Piece 1: Have an "in" tray for items that need quick attention or to be sorted. Train your co-workers to know that is the place to put mail or new items.
Piece 2: Have an "out" tray for items that need to be delivered to other parts of the office. Pick these up on your way out the door.
Piece 3: Get a stand and upright folders to hold items needed for regular tasks, such as data entry, filing, shredding, posting, a project in process, etc. Choose attractive folders as you will be looking at them a lot. You may want to color code them if colors match particular tasks or urgencies.
By keeping these items separate but visible, you can quickly grab something to do next without it becoming too overwhelming, and can batch tasks together.
I already have this plan in place at my part time job. (See the photo.) Now I may need to implement it at my home office! (I'm missing the upright folders part, but truthfully, work through my in-box pretty quickly so may not need the folders at home.)
How do you keep your desktop organized?
