Does your work space work for you?

What’s on your desk right now?  Do you operate a ‘clear desk’ policy where everything is put away each night,  do you keep your latest project files ready to work on or is there so much paper and post-it notes that you can’t actually see your desk underneath it all?

One of the reasons I’m asking is that my desk has recently been invaded!  I bought a new ergonomic keyboard to use with my laptop and a platform to raise the laptop screen to my eye level.  While all this is great for more comfortable computer work my clear desk space has really shrunk!

Another reason I’m asking about your desk space is because it tells a lot about how you work.  A chaotic desk is often a sign that you’re trying to work on too many projects at once – or it could be you’re having trouble prioritising because everything seems to be equally urgent.

A lesson I learned from time management coach Mark Forster in his excellent book Do it Tomorrow and Other Secrets of Time Management, is to gather all the ‘work in progress’ files together and ‘declare a backlog’.  Don’t panic, you’re not forgetting about the work, just placing it out of sight to give yourself some breathing space.

If you now regard the backlog as a project, the next step is to do something on it first thing every day.  That means before you check your emails or make any phone calls! 

You’ve probably guessed that this has the effect of making the whole backlog into your number 1 priority.  And by taking action on it every day you’ll find it gets finished more quickly than if you had left it covering your desk.