i introduce them to my japanese reader.

Actually, we japanese people finished three day off. so, it will be a great help for us.

I wipe down my desk area usually at least once a week. If there are stains (I think people come along and put their sticky mugs on my desk when I’m gone for the day) or if I drop crumbs while eating, I’ll do a quick wipe down then. Most of my coworkers tend to be the “visual stacker” type that has piles of paperwork everywhere (so they don’t have any desk space to wipe down), and when they see me wiping my desk, they’ll ask me to do theirs too. (I tell them to clean up first, though, which they don’t, so I don’t wipe their desks!).

I’ve just started to keep a steno notebook on my desk to jot down tasks and messages as they come in. I used to write them either on a notepad (one of those “while you were away” pads) or on a post-it (though I never stick post-its on my monitor), but I think the notebook is really useful because I can go back and look at previous days. Otherwise, I may have already tossed the post-it after I completed the task, or the loose note might be stuck in a folder somewhere.

I wish I could say I do this before every absence but I try.

I have a few other brainless tasks:
- Update contact lists. This is a two-fer because it also clears out business cards (they go electronic or to my physical card file) as well.
- Go through my email “sent” file. This is only for when I’m really wiped out or really bored.
- Since most email is threaded, get rid of earlier messages that are already contained in later emails.

I work as an editor at a daily newspaper, so a lot of my job is e-mail processing – sending things to various others to do. This gives me the good feeling of inbox zero and a specific plan of attack; I’ll then work through each folder and delete the folder as I empty it.

This does break the “touch it once” rule, but in my case, it helps.

I’ve got another idea – Rearrange It. Is your desk, tools, files, supplies, etc. arranged in a way in which you can be efficient throughout the day? Does everything around you flow like it should? Are you constantly getting up to get things that are out of reach while having things around you within reach that you rarely even need? Maybe a little rearranging can make the day/project/job run more smoothly and efficiently.

Great post today!

Thank you!

I try to do all these things BEFORE a vacation day so that when I come back everything is still (hopefully) clean and uncluttered.

I’d add:
6. Discard it. With fresh, post-holiday eyes, look for anything on your desk, in your in-tray or around your office that you don’t use or need. It’ll feel great to get rid of the clutter!

Ruth

Also, every now and then I’ll have something that I want to get rid of, and I think “(pick a friend) would want this”. If you have anything like that laying around, either get it to the friend in question immediately or donate it to your favorite local thrift store.

Clutter is bad enough when it’s our own – it’s even worse when it belongs to somebody else!