The Secret of the Maximum-Efficiency Desk

  my office today 
  Originally uploaded by robinhamman.

The first installment of KG's series on productivity for creative types is hot off the presses, and as for that mysterious guest blogger of hers...it's me!

Yup, KG was kind enough to ask me to write some posts addressing some questions her readers had brought up regarding organization and creativity.

Traditionally, organization and creativity haven't been thought to go together because creativity is all about freedom, and organization is about setting limits.

I personally think that in order to be optimally creative and not "lose" ideas, you need to have some sort of organization for your creative process. And thus the topic of this series.

Today we're kicking things off with a post called "The Maximum Efficiency Desk".

To tell you the truth, the photo in this post is almost exactly what my desk looks like.

Really, I just have a laptop and a cup of coffee on mine, and my "desk" is small and more like a tray table. On a coffee table in front of my desk I have my organizer/day planner and a notebook where I keep my lists.

Here are my lists:

     *A calendar--to house my to-do items that have a specific date and time
    * Next Actions--basically a to-do list without specific dates and times
    * Someday/Maybe--stuff I'd like to do someday eventually
    * Waiting For--things that need input from other people before I proceed

I also talk about a 10 step plan for keeping your desk clean and tidy which I found over at LifeClever:

   1. Use a system to manage paper
   2. Banish Post-It Notes
   3. Trash those printouts
   4. Keep blank file folders and a label marker at your desk
   5. Ritualize your status reviews
   6. Throw away pens
   7. Say no to conference/office freebies
   8. Get books away from your desk (that you're not using)
   9. Eat away from your desk
  10. Limit photo frames at your desk to 3 or less

Oh, and that's not all...check out the full post over at KG's blog: The Maximum-Efficiency Desk

Comments

[Gavin Heaton]

Oh no ... now I need a whole new desk as well as a new attitude? Congrats on the guest post ... will check it out!