Getting Rid of Clutter in the Visual Field

Posted on July 15, 2009 by LJ Earnest
Categories: Clutter,Organization,Simplification

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Wednesdays are simplicity days at SimpleProductivity blog.

For many people, myself included, having stuff in my visual field is a distraction. The worst part is that after a while, the clutter isn’t even seen.

I realized last night that my home desk was out of control. I no longer even wanted to be near it, which in turn means I don’t move forward on my writing. I needed to get rid of the junk so I could be productive. So I’m going to take you on a photographic journey of my visual declutter.

As It Was

I started out just pulling stuff off the desk. I began to see the desktop — after I removed six empty shopping bags, my lunch dishes, two dirty coffee cups and a bag of Styrofoam peanuts. (I removed the things before the picture because it looked like the trash can had emptied itself on the desk). Files everywhere, cords, stuff to distract all over the place.

Step 1: The Desktop

I’m going to corral the loose things into their proper places.

Step 2: The Inbox

It’s time to purge not only the top basket, but also my “project” baskets underneath.

Step 3: Decorations

My bulletin board had become really nasty. It got completely purged.

Step 4: The End

Just walking into this space the next morning felt different.

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