Tip 32. Keep your desk, credenza, floor, and walls totally paper-free.

Do you believe that if you can’t see something, you’ll forget where to find it?

If so, ask yourself this question: “Do I wear underwear?” If you do, then your underwear must be stored out where you can see it—either on a chair or on your bureau. It could never be hidden away in a drawer. Why? Because if you kept your drawers in a drawer, you could never remember where they were.

You can remember the whereabouts of your drawers because you have developed the habit of finding them and (hopefully) putting them on. The same type of habit can be developed to store your files out of sight in your file drawers, keeping your desk, credenza, and floor free from distractions.

If you follow the system of Producing work three times a day (important tasks, batched tasks, tasks that can only be done today) you will always know what to work on. Simply open your file drawer and there it is.

Remember, drawers in a drawer.

© Greg Vetter 2017. All rights reserved.