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.

Outlines

00:00

😊 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.

05:03

😀 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.

Keywords

💡organization

Organization refers to the systematic arrangement of tools, files, and workspace to optimize efficiency and productivity. As explained in the video, proper organization removes barriers to getting work done by ensuring everything you need is easily accessible. The video emphasizes principles of organization like function, flow, and familiarity in designing an intuitive workspace.

💡workflow

Workflow means the sequence of tasks and processes involved in a work activity. Auditing and understanding workflow is presented as the first step in organizing a workspace, allowing you to identify and prioritize the most important tools and functions.

💡simplify

To simplify means reducing clutter and getting rid of non-essential items. This decluttering process is shown as an important step in optimizing workspace organization by removing distractions.

💡compartmentalize

Compartmentalizing refers to using boxes, bins and storage containers to systematically organize items into logical groupings. This builds on the principle of simplification by assigning specific homes for different items.

💡label

Labeling means clearly marking storage areas, boxes and items with text identifying what goes there. As noted in the video, labeling contributes to an intuitive space where the location of everything is familiar.

💡adjust

The video emphasizes that any organization system needs occasional adjusting as needs change. Maintaining organization is presented as an iterative process requiring ongoing refinement.

💡maintain

Maintaining organization refers to the daily and weekly tasks required to keep an orderly workspace, like tidying up at the end of each workday. Establishing a maintenance routine is shown as essential for sustaining an effective system.

💡distraction

The video presents organization as a way to minimize distractions in the workplace by ensuring tools and files can be easily retrieved. Removing these frustrations helps maintain focus and momentum.

💡decision fatigue

Decision fatigue refers to the stress and difficulty of making even small choices when faced with disorganization and clutter. An effective system aims to eliminate this indecisiveness.

💡flow

Flow describes the movement or sequence of steps to access tools and materials in a workspace. Optimizing flow ensures items you use most frequently are conveniently located to avoid breaks in concentration.

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.