In order to think and plan and tackle the to-do list in as peaceful a way as possible, I need my best (organizational) friend by my side.

Clear space.