How many of us keep a neat and clean workspace – whether it’s your home office or at work? Right now, my home office consists of a corner of my apartment, with my desk facing out the window overlooking our patio. Only about 18 inches away from the right side of my desk is my tiny bookshelf. Scattered on my desk are papers, a framed photo of my son, and even some toys of his! The bookshelf holds a jumble of things as well from pens and pencils, to books, printer paper and several back issues of a couple of my favorite magazines. Needless to say it’s far from “neat”, “clean”, or “organized”, but it’s my kind of organization to the point that I know where everything is. Sometimes I have to hunt for things, but that’s only because the thing I’m looking for is likely under several other things.
It is usually like this when I work outside of the house as well. Whether I keep my things in a single cubby at a shared workstation or I have a cubicle all to myself – things are bound to get scattered as I use them. There are plenty of sources out there that say a workspace that includes just the computer and its necessities should be enough to get the job done. But I am a writer. I always have notes scribbled on whatever piece of paper may have been handy at the time, several pens or pencils at easy reach; I even have a pair of scissors and a measuring tape handy (don’t ask why, but I’ve found them useful from time to time).
My questions to you are: what does your workspace look like? Is it “messy” or “neat”? Can you find what you need when you need it?