By Dave Ulacia

To help you get organized in 2010, we posted a GO Poll to see where you’d like help with organization. Your response? The office.

A clean office tells people you’re in control. Better than that, it helps you feel in control of your surroundings and helps reduce stress at work.

Organize by Priority, Nearest to Farthest
Remember, the most important thing in your office is you. Everything else in your office should be organized in concentric circles around you in order of priority. The things you access most should be closest to you. Those things you access least can be farther away. You should be able to access everything you need with minimal effort.

Keep Your Supplies on Your Dominant Side
If you’re right handed you’ll tend to turn to your right to access items you need. Don’t fight it. Set up your office with your supplies on the right of your computer. Your file organizer, inbox, planner, and phone should be easy to access with your dominant hand.

Have Only What You Need Out
Your desktop file organizer should only have the folders you will need on a given day. All other folders should remain in the file drawer. Too many items will fill your workspace.

Use Only One Set of Note Pads
If you have three note pads with different information in each and sticky notes all over your monitor, you’re bound to lose something important. Keep all your notes and important information in one place. This is what your planner was designed for. Keep it near your computer where you can see it and access it easily.

Sort Your Projects by Color
Organize your project folders by color, so whether in your drawer or on your desk, you know exactly what they are. And you’ll find what you’re looking for in a glance.

Keep Everything in Its Place
You should expect your desk to become cluttered during the course of the day. But at the end of the day, make sure your inbox is empty and your desk is clean, so you can start fresh in the morning. This is much easier if you return items to their place after each use.

How do you get there from where you are?
Having only what you are currently working on out at any one time is a challenge. This implies you have a place—other than your desktop—for all those things you aren’t working on. Color-coding takes your organization to a new level and makes it easy to quickly match the items you are working on with the respective color folder in the drawer. At first, that may feel like an unattainable goal. We promise, it isn’t.

So how do you go from the person buried under piles and stacks to the person who is truly organized? First suggestion, don't try to do it all at once. Start with one section of your office such as your drawers. When that section is organized, move on to the next battlefront. Here are a few things to consider as you go:

Get the right desk. A desk that is too small makes it hard to work efficiently and keep the basic office tools at hand. A desk that is too large turns into a clutter magnet. Your desktop should provide enough room to work without bumping into things.

Desk Drawers can turn into clutter buckets really fast. Divide your drawers with boxes, containers, and other organizers to make them make sense.

In and Out boxes are a must. They will give you a visual reminder of what you need to accomplish each day. And since most of the things you staple end up in one of these boxes, you may as well keep your stapler near them, rather than in a drawer.

Keep at it
Evaluating, categorizing, and organizing items can be a tedious process, but keep at it. Even if you start feeling overwhelmed. Once you’ve got your system in place, it will be much less work to keep it that way.

We hope these tips have inspired you to get organized. Keep your eyes open for more office organizing suggestions from our gurus. Good luck and have fun.

Thanks Dave! Did you enjoy this article? Give it a cheer!

To commit to Get Organized in 2010, read this post. Or, to peruse all Get Organized in 2010 topics, go here.