A Guide to Organize Your Workspace – How to Declutter

Summary

The video details how to develop an efficient workspace organization system to reduce clutter and decision fatigue. It advocates auditing your workflow, removing everything to assess what you have, reducing and digitizing files, compartmentalizing items, labeling storage bins, and continually adjusting the system. It aims to create intuitive, distraction-free spaces to work through this process of decluttering, planning, and maintaining organization. The sponsor Audible is also promoted as a way to enrich time spent on mundane tasks like cleaning.

Takeaways

• 😀 Start by auditing your workflow to understand how you use your workspace and what you need access to
• 📝 Remove everything and take inventory to assess what you have and group similar items
• 🚮 Reduce and simplify by getting rid of anything you don't need or use
• 📐 Measure your space and map out designated storage areas for groups of items
• 🏷 Label all storage containers so there's a clear place for everything
• 💡 Adjust storage locations as needed so commonly used items are easily accessible
• 🧹 A clean workspace supports distraction-free work; reset it daily
• 📚 Use mundane tasks like cleaning to also feed your mind through audiobooks
• 🔀 Organization systems evolve over time; refine yours as your needs change
• 🌟 A streamlined workspace removes barriers and speeds up your work

Q & A

What were the 3 key things Matthew considered when organizing his workspace?

The 3 key things were: the function or purpose of the space, the flow or ease of accessing tools, and familiarity or intuitively knowing where things are located.

What does Matthew recommend for minimizing paper files?

Matthew recommends sorting through paper files, digitizing as much as possible using a phone scanner to convert files to PDFs. For any remaining physical documents, use a filing cabinet with pre-labeled tabs for organization.

What questions does Matthew suggest asking when deciding what to keep?

The questions are: "Does this bring me joy?", "Is it important to keep?", "Have I used it in the last year?", and "If you didn't already own this would you buy it right now?"

Why does Matthew recommend buying storage bins from the same manufacturer?

He recommends buying storage bins from the same manufacturer because the various sizes are typically designed to work together in a modular way.

What does Matthew use to label his storage bins and boxes?

Matthew uses simple masking tape and a marker to label his storage bins and boxes.

What does Matthew recommend listening to while cleaning?

Matthew recommends listening to audiobooks from Audible while cleaning, to feed your mind and stimulate your brain even while doing mundane tasks.

What Audible book does Matthew recommend and why?

He recommends the book "Essentialism" by Greg McKeown which offers ideas on setting priorities straight and eliminating low-value distractions.

How long does it take Matthew to reset his workspace at the end of each day?

It takes him about 5 minutes to reset his office space at the end of each workday.

Where can people find a full tour of Matthew's workspace?

He will leave a link to a full tour of his workspace in the video description.

What does Matthew encourage viewers to do if they have questions?

He encourages viewers to leave a comment on the video with their questions and he will try his best to answer them.