Spring 2026 – Simplify Your Office – Physical or Virtual

Our lives are complicated enough without a cluttered or complicated office (real or virtual) adding to the overwhelm. And when our workspaces are a mess, we often can’t see how or when we have reached our goals. But simplifying is like cleaning your house – you’re never really finished. Keeping up with filing, messages, emails and the like is often the first step on the path of simplifying.

Here are my tips on eliminating the unnecessary to simplify your work life.

Keep It Simple: Each day, spend about 10 minutes keeping the office space well organized. Use that toss, file, act method to throw away things you don’t need at the end of the day and reorganize your desk before you quit working. Create a “To Do list” at the end of each day. When you walk into your office the next morning, you’ll have a handy reminder list of things to work on.

Toss/File/Act: Organization starts with paper, but this advice holds for emails and electronic files, too. Use the toss, file, or act mantra whenever you pick up a piece of paper or file. Start first with the paper piles and then any paper that enters your office after you get it organized. Once you get the piles of papers under control, keep them under control!

At Close Range: To organize your physical desk or computer desktop, think about what you use on a daily basis and keep those things within close reach. What do you grab often? Warning – don’t keep too much stuff on your desk, or you won’t have room to move and work.

Out of Sight: The quickest way to focus on a big project is to clear away the junk around you. Move the papers, mugs, notes, and other distractions from your workspace. Anything you don’t need for the project, get it out of your line of sight. For electronic files, create an Archive folder and put files and folders there that you haven’t accessed in a year. You’ll still be able to access them, but they won’t be cluttering your menus.

Avoid Extra Supplies: Do not store extra supplies in or around your working area. Store those pens, sticky notes and other extra supplies in a cabinet, drawers or storeroom.

Social Networks: Social media is either one of the greatest inventions ever, or the bane of our existence. I have made a rule to check my socials ONCE in the morning while I’m drinking my coffee, around 6 am. I might then check in after work when I’m relaxing at home. Checking them throughout the day can be a real time suck, so don’t give in to the temptation. Or set a timer to prevent yourself from going down a rabbit hole, spending more time that you intended doomscrolling. Notice how much you get accomplished at work when you give yourself clear cut boundaries.

Go Paperless: I know this can be a huge task, especially for the generations that grew up without computers. Once you commit to going paperless, though, it can really free up your physical desk and desktop. Synching your phone with your email, Teams/Zoom or other calendars also boosts efficiency.

Reading Material: If you collect articles you want to read from magazines and newspapers, make a folder marked “Reading.” Access that folder when waiting for appointments, on airplanes, or eating lunch alone. You’ll catch up with that backlog of TL/DR in no time. (This advice holds true whether you’re ripping pages out of magazines or saving electronic links.)

Add Plants: A few fresh indoor plants in your office helps control clutter by simply taking up space that you now can’t use for piles. As a bonus they make your office a welcoming place to work and improve air quality.

Give Yourself A Break: Some days we just don’t have the wherewithal to accomplish everything, or even anything. Don’t be afraid to put your work aside and enjoy some time relaxing with friends, family or by yourself. Life awaits you on the other side of risk – sometimes it’s a risk to do nothing and let your energy recharge.

Organizing your physical or virtual office will help you be at your best. So, to increase productivity and keep you on top of your game, use these simple tips to keep your office humming along. Just sayin’.