Joy At Work

Joy At Work takes Marie Kondo’s famous tidying-up tips and applies it to your job to help you be happier in the physical areas, digital spaces, and uses of your time in the office.

My old boss was constantly looking for papers and having to find other spaces to work when he needed to work on hard copies of plans. He always seemed pretty frazzled, running from one job to another. Again, I want to reiterate how awesome of a person he was and also how difficult I know staying organized can be.

Although he’s not a terrible person for having a messy desk, the data does show that it’s not good. One survey in 2011 identified that 90% of Americans identify clutter as a source of decreased happiness, productivity, and motivation.

And if that’s not enough to convince you, think about all the lost productivity from the added up hours of looking for important documents or supplies. Estimates put the total time lost from this searching for stuff at about an entire work week each year! That’s not just hours, either, it adds up to roughly $89 billion in lost profits.

In other words, you’re going to be happier, more productive, and more profitable if you’ll learn how to clean up your workspace!

It’s also one great way to impress your boss. Management generally thinks more highly of people that keep their workspace neat. This has the power to make you even more productive, creating a positive loop of success.

All these reasons are good, but if you tidy up because someone tells you to, it’s not going to stick. You need to recognize that a clean workspace has the power to be a place that is where your goals and dreams become reality.

Alright, now that you’ve got the motivation it’s time to get in and get your hands dirty. Or wait, I mean, clean! This process involves getting rid of things that don’t fit into at least one of these three divisions: Immediate Joy Functional Joy Future Joy If you find items in your workplace that you can’t say they give you any of these three, then get rid of them. This is the heart of the KonMari Method, and you can apply it to anything and everything in your office, digital or physical. We’re going to get into the specifics of what to look at, but first, you need to start with a vision of what your ideal workspace looks like. Ask yourself what you’d like to see in such a place and how it makes you feel. Visualize what’s in it, where everything goes, and the emotions you have while at your desk. Now to…