By Christina Morton
Christina is the founder of The Organizing Company and has been organizing professionally since 2013. She is currently grateful for flowers in bloom, her nieces & nephews on summer break, and iced coffee.
No A.I. copy & paste here! All our blogs are still written by Professional Organizers or other humans.
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I recently did a post on things that make your small office feel chaotic (check it out here if you missed it), but those of you who have been around for awhile know I can't miss an opportunity to remind you that organization isn't complete without a plan to keep it organized.
Often my clients' struggles are as simple as that: they didn't plan for how to keep their home organized, so it spiraled out of control even though it was well organized at first. What was it Stephen Covey said? “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail"? That's as true in the organizing realm as it is with anything in life.
You won't just “find time throughout the week." You can't wait until you feel like tidying up. You shouldn't have to use a day off every month to get your office back in order. You're busy and you need a simple plan to keep your desk tidy so you can focus and get stuff done.
That’s what I’m here for.
In this post I am assuming that your office is already well organized: items grouped by categories, labels, an established filing system, etc. If you don't have that foundation, pause here and go watch my free 9-minute video to learn how to get your office organized. But if you have a home for everything and you're just struggling with your desk piling up or getting messy, keep reading.
A 5-minute daily desk reset is what I do at the end of each admin day. It's not only a great habit to build into your routine to stay organized, it also helps you “shut down" the day and start letting your mind unwind. You don't have to do these things exactly in this order, but come up with a routine you can stick with so it becomes muscle memory and is easy to implement.
1. Create your to-do list for the following day
Whether you are paperless, paper-heavy, or a hybrid, set your future self up for success by getting your to-do list out of your head and onto paper today (or use an app, whatever works for you). This will help you clarify your priorities and goals for the next day so you can hit the ground running when you start, instead of thinking, “Where did I leave off yesterday?" or “What are my priorities today?" And, it also helps you release somethings taking up your mental energy because you've offloaded them. You don't have to worry you'll forget something for tomorrow because you made a note of it today. It will help your brain transition from work to personal time. And, of course, it will keep you organized and help inform what you do with the things on your desk as you do this daily reset.
If you are more digital, make your list as you are closing out of (or at least minimizing) apps/tabs/your inbox/Slack/Salesforce/wherever your tasks live or are assigned See Section 4 below for more on this.
If you have a lot of papers/files, it helps to make your list as you are containing your papers from the day. See Section 2 below for more on this.
2. Contain the papers
Start with shred/trash/recycle and remove those papers from your desk (and other surfaces in your office). Ideally, I recommend shredding daily so it doesn't pile up (or each day you have a shred pile, if it's not daily). If you prefer to do it in bulk, move the shred stack to your designated shred bin/tray to prevent them from getting mixed back up with other papers. It's frustrating to go through a pile of papers only to discover you've already gone through it and determined most of it is shred!
Next deal with anything that needs to be filed. Again, I recommend doing that each day so it doesn't pile up, but same concept as with shredding: if you don't do it immediately, put the papers in a tray labeled "To File" so you don't have to think about them again when you go to deal with them.
For both filing and shredding, if you use the tray system instead of doing it daily make sure that you have a designated shred/file day built into your calendar to stay on top of it. It's really easy for both of these categories to pile up and get overwhelming, and then you'll just avoid it until it's unbearable. There's a better way, friend. Simply set a reminder in your calendar for a certain day/time each week to deal with it. I find people are more successful when they do it in small batches, for what that’s worth.
Lastly, deal with the papers that still require action. That may be as simple as putting them in a tray labeled "To Do" for the next day, or you might need to categorize them based on priority, project, client, task, etc. Make sure you have some sort of structure set up for whatever categories make sense for your work (ie wall pockets, stacking trays, clipboards, etc). Make sure you label the outside of whatever container you use, so you don't have to look in 3 bins/trays to find what you're looking for. Labeling also helps make sure things don't become too “out of sight, out of mind." Sometimes with an urgent item I will leave it in front of my keyboard so it's the first thing I see the next day. But that's not a solution for dozens of papers or file folders. Create some desk space for yourself by moving those action items to specific holding zones so you have the physical and mental space to deal with each item the following day.
