You ever heard this quote from Albert Einstein? “If a cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind, of what, then, is an empty desk a sign?” Clear your desk be more productive seems to belie that quote, but it had us wondering, “Do you have a cluttered mnd?” Are you leaving thoughts on the “table” because they are running around, unfettered, through your brain?
How many thoughts, half-formulated ideas, plans and tasks do you have cluttering up your brain? With these thoughts fluttering around, how is that impacting your ability to formulate new plans and thoughts? Do new thoughts go unexplored because you’re spending too much time and brain power and mental energy on those that you haven’t taken the time to corral?
How can you clear the clutter — in your mind and on your desk — to be more productive?
Clear Your Desk Be More Productive
- Write your tasks and thoughts down. Whether you use paper or electronic means, when you remove the clutter you are clearing your mind and desk to allow new thoughts and ideas in.
- Don’t rely on your memory for your daily to-dos or your larger life goals.
- An organized workspace (and mind) helps you get items done. The time you save looking for something is time you can be productive.
- Take a physical break to clear the clutter. Taking a short walk or going up and down a few flights of stairs is like hitting the refresh button on your internal computer.
- Write your to do list for the following day before you leave the office at the end of a work day. When you do this you give yourself a jump start on the following day and you also help prevent the middle of the night freak outs about something you’d forgotten to do or write down.
Clear your mind of mental clutter and you can be more productive. Do you have a clear cut plan for clearing your mental and physical clutter? Has it helped you get more done?