Productivity Starts with a Clear Mind – and a Clear Desk

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

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