This also helps create your to-do list for the next day, which I mentioned above. As you are containing your action papers, you can jot down a list in your planner (or wherever you keep track of tasks) like "Jones Project Proposal; Invoice Brown; Marketing Budget Review" or whatever is relevant to you based on your action papers. This way you can look at your list and prioritize, rather than getting overwhelmed and off-focus if you start with all the papers/folders.
3. Tidy up office supplies & personal items
Next, I like to deal with all the other stuff that moves around during the day. Sticky notes & pens, coasters & drinks, notepads, lotion, reference items like binders. If you took your earrings off and they're on the desk, put them back in to go home (or at least put them in your bag to transport home). Put your eyedrops or glasses cleaner back in your desk drawer. If you had an Amazon delivery, unbox it and put it away and recycle the box. I'll talk specifically about devices and cords in the next section, but those are definitely on the tidy-up list too!
Look around your desk and make sure that the only things left on it are things to support a focused, productive work day tomorrow.
Make sure that you've given yourself space to work and that you've reduced the amount of visual clutter to distract you (if you missed my blog post about things making your office chaotic, read it here for more on the impact of visual overstimulation).
4. Turn off & contain the tech
Lastly, wrap up your day by literally shutting down. Turn off devices and stow cords if they aren't permanently set up. While I don't shut down my laptop everyday, I close it and turn off the external keyboard and trackpad I use. If you're similar, it also helps to at least close out apps or browser tabs/windows that you don't need for the next day. I'm a big fan of lots of tabs and apps open while I'm working, and sometimes it's hard to avoid if I'm researching something or even just posting a blog. I use a lot of different apps just to write a post, put it on my website, create an image for it, email it to my mailing list, create/edit images for social, post on social, etc. But I've gotten in the habit of closing tabs and apps when I'm done with the full project. This helps free up operating space on my computer so it will run faster. It also helps me stay focused on the next task/project because there are fewer tabs/windows/apps to distract me. If you don't close tabs/apps, at least minimize them as you are closing out your day so that you can intentionally start the next day with your first priority when you bring an app back into full view.
If you've been using a ring light or other tech, put that away unless you know you will be using it again the next day. If you use something regularly but find you are constantly moving it out of the way to do something else, that system isn't working. Create a way to have that device permanently set up with cords contained and off the desk. Again, check out my free guide if you don't know how to get to that point. But be realistic about what you use regularly, and store devices and cords that don't earn their place. You'll like having the open space on your desk (and that open space makes it really easy to pull a device out of the cabinet to set it up just for a few hours).
Side note, it is actually beneficial to your computer or laptop to fully shut down on a regular basis. Also, this wrap up time could also be used for periodic software updates. Get in the habit of closing out apps and doing a software update overnight as needed so you're ready to go in the morning. You'll be grateful for the faster speeds and updated features.
That's it. Super simple and straightforward. Once you build this habit it, it truly only takes 5 minutes. As with any new rhythm, allow yourself a little extra time in the beginning to get the hang of things and build that new muscle. You don’t have to use the order/steps I listed, but find something you can be consistent with.
Doing this 5-minute daily desk reset in the same order each day will help you build a lasting rhythm so it’s efficient and you don't have to think about each step, making it a soothing, restorative way to close out your day.
I love a tidy desk and it makes it less daunting to start a task-heavy day when I feel like I already have a win of a nice place to work. I hope that building this simple daily reset rhythm into your workday will bring more calm and productivity to your life.
Happy Organizing!
Christina
PS: It’s hard to establish a daily rhythm like this if you aren’t already organized. My free organizing guide is here to help you get organized so you can implement systems like this. Or give me a call and I’ll come organize your office for you!
June 4th, 2026
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