PA and Secretary Community - Deskdemon.com

Do you keep your desk cluttered or clean?  

I keep mine pretty much clean!  I try to keep stacks of papers off the desk.  I do have a printer and a nice plant on my desk, and the phone, a picture of my kids and my Goofy clock that doesn't work but is cute!  On and a tablet of paper at all times to write notes.

My desk is cleanish but look inside the desk drawers and that's a different matter .  

I have a cuddly toy hubby sent to me at work for Valentines Day one year, a selection of fruit and the usual items on my desk.  

Most of the work I undertake is ongoing so document wallets become lever arch files which become archive files which are kept in the cupboard by my desk.

Extremely neat.  I work for a CFO who is a clean nut. He has to know where everything is and has to be clean as he's allergic to dust mites.  Yikes!  He's forever cleaning his own desk and sometimes it's neater than mine.  I try hard to keep up, but when your busy working on a project, next to impossible, but when done for the night, ALWAYS neat.

Diamondlady
Peer Moderator

Typical Virgo - way too neat n tidy!  There is def a myth about a tidy desk making you look like you're not busy, whereas a messy desk looks as if you are up to your wotsits!  Personally I cannot work or live in chaos and must be the most organised person I know.  Anyway it's an easier way to live .... for me anyway!

G

My desk can look a little cluttered during the day just because of the amount of paperwork that passes through my office.  However,  I always make sure that my desk is clear when I leave at night.  There is nothing worse than coming into a mess first thing in the morning.


caroleanne

My desk is fairly tidy.  I keep files and notebooks, map books, files etc on it that I need to have to hand each day, but everything is tidied up at least at the end of the day, and filing done regularly.  My desk drawers would probably pass inspection, too.

I prefer my office to look clean, tidy and attractive. So the furniture is nicely arranged, equipment is clean, files and papers put away regularly and there are plants and flowers as well.  No cuddly stuff, but I do have a "crystal ball" (actually a clear paperweight I commandeered from somewhere, but useful nonetheless) and a decision cube.  The decision cube is thrown like a dice and instructs you to: draft a letter, have a drink, take 40 winks, send a memo, have a business lunch, and, if all else fails, PANIC.

Raindance

My desk is always absolutely clean, my boss's too.  He has a tendancy to leave papers in piles all over, I'll go into his office, file his papers and straighten up the stacks that he actually needs.

Typical Libran here - swings wildly one way and them back the other, so I'm either completely neat as a pin or verging on chaos.  My boss is even worse than me so it's a constant battle - we're a dreadful combination!  But I do make sure my desk is completely clear when I go home, there's nothing worse than coming in to a disaster zone!

I don't do the cuddly stuff either - I've got a crystal ball too (doesn't every PA need one?), and a couple of nice calming pictures to make my office feel more personal.

QB

I am currently working at my boss' desk as we do not have a network here (three guesses as to whom will be setting that up).  I can't wait until I have my own desk with my own computer and my own phone.  At the moment, the desk is the poster child for "Organized Chaos".  There are piles of financials, bank statements, order forms and notes.  I do straighten up the piles of paper before I leave for the night.

Ellen (currently burried under an avalanch of paper products) in TX

My desk is generally tidy, although my desk space is so small that it may seem cluttered just because of the amount of stuff in such a small space.  I have lots of bins to keep things organized.  sometimes during the day it gets real messy (a bad habit I've just acquired over the last few years - am trying to kick it!).  I almost always tidy everything before leaving at night.  Every once in a while after a particularly hellish day I just walk out, leaving the mess as is, and tackle it in the morning when I'm fresh!

I normally keep my desk clean and non-cluttered, but depending on the flow of work this is not always possible.  And cutting out 3-5 minutes early is not an option, just to clean the desk and put things away... I'm often here late, trying to meet suspenses and then needing to rush out to pick up the kids from daycare before they close.  (And most of the time, these late nights are on me, no comp time, no overtime..but that's another issue.)  And these will come on for a week or 2 at a time.  When I do get down-time, I'll get my desk cleaned back up, files filed appropriately, notes and other bits of paper transferred or destroyed, as appropriate, normally just in time for the next 'emergency' to hit and require all of my time and attention.  Since I'm not in a traditional "Admin" role, my duties and suspenses are a bit different, so habits that I aquired as an admin aren't helping a lot on the day-to-day issues, but overall have helped me become known to my co-workers and supervisor as meticulously organized.  Just means my boss thinks she should give me more work to do, so not always the best thing.

