Cluttered or Clean Desk?

[carolmmarch]

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***))***

[mfrance]

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 !!

[bc13]

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

[movinonup]

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

[dettu]

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.

[boober]

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