Clean Desk, Clear Mind
Image by Zsuzsanna Kilián at stock.xchng.
I like simple. I live in a simple apartment with simple furniture (mostly from IKEA). I drive a simple car (Elmer, the green Toyota Echo, who does not even have power locks). I eat simple food (like oatmeal and fruit). I wear simple clothes (no new purchases this year!).
At work, I have a simple, clean desk.
The only items on my desk are:
- Two monitors (If you don’t have two monitors, get a second one. It will save you so much time!)
- A docking station for my laptop.
- An ergonomic keyboard.
- A mouse and mousepad.
- A cozy desk lamp.
- An inbox for paper.
- My pink Kleen Kanteen water bottle.
- The Product Manager’s Desk Reference (review to come soon!).
That’s it. No photos, trinkets, gadgets, or other non-essential items. I keep office supplies neatly organized in drawers so they are readily available, but not in the way.
My clean desk allows me to clear my mind and focus on the task at hand.
Give your desk a chance to do the same for you…
I love your site. What great simple ideas. Sometime I think I have to take on so much. I like your approach and common sense wisdom. Good job!
Welcome and thanks for the kind words.
I *love* this post! This reminds me of 2 things:
1) a pad of retro-styled pink post-it notes with the caption “I dreamed my whole desk was clean” (sound familiar?)
2) a post about a couple who got rid of all but about 150 discrete possessions before their move to Australia:
http://manvsdebt.com/how-much-crap-do-we-really-need-a-list-of-our-possessions/
You’re my inspiration!
This is a great post.
In addition to keeping the desk clean, I like to keep the computer task bar “simple” as well. Keep open applications, spreadsheets, documents, et al only when actively using them — the others could remain closed. This will open up a lot of space in our mind.
Would like to hear from you!
Regards,
Passionate PM
Totally agree! It’s just as important to keep your virtual desk clean and free of distractions. I may have to do another post on this…