What's Your Workspace Like?

Having a look at my workspace today, I realized something: I don't have one. I use a laptop, an agenda, a notebook and a pen. At the end of the day my office packs up into a handy laptop case, which gets stashed underneath a kitchen bar stool. After years of having a desk which needs to be re-evaluated and de-cluttered regularly, I much prefer this situation. I can work in the kitchen, on the couch, on the floor or out on the deck. David, on the other hand, has an office. And a giant corner desk. And mounds and mounds of stuff. My theory is: if you've got the space, you'll abuse it. It's just like when you're flailing your spices around in the kitchen: remember less is more.


Visual clutter in your work area is time consuming, thought draining, inefficient and confusing. So I thought I'd make up a little checklist for you to use and quickly deduce whether or not your workspace needs a once-over. Or maybe a twice or thrice-over.

Stand a short distance away from your desk, and ask yourself these questions:

* If an editor or interviewee called me right now, would I be able to find their information/project within 3 seconds?

* Can I immediately see today's tasks?

* Are cords safe and out of harm's/children's/cat's way? (see Caitlin's post on how to fix this)

* If I had to call home and have someone find a phone number/address/bit of info for me, would they be able to?

* Is that food, or my grade 8 science experiment?

If you answered "no" to any of these questions--save for the last one--then it might be time to re-evaluate that work space. Invest in some containers or a short filing cabinet this weekend, or maybe even downsize your desk. If you don't have the surface area to pile things on, there most likely won't be piles.