A Guide to Organize Your Workspace – How to Declutter
Summary
TLDRThe 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.
Outlines
😊 Overview of a Workspace Organization System
Paragraph 1 introduces the video and describes the speaker's approach to organizing his workspace for efficiency. It shares his background struggles with keeping things tidy, the realization that he needed a system, and the process he took to design an intuitive organizational system with function, flow, and familiarity in mind.
😀 Step-by-Step Process for Organizing Your Workspace
Paragraph 2 provides a detailed, 8-step process for organizing your own workspace: 1) Audit workflow and tools, 2) Remove everything, 3) Reduce and simplify, 4) Take inventory and group items, 5) Measure space and plan layout, 6) Add storage containers, 7) Label everything, and 8) Adjust layout as needed.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡organization
💡workflow
💡simplify
💡compartmentalize
💡label
💡adjust
💡maintain
💡distraction
💡decision fatigue
💡flow
Highlights
I thought of three key things when organizing my space: The function, the purpose of the space; The flow, how easy it would be to access my tools; and familiarity, knowing where things go without even thinking about it.
Audit your workflow. What do you do in your workspace every day and every week? What tools do you use most often? Take note and prioritize your efforts and tools. This will be the main function of your space.
Remove everything to assess what you have. This is the messiest step but is a necessary one to optimize your space.
Get rid of and donate anything you don't need. Ask yourself: “Does this bring me joy?” “Is it important to keep?” “Have I used it in the last year?” And best: “If you didn't already own this would you buy it right now?”
Take inventory, create a list of everything you have and group similar items together. Note which groups of things you'd want to be most accessible that help you with a function of your space.
Measure and plan out your space. Create designated areas for where groups of things will live. Consider the flow of how you'll use your tools and what you'll need access to.
Compartmentalize with more storage. Use bins, trays and boxes to store your groups of items. This makes it easier to pull things in and out of your available spaces.
Label everything. Labeling assigns a home for your stuff so you can quickly retrieve items or put them away in the correct space.
Adjust as needed. Just because you set everything up doesn't mean it's in the ideal location. Live in the space a bit and make adjustments as you work in it. When you can find things without even thinking about it, that's when you know things are just right.
I enjoy cleaning. I reset my office at the end of each workday, which only takes about five minutes to do. I love arriving to a clean workspace every day so I can begin my work distraction-free.
While most of us are spending more time at home these days, Audible is giving its members more content to enjoy.
If you're looking for new ways to enrich your time at home, alone or with the family, I recommend checking out Audible.
I hope this overview of my organization system and process was helpful to you. Feel free to use this as a starting point to develop a system that suits your working style.
Remember your systems are a constant work in progress that change and evolve with you. Make sure to adjust and refine as you go.
If you have any questions about what you've seen here, leave me a comment and I'll do my best to answer them.
It's time to get back to work.
Transcripts
imagine a workspace where everything you need is within reach. Every tool. Every
file. Easily available for you to access. When you organize your workspace it
removes the barriers from getting your work done, and speeds up the process
between your thought and your creation. Developing a streamlined system might be
daunting to tackle at first, but the extra time you'll create for yourself in
the future is absolutely worth the investment. Hello I'm Matthew Encina. In
this video I'll share an overview of my organization system which I use to keep
my gear, files, and workspace in order. Before I begin I wanted to thank Audible
for sponsoring this video. I'll share more on that later.
The problem with cleaning up is that things just get messy again. I'll be
honest, I hated cleaning. But the reason why is because I didn't have a system. I
had too many areas where I would just dump miscellaneous things into, because I
didn't know where to put it. Over the years that turned my closet and drawers
into a messy avalanche of tangled randomness, that caused me a lot of
decision fatigue every time I had to put something away, and frustration when I
had to retrieve something. This was a constant interruption and often killed
my momentum on projects I would get distracted trying to find a tool or
piece of reference I knew I had somewhere.Bback then I wasn't cleaning I
was hiding things. What I was missing was a standardized place for everything– a
streamlined workspace that helped me to do my work and was easy to maintain.
After watching a lot of YouTube videos reading some books and looking up
inspiration I was ready to get organized and just maybe find joy in cleaning.
Because my background is in design I tackled the problem... well like a designer.
