When I was a lab manager one of my big struggles was keeping the lab tidy, or more particularly making sure other people kept the lab tidy. There is a law of entropy that uniquely applies to ensure that no laboratory will ever stay tidy without eternal vigilance. I was less concerned about my desk, but the habit seeped across by osmosis and I became an advocate of tidy desks as well. Experience has convinced me that you can do your most productive work if where you are working is uncluttered. This even applies to desktops on computers. I always appreciate a programme with a full screen view.
My rules for keeping my desk tidy are -
- Deal with stuff when it arrives wherever possible.
- Don't have an in-tray. I use a WIP (Work In Progress) File to keep documents I need to work with in. It is admittedly the biggest file available in the stationary shop - but its size is nonetheless finite.
- Keep the desk area around the computer clear.
- Schedule tidy up sessions and black bag days when the objective is to fill a black bag with clutter.
To be honest I have a struggle with all these things, largely because they take absolutely no skill, thought or energy. Consequently I feel I ought to only do them when I am too tired to do anything else. While it does make sense to schedule them late in the day when they don't interfere with things that seem more important in the short run, ignoring them altogether is a big mistake.
The extra productivity you get from investing time in tidiness is well worth the effort.
Photo credit: razumny via photopin cc
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