Sometimes our desks can get a bit out of control and then sometimes our desks can begin to take over our workplace. David Allen, bestselling author of Getting Things Done, talks about keeping your desk in order. This is where I find our inspiration for this post. Our desk can slowly creep their way towards an unruly mess, it starts with a stack a papers, some post-it notes, stack of folders, coffee cup, cup from lunch yesterday; to say the least it’s easy for our desks to get carried away.

So how do we keep our workspace clean without pushing everything into the trash can? David Allen talks about basically breaking down what is in your workspace into two types of materials: what is permanent and what is in transit or incomplete. When you can sort these type of items appropriately you’ll begin to see that not only will your desk stay organized but your productivity will increase. Permanent items are a short list: supplies, reference material, decoration, and equipment. The in transit or incomplete information are items that need to be processed and action reminders.

Your email and physical inbox should be easily processable, you can process these items while your on the phone or have a few minutes between clients. If it’s not actionable then it should be made into an action reminder on a calendar or in a project to be dealt with at a later date. This concept seems rather simple and obvious but there is real productive power in this methodology to keeping not only your email organized but also your desk.

When you can harness the true power of productivity you’ll find that you no longer search for missing papers or misplaced notes. Having a workspace that is in control gives you greater control over your business. And that means more money.

Again here are a few tips to remember:

• Keep current items only nearby
• Have an easy filing system
• Remember to do something with what’s “in-transit” and “incomplete”
• Stay with it and stick to the system