I thought of three key things when organizing my space. The function: the
purpose of the space. The flow: how easy it would be to access my tools, and
familiarity: knowing where things go without even thinking about it. All with
the goal of making everything around me intuitive. Now that you have an idea of
my approach I'll share the organization process I took step by step. Step 1 audit
your workflow. What do you do in your workspace every day and every week? What
tools do you use most often? Take note and prioritize your efforts and tools.
This will be the main function of your space. I write film and edit content so I
prioritize that as the primary function of my space. Step 2 remove everything to
assess what you have. This is the messiest step but is a necessary one to
optimize your space. For me, this took several weekends to do. I tackled one
area of my office at a time the drawers the closet and then my shelves. Step 3
reduce and simplify. Get rid of and donate anything you don't need. Good
questions to ask yourself: “does this bring me joy?” “is it important to keep?”
“have I used it in the last year?” And the best question: “if you didn't already own
this would you buy it right now?” If you answered yes to any of those questions
keep it, if not it's probably time to part ways with it. To minimize your paper
files I recommend sorting through what you have and digitizing as much as you
can for safekeeping. I use a document scanner on my phone to convert files
into PDFs. For the physical documents, you do keep I recommend getting a filing
cabinet and using a set of pre-labeled tabs to
you sort your files. Step 4 take inventory create a list of everything
you have and group similar items together. Note which groups of things
you'd want to be most accessible that help you with a function of your space
Step 5 measure and plan out your space.
Create designated areas in your office for where groups of things will live.
Consider the flow of how you'll use your tools and what you'll need access to.
Make sure that walkways and anything you need to reach for isn't blocked. For me, I
measured out my available space I took photos with my tablet and sketched out
my plan. I drew out about five different configurations until I settled on one.
step 6 compartmentalize with more storage. Use
bins trays and boxes to store your groups of items. This makes it easier to
pull things in and out of your available spaces I recommend buying from the same
manufacturer, because the various sizes of bins are typically designed to work
with each other. I also added a few extra shelves in my office to expand my
storage in the vertical space I was under utilizing. Step 7 label everything.
Labeling assigns a home for your stuff so you can quickly retrieve items or put
them away in the correct space. To label my bins and boxes I simply used masking
tape and a marker. I found that having everything labeled is especially helpful
for bins that rarely get accessed– like old photos and mementos. Step 8
adjust as needed just because you set everything up doesn't mean it's in the
ideal location. Live in the space a bit and make adjustments as you work in it.
When you can find things without even thinking about it that's when you know
things are just right. That's when things become familiar. Once I completed this
process of organizing everything, the real test would be how well I could
maintain it. Don't be fooled into thinking my place looks immaculate all
the time. It isn't. I work a lot in it and it can get a bit
messy and dirty. Luckily with an organization system in place, maintaining
my home office has been much easier. I no longer have to think about where
something goes because everything has a home now.
I enjoy cleaning. I reset my office at the end of each workday, which only takes
about five minutes to do. I love arriving to a clean workspace
every day so I can begin my work distraction-free. Whenever I'm doing
tasks that don't require a lot of brainpower, like cleaning ,I like to spend
that time ingesting information to feed my mind. That's why I love using Audible,
the sponsor of this video to listen to audiobooks that stimulate my brain.
Recently I started listening to “Essentialism: the disciplined pursuit of
less,” by Greg Mckeown. In it, he shares practical ideas on how to set your
priorities straight, and how to eliminate low-value distractions so you can focus
on what truly matters in your life. I recommend it if you need help
developing a filter to determine what's important towards your goals and what
isn't. While most of us are spending more time at home these days, Audible is
giving its members more content to enjoy. Members can now download all of the
Audible original monthly selection as well as unlimited access to guided
wellness programs that can help you wind down in stressful times. Audible also
launched stories.audible.com where anyone anywhere can stream hundreds of
titles completely free. You don't even need to be a member just click, stream
and listen. If you're looking for new ways to enrich your time at home, alone
or with the family, I recommend checking out audible go to audible.com/matthewencina
or text “matthewencina” to 500 500 to get one
free audiobook, unlimited audible originals, and a 30-day free trial.
I hope this overview of my organization system and process was helpful to you.
Feel free to use this as a starting point to develop a system that suits
your working style. Remember your systems are a constant
work in progress that change and evolve with you. Make sure to adjust and
refine as you go. If you want to see a full tour of my workspace I'll leave a
link in the description, as well as additional links to everything featured
in this video. If you have any questions about what you've seen here, leave me a
comment and I'll do my best to answer them. With that out of the way it's time
to get back to work.
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