10 Tips for a Neater Desk

by Jenna Grady & Leah Caras (Larson)

Here are some great tips for keeping your desk neat, organized, and useful.

1. Make sure you have the basic supplies: pens, pencils, white out, tape, post-it notes, paper clips, scissors, highlighters, lined paper, and envelopes.

2. Buy clear or semitransparent containers to hold things like erasers, pencils and bottles of ink. Having clear or semitransparent containers is useful because you can see what is in the containers.

Another idea: If you don’t want clear containers, try storing things in different shape containers (Such as all your pens could be stored in circle containers, and all your erasers in square containers.)

3. Have drawers, files or some other storage unit. Label the drawers or sections with titles like “Old school work” or “Drawing paper” or “Fancy stationary”.

4. Have shelves near your desk to hold text- books, reading books, dictionaries and thesauruses.

5. Purchase or make a “letter box” to store old letters.

6. Pick a time every week to clean your work-space. (Such as every Sunday after doing homework.) This way your desk won’t get so messy that you don’t know where to begin cleaning.

If you do let your desk get out of hand, try cleaning your desk in stages. File or store anything that you want, and throw away or recycle the rest.

7. Keep a spare notebook handy for you to jot down sudden thoughts. It could be a new story idea, a question to ask your teacher, or a reminder about babysitting that night.

8. Write notes to yourself (this is when post- it notes come in handy). If there’s something you think you’ll forget, post the note in a visible place.

9. Keep a calendar nearby. This will help you keep track of school assignments and your personal schedule.

10. Make your desk a pleasant place to be. Frame photographs you like or add little acces- sories that make your desk you. If you like your desk, you’ll be motivated to keep it neat, and you’ll enjoy working there.

Do you have more tips for keeping your space neat? Comment below!