In addition to organizing your day (see my previous three blog posts) and eliminating stress and a sense of chaos, there is another potential distraction to think about. Your workspace!
To be calm on the inside, you must have calm on the outside. Yes, I am talking about clutter and what it says to others, not necessarily you. Take a look at your workspace from the perspective of someone walking past it. What do they see? And then, how could they interpret it?
How cluttered is your desktop? Are there piles of things on your desk? When you open doors or drawers, do items jump out? How many pictures, children’s drawings, posted notices are on the walls around you? Are they neatly hung? Can you see each one?
All of these can be visual distractions and they can actually compete for your attention. Sometimes they stress us out and we don’t even realize it. You want to be able to focus on the task at hand, so if you find you can’t always focus, or it takes you a long time to get your work done, it just could be some of the extra visual noise in your workspace.
Here are some tips for de-cluttering both your space and, in the process, your mind.
Learn to handle pieces of paper once. Designate a box or tray for all incoming papers. Sort mail or items from this inbox into three categories: immediate, this week, and not immediate. File the not immediate items into a “when I have nothing else to do, I can take another look at this” drawer, or, just toss them in the recycle bin now. If the item is a this week piece of paper, place it in one of your five folders (Monday-Friday folders) to read during your mail block of time. And if the item is immediate, read it today and respond. File everything as soon as you have finished reading or acting on it—and get it off your desk. Leave only what you are presently working on. Eliminate copies of the same thing. Throw out the old and outdated communications, notes, and catalogues. Get rid of unnecessary papers—otherwise they will overtake your space and your peace of mind.
All of this can easily be done electronically as well—as you go through your text messages, emails, etc. Use the same immediate, this week, and not immediate method.
And, for everything else in your office, here is the tried-and-true test. As you look around your work space, take note of your inner reaction. Does your body say, “Ahh…this is so nice,” or do your insides clench? If you get a tightening feeling in your gut, something is wrong. Your body will always be your honest guidance system, so use it!
If you get that tightening feeling while looking at your walls, for example, maybe there is too much in a small space; maybe the painting is askew; maybe your bulletin board is overloaded; maybe the bright orange wall needs a softer, calming color.
The point is to feel especially calm, quite satisfied, and happy to be in your office. And if anything gets in the way of these feelings, just make some changes. This is your space, so make it work for you.
For more tips, techniques and how-tos that worked for me for forty years, take a look at Beginning to End:The Life Cycle of a Child Care Center—A Director’s Story, at amazon.com books.
