Strategies to reduce “desk Stress.".

According to a study published by the American Management Association, the average employee has 37 hours of unfinished work on his or her desk. Nearly everyone has at one time walked into their office and declared, “Today I am going to organize this mess.." If you can relate to that statement, here are five tips to make your desk a resource instead of a disaster:

1) Start with today’s mail.

Today’s mail is tomorrow’s pile, so when you’re ready to take control of your desk and your life, start with your desktop. Clutter is Postponed Decisions®. There are only three decisions you can make about any piece of paper: The File, Act, or Toss System™. File for papers you’re not sure you’ll need, but don’t want to risk throwing away. Act for papers where “the ball’s in your court." – whether it’s a bill to pay or a project to implement. And of course, Toss (recycle, or shred) speaks for itself!

2) Set up a SYSTEM (Saving You Space Time Energy Money)™.

While making decisions is essential, it isn’t enough. You have to have a way to implement your decisions. I normally dislike acronyms because they seem so contrived, but here’s one I love, SYSTEM: Saving You Space Time Energy Money™. To make your desk a "productive environment," we recommend what we call The Magic 6™:

1) Desktop Trays: In/Out/File

2) Wastebasket/Recycle/Shred

3) Calendar/Planner

4) Contact Management System

5) Action Files

6) Reference Files

3) Eliminate the unnecessary.

Research shows that 80 percent of what we keep we never use. So how do you decide what 20 percent you will need?

Continually practice The Art of Wastebasketry™. For each piece of paper, ask these questions:

Does this require action?

Would it be difficult to get again?

Is it recent enough to be useful?

Are there any tax or legal implications?

If the answer to all those questions is “No,." then ask:

“What’s the worst thing that could happen if I didn’t have this piece of paper?."

If you can live with the results of your answer, toss it, shred it, recycle it, or give it to someone else who can use it.

4) Create a SYSTEM to manage your “to do’s." effectively.

Is your desk covered with sticky notes? Divide all your “to do’s." into two major categories: 1) tasks to do at a specific time, such as filing a quarterly report and 2) tasks for which you have not established a deadline.

Enter the tasks to complete on a specific day in your calendar system. Enter the remaining ones in a separate place, such as a section of your calendar, in a separate notebook, or a computer file or app.

Creative people always have more ideas than the physical body can carry out, so purge your list regularly by asking, “Is this task essential to accomplish my work or enjoy my life?."

5) Create a filing system that works.

If you have a filing system that isn’t working, don’t fix it—start over, and create what we call a “Finding SYSTEM™.." Keep the old filing system, and as you use information from it, merge it into the new Finding SYSTEM™. Eventually, the two systems will become one, or the old one will become old enough that you’ll feel comfortable throwing it away or at least putting it in a less accessible space.

For a Finding SYSTEM™, divide all files into two major types: Action and Reference

Create “Action Files." for current projects and recurring tasks, such as “Data Entry." and “Expense Reimbursement.."

Create “Reference Files." for everything else. It is possible – and often desirable – to have an Action File and a Reference File for the same project. The Action File contains papers you are still using, while the Reference File contains documents which are completed, but you want to keep.

The key to an effective Finding SYSTEM™ is using the power of the computer for cross-referencing and retrieving your physical papers and resources.

Finally, Remember Hemphill’s Principle: If you don’t know you have it, or you can’t find it, it is of no value to you!