Clutter culprit: Messy desk

1. Work from left to right. Put your to-do pile on the left side of your desk and place completed items, such as finished reports and signed permission slips, on your right. That way, when you get up you can take the finished work and drop it off where it needs to go.

2. Make a “waiting on” pile. Need a reply from someone before you can move an item off your desk? Keep them in a separate pile; try putting documents in a clear folder so they stay stacked and you can see at a glance what's inside.

3. File it. Put other, less-important papers such as old bank statements and tax documents in folders, then store them in standing file cabinets.

4. Take advantage of wall space. To free up precious desk space, move papers that you want to keep handy—but that aren’t essential right now—to wall folders.