CountriGal
Peer Moderator

I remember many years ago a co worker ALWAYS had a cluttered desk.  She seriously thought if she kept it off her desk it she would appear not busy.  To her a clean desk meant she didnt have enough work to do, papers stacks all over meant people could see she had alot of work.  I remember when something was lost we would look behind the desk in between the wall.

When I used to work in a busy office I used to keep my desk fairly clear and would tidy up at the end of the day. Now I work in my home office and there isn't a defined end to my day, so my desk can sometimes get a bit chaotic. No cute toys or crystal balls here - no room with all my equipment I'm afraid.

Edited by diamondlady on 18/01/06 01:40 PM.

It tends to vary from "mildly busy" to "is there actually a Catsmeat behind all those papers?" particularly around course time.  It's horrendous at the moment, but come Monday I should have some free time to tidy up!

There was an article on DD last year about how untidiness at work may be holding you back when it comes to your appraisal.  Companies across the UK were asked whether they take the state of employees' desks into consideration as an indicator of wider organisational skills during appraisals.

If you work in London or the SW make sure your desk is pristine....  over half of bosses take the state of your desk into consideration!

http://www.deskdemon.com/pages/uk/career/wantpromotion

My desk is usually tidy.  I have to have it cleared off before I leave at 5:00.  I cannot stand to come in to a messy desk.  I have a crescent desk which is out in the open at the front of the offices.  It looks almost like a bar - therefore EVERYONE!  can see what's on it.  I have a lot of stand up file sorters pushed into the corner and up against the back.  One is for travel, one is for information and one is a working "file".  But I do have pictures up of my daughter and the usually desk supplies I leave out all the time.

***((***Carol***))***

I keep my desk tidy, as I hate having papers & files everywhere.
But on the way back to work after the holidays, I am always thinking about the mess that I will be finding.

Contrary to me, my boss likes having a lot of mess everywhere.... I even have to book a meeting room for visitors as his round table, supposed to be used for meetings, is full of heaps of papers, samples, and so on.
One day, I suggested to clear his office. No, he replied, adding I reconcognize it's a mess but I always find what I am looking for.  So he said, but it isn't right....

So, when the Pisa tower falls from his 'in-tray', I've decided not to pick it up anymore !!

At home, my desk is total chaos most of the time.  My new job I'm learning is a constant flow of papers coming and going at all times, so though I'm prone over the last few years to letting papers pile up, I'm learning to get myself back in the organized habit, and keeping everything in folders and filers, to keep it all straight!  My boss I don' t think has seen the top of his desk in years...one funny thing I noticed this week (just started this job on Tuesday) - when he has a meeting, or needs to take something home, he lays the stacks or his binder in his doorway, so he has to walk over it when he leaves, that way he won't forget it.  He really keeps things going pretty smoothly, though, I'm surprised, because his desk looks so bad, but he is always on top of everything, emails, deadlines, etc., so I guess his "organized mess" system works for him.  He did say that would be one of my new projects was to help him organize his desk....  don't know when you would have time, though, this office has been hopping all week, and sounds like next week will be crazy too!  

bc13

I find it easier to focus if I just have one project on my desk at a time, so I use a vinyl organizer with ID tabs to show all my open projects.  I take each set of paperwork out of the section as needed, and the desk stays clear of piles that way.  

I have very little extra room on my desk, because the computer and printer and phone take up a lot of space, so if papers aren't kept in order either in my project file or in desk files, I feel overwhelmed.


Movinonup

My desk is fairly neat. I have stuff around the edges of it (I'm in a cubicle) but the surfaces nearest me are reasonably free of stuff and the things around the edges are in contained (paper trays, vertical sorter, dishes for clips/clamps, etc. But occasionally I do just walk out and leave the mess under a paperweight. Most evenings I try to clean up so I have a neat desk to start the day.

I also Windex the desk occasionally and I have a big duster I bought  for the office because the cleaning crew rarely dusts, especially monitors etc. and I can't stand looking at the dust.

Tidy desk.  I always make sure my filing is up to date (must mean I don't have enough work to do!)