Joy at Work

Organize your workspace

Instructions

Tidy your space in a specific order.
Focus on tidying your desk, cubicle, or personal office and declutter in a specific order. Start with the simpler things, then go to the more difficult ones. You could also start with unimportant things and then move on to more important ones. For example, decluttering and tidying your books first, then papers, komono (miscellaneous stuff), and finally, your sentimental items.
Work on one category of things at a time.
Start by categorizing your things and putting them in one place. Make sure to focus on organizing one category at a time.
Organize and declutter your books and papers.
Only keep the books that bring you joy and discard those that aren’t. Then, put all your papers in one place and read each to determine what to keep. Once done, sort your papers into three categories: saved because they’re pending, saved because they’re required, and saved because you want to. Finally, organize and store the documents in your cabinets' first and second loads or scan and save them digitally. Throw away the other papers.
Organize and declutter ‘komono’ items.
Komono items are the miscellaneous things you use at work—for example, office supplies. Start by putting all the related things into subcategories and then decide what to keep and discard from there.
Organize and declutter sentimental things.
Start by putting all of the items in one place. Then, take each one in your hands and ask yourself, "Will I be happy if I keep this on my desk?" If it used to help you with your work, but you no longer need it, discard it with gratitude. Choose a specific area where you can store a few sentimental items. You may also take a picture of sentimental things before discarding them.