OO: Desk Organization. Tips & Tricks, Part 1

It is time to clean your desk. Put your organizing clothes on, pump up the volume and let's get to work.

Why don't we take a look at some desk-spiration (anyone following me here? desk + inspiration = desk-spiration). I bet that term is about to catch on like fruit flies!

I have read a lot of organizational books and organizing principles run wild in me. I just have not implemented them all very well. I will take the best tips and tricks I have for you about desk organizing and intersperse them with awesome photos! I tend to go a bit overboard with these things so I have broken this down into two posts so it doesn't take you 2 weeks to read it!

This desk set-up is fantastic. It has personality, plenty of things at arm's reach, and great organization. You could even DIY a desk like that with a couple of file cabinets and a big piece of wood. The only thing I don't like about it is that there isn't much workable space. 

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Tip #1: Create zones in your desk space. This will save you time when you are trying to find things or are putting things away. 

Check out the cool magnetic spice containers! You could hold your staples, paper clips, etc in there!

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Tip#2: Have something near your desk that makes your happy! For me, a nice organized desk would do it. A couple photos of some lovely smiley faces of my peeps would work too; even a photocopy of an illustration from my favorite kid's book or a swatch of my favorite fabric would do the trick. I like to keep happy reminders all over my house- especially where I spend a lot of time.

Here is the cover of a kid's book that I love. Looking at it gives me a case of the warm and fuzzy smiles. Even if I just taped this to the wall near my office it would make me happier.

These people know how to make an office cheery!

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Tip #3: Keep your cords under control! Check my post from last week for some suggestions on how to do it.

Tip #4: Do you think you don't have room for an office? Look around your room and locate an unused corner. You don't need much space to turn it into your own personal desk paradise! Check out how efficient the space below is and follow their lead!

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If you are still trying to think of a way to bring happy things into your space why not do it with your desk organizers. 

You can buy a cool pen city like this one:

Or get some of these super awesome animal organizers:

If you aren't looking for quite that much personality, you could go with the old tiered-tin-can approach:

 If you want to keep it organized while being a bit innovative, put your old spice rack to work!

You know how I like to divide things up into a couple sections for you! So, you can look forward to another edition of OO: Desk Organization. Tips & Tricks coming soon! Until then, why don't you answer this lovely WYR and then tell me about what you have been organizing (or not organizing) these days.

Wednesday's Weekly Would You Rather Question:

WYR: 

swim in a cage surrounded by sharks for 30 minutes

or 

go skydiving?

This one is my pal, Sandra Dee's question and it is WAYYYYY better than anything I was thinking of.