Increase your Productivity by Organizing your WorkSpace
How many times have you looked around and felt a slight annoyance? Hopefully, not too many times. But you can certainly reach that state. The state when you repeatedly think "oh, I need to get this mess organized". For some people, this is not too much of a problem as their organizational skills are quite developed. But for the rest like me, there is certainly a cycle that keeps repeating itself:
You organize and clean — you feel great, and confidently believe you will never let your room fall into that mess again;
You continue using the same space every day;
You insist on randomly placing stuff on available surfaces;
"Oh, I need to get this mess organized" (x 10 times);
You organize and clean — you feel great, and confidently believe you will never let your room fall into that mess again.
The cycle goes on (and on).
I've certainly have had times when I was able to keep an organized workspace (and proudly bragged about it). But others... oh well.
“For every minute spent in organizing, an hour is earned.”
Benjamin Franklin said it very well. But let's not over-do it also. Balance is what we are striving for. Thankfully, I've been able to turn the organization process into a more joyful one. It's not that I wake up excited to organize my room, but at least I don't avoid it for weeks. I called the method "COM".
Here are the 3 Steps to keep your Environment Organized:
Cleaning: Clean whatever needs to be clean. I'm not your mum. But at least make it shine;
Organizing: If you have an entire house to organize, start with just one division. The environment where you work might be the most beneficial, to begin with. Here are 3 simple steps to follow:
Select all the necessary resources you always have nearby and have them at reach;
Select all the unnecessary stuff and keep them stored away;
Maintain the habit of returning the objects to their respective place. It helps to leave a post-it note with this reminder.
Music: That's right, the whole process should be completed while listening to energetic music! Play your favorite Spotify playlist and sing along the process.
before!
after! Listening to The Weeknd
Why Organizing your Environment increases Productivity:
We care about cleaning and organizing our work environments, because we want to work more productively, and reach the state of Flow. The state of Flow is a concept popularized by Mihaly, and it basically describes working so fully committed that you don't see the time passing by.
"The best moments usually occur when a person’s body or mind is stretched to its limits in a voluntary effort to accomplish something difficult and worthwhile. Optimal experience is thus something that we make happen."
— Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
There are a few factors that can help you reach the state of Flow, but there is one particular called Novelty. When perceiving something like a new stimulus, we are more aware and focused, and reach more easily the flow state. This is why people enjoy working in coffee shops because they get this sense of new, and they are more productive.
Thus, keeping the space where you work organized, is a key factor to focus and produce better work. If I can't visit a new coffee shop every week, at least I can experience the same office, in a cleaner and more organized way, introducing some sense of novelty to a well-known environment.
Hopefully, with the COM strategy: cleaning, organizing, and listening to some vibrant music, you will be able to feel more inspired in your environment and work more productively!