Spring cleaning for your desk

I can’t remember when and where I first came across the „FABulous“ concept of cleaning up your desk, but I’ve tried and tested it and I rather like it so I thought I’d share it. You might want to try it, too, if your desk is full of paper or you can’t seem to find anything amongst the clutter.

First, start with making two piles: one for paper and one for other stuff.

Look at the paper pile first and make three piles out of this, using this FABulous method:
• File
• Action
• Bin
Take the first piece of paper and decide within 30 seconds whether it should be filed, whether you need to take some action or whether you can throw it away. If you can’t decide within 30 seconds, make another pile for „undecided“ and look at that later.

Now you’ve got three piles of paper. What to do next?

Find a free slot in your calendar and book it to use the time to file everything from the „file pile“.
Then take the „action pile“ and write a quick checklist containing everything that needs to be done with those papers.
Your last step is that you shredder or throw away all paper from the „bin pile“.

The paper you’ve put on the „undecided pile“ shouldn’t sit there for too long. If after 8 to 12 weeks you find you haven’t needed anything from the pile, well, it’s clear where it goes.

For all the stuff from your desk, you can also take some time to see whether you still need it.
Take each item, hold it in your hand, and ask yourself: „Do I need it? Do I use it? Do I like it?“
All items that get a „yes“ for one of the questions, you should keep. All others you can give or throw away.

Happy spring cleaning!

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