During his initial description of the collecting process, David Allen talks about taking everything off of (and, in some cases, out of) your desk and plopping it into your in-basket for processing (whether it will ultimately translate into a task/project notwithstanding). Having a desk at home (which I share with my wife) and a desk at the office (all mine), I’ve come to realize just how great an impact the state of your work area can have on productivity. Much like you can tell a lot about a man by his shoes, you can tell quite a bit about a person’s mental state by looking at their work area.
With regards to my co-desk at home, I’ve taken to adding a quick cleaning of the desk to my weekly review. My wife (not a GTDer – yet) has a few small stacks of paper/letters/bills/etc. that she keeps in the corner of the desk, as well as a few odds and ends that may get left out over the course of the week. This isn’t really a problem, per se, but I’m somewhat anal about the state of my work area. Which leads me to my work desk…
Now, I’d like to tell you that I run a tight ship while I’m at work, but that wouldn’t be entirely accurate. I’ve got my in-basket, index cards, paper clips, etc. – all the essentials. The problem is the right-most side of the area (that I can’t see while facing my computer). That tends to become the “toss it over my shoulder and deal with it later” area. Clearly, this won’t do. A personal goal I’ve set for myself is to make a thorough desk-cleaning party of my review at work (I’ll explain why I do two reviews some other time – suffice it to say, it’s the best method I’ve come up with thus far).
I know I’m not saying anything new here, but I look at keeping a clean desk in much the same way I look at keeping a clean head – maintenance is required 
Technorati Tags: gtd, productivity, work, desks, clarity
Written by Brett Kelly
GTD, Productivity, The Office