Do you suffer from clutter?

I don’t know about you but I do have a tendency to hoard things and this ultimately leads to clutter. I try and tell myself that my office is an organised mess and that I absolutely know where EVERYTHING is. You and I both know that I am lying to myself – telling myself this to make myself feel better.

As an Event Designer/Planner/Wedding Planner, organisation is a key element of what we do. However, the problem I always face is that when I am feeling creative everything else goes by the wayside. Things get flung everywhere, my desk looks like a bomb has hit it and I can barely put my foot on the floor without standing on something. It is the lesser of two evils. Without the mess I don’t seem to be able to be creative and if I’m not creative I’m not doing my job. I like to get creative at least once a week. This is my own personal indulgence that makes sure I don’t get stale. I brainstorm with myself, pull out my whiteboards (yes I have 3), dig out all my favourite clippings I have ripped from recent magazines, pull out my notebook, my dictaphone and my camera and start to get down and creative. Most of you will be saying well where is the problem in that? The problem my dear readers is CLUTTER. The clutter I create when I get creative is just ridiculous.

Now I hate cleaning and tidying as much as the next person, I am useless at it and need some inspiration to get me going. A little while ago I came across a fabulous blog called Kit & Kaboodle – Professional Organisers – it saved my life!  They suggested a fabulous thing called a ‘Desk Dump’. What it entails is completely clearing your desk – not just taking off the offending items, but actually taking everything off your desk (including your computer/laptop and all the wires) and starting again. Genius! I found $20, an earring I thought had gone forever and my daughter’s Ipod that I had ratted her out about loosing only a few days earlier. Not only did I find these items, but my desk was no longer sticky where I inevitably spill coffee, red wine and salad cream from hours spent at my desk. That is just the start of a Desk Dump. There is more to it than that and if you want to know more I suggest you check out the blog.

Why am I telling you this? Well it is a well known fact office clutter can have a huge effect on your productivity and in a climate where the economy isn’t great and you might be really having to work hard to win your next contract or get your next client, you want to be firing on all cylinders and not putting yourself at the back of the queue before you’ve even started.

Have a great weekend and maybe slot in some time to do a good Desk Dump!