Sort your desk out
You're not Gary Oldman from Slow Horses
I confess that I suffer from what used to be called a bit of tidy freakiness. Now I’d probably be labelled as having a trauma/anxiety response culminating in Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (yawn). Whatever . . .
If your business feels oddly hard work at the moment, start with your desk. Yep your desk. Because, honestly, a cluttered desk isn’t just messy. It’s a low-grade cognitive tax you pay all day without noticing. Every time your eye lands on something unresolved, your brain goes “oh yes, that” and quietly leaks energy.
The first offenders are spaghetti wires. Chargers looping, dangling and breeding. Old connectors for phones you no longer own. Mystery leads that don’t seem to fit anything you own. I suggest you just stick to one or two chargers. Label them if that turns you on and bin the rest. You’re not running a server farm.
On your desk you need:
Some water obviously because dehydration gives older women a touch of cystitis.
One notebook and a pen that will work immediately it touches the paper, not after 30 seconds of scribbling because the ink is dry as a bone
Only one coffee mat (preferably the one that says: “Do I look like a fucking people person?”)
Your phone on a phone holder so you can find it when it goes off/bleeps/vibrates
One filing tray that has only recent stuff in it, not receipts from 2019 or some foreign bank notes worth 50p in total.
You do not need:
Inspirational quotes (you’re over 50 for god’s sake)
Crystals (lovely objects but not a substitute for knowing your margins)
A teddy your nan bought you when you were a baby (you’ve not Prince Andrew or whatever he’s called now)
Now the drawer, which is often a true crime scene. Get rid of the following immediately:
That bit of Blu Tack with hairs stuck to it, quietly evolving for at least the last five years
Hundreds of loose staples, none of which fit the stapler you no longer use
Random screws and an Allen key for furniture you threw away
Old connectors that might one day save the world but realistically won’t
A piece of paper with someone’s mobile phone number on it, but you didn’t think to add the name of the person it’s attached to
An assortment of HB pencils because no one uses pencils anymore for anything (which means you don’t need a pencil sharpener either)
And here’s the point of all this. When your workspace is full of unresolved nonsense, your head is too. You spend the day micro-irritated and slightly distracted because your environment is ‘noisy’. It detracts from your actual work.
So, give yourself an hour. Be ruthless. If it hasn’t earned its place, it goes. A bit like a husband really.
Clear desk equals clear head. Sensible shoes on. Back to work.