Whether you work in a company, work remotely from home, or have a home office, it is essential to keep your workspace in order and free of distractions.

Here are my top 6 tips in maintaining your workspace:

1) Keep frequent items on desk, infrequent items away

Things you need on a daily basis like stationary, notebooks, diaries, phones, etc should be in front of you. Keeping in mind that things like pens should be in limited quantities. There is no need for 10 pencils or 15 blue pens stacked in your pen holder! Check the ones that are working, store them as inventory, and keep one or two pens available at your reach.

2. Put items on your desk in containers

 To avoid items getting scattered, put all similar items together in a container. Example: Pens in pen holder, paperclips in little jars, mail-in paper trays, etc.

3. Mugs/cups/plates

I prefer not eating at all on your desk, but I know that sometimes you have to. To avoid crumbs, keep a tray under your plate or food. Big rule here is; when you are done with mugs/cups/plates, take them to the kitchen immediately! It’s not nice to find your mug the next day with coffee stains! That itself demotivates you!

4. Put a board up!

Hanging a board for timetables, reminders, etc is an effective way to visually see your notes. If you prefer to go green, keeping your notes electronically on your phone, tablet or even your desktop is a good idea as well.

5. No personal/sentimental items

Photos of your kids, cards, souvenirs or any personal items are a distraction to your focus and working time. Try to avoid them as much as possible.

6. Keep current Paperwork only

 It is extremely important to keep away from piling lots of paperwork on your desk. Paper clutter will avoid you to work and anxiety will build up. Make three containers/trays for paperwork: One for unread/to do (this must not be ON your desk), one for pending/current paperwork (this should be on the desk), and one for archiving/filing (also must not be on desk). Taking into consideration that when these containers/trays are full, they must be emptied immediately.