You don’t realise it yet, but in the next 2 minutes you’re going to learn how to set up your drawers so you can increase effectiveness and make a huge difference to your productivity.
The most common configuration of office drawers is to have one or two drawers and a file drawer. This can work well. If you have the space, five pullouts and one file drawer is ideal. Today we will focus on the pull out drawers.
Assuming that you have drawers, use them to store your basic office tools such as paper clips, stapler, paper-punch, ruler, spare staples, rubber bands, eraser and pencil sharpener in the top drawer. There are two reasons for this: They’re less likely to walk(!) and having such items on top of your desk (as many do) crowds your working space and makes you feel cluttered.
It takes a fraction of a second to open a drawer (if it’s tidy) and reach for the equipment you need. The spin-off is a lovely feeling of space. I know – I used to have so much gear around the edges of my desk it left only a tiny area in which to work. I constantly wondered why my elbows were always knocking things off the desk! If you do use your top drawer but it looks like a treasure drove or dumping ground, de-clutter it. Most of that stuff can go in the rubbish, be taken home or recycled to the stationery cupboard.
In my next blog you will discover ways to manage your file drawer so that important documents are always close at hand.
