Junk just creeps into your life a little bit at a time until you suddenly walk into your office, cubicle, or work space one day and think, “Is this my desk or my garage floor?” From those funny (but useless) desk gizmos you got at your last trade show … to the broken keyboard leaning in the corner … to the motivational coffee cup that your boss handed out as a holiday “gift” that holds nothing but pencils and dust, this unnecessary stuff takes up space, gets in the way and reduces your effectiveness.

In order to eliminate your pack-rat mentality, follow one simple rule for clearing out your space: If you don’t use it, dump it! To help you reclaim your office space, start by eliminating the 8 Hall-of-Fame Space Wasters:

1. Obsolete or broken equipment
If you can’t use it, you don’t need it – whether it’s a broken paper clip or a broken computer printer. Oh, and if that machine you’re using to type memos needs an ink ribbon and Liquid Paper®, please ask your boss to get into the 21 st century and spring for a newfangled thing called a computer! And not one that runs Windows 95.

 2. Desk accessories you don’t use
No matter how professional they look or expensive they were, they’re wasting space if you don’t use them. I mean, really … how many people need a decorative compass on their desks? Are they planning a mountain expedition anytime soon?

3. Orphaned office furniture and equipment
Anyone who has a teeny bit of extra room can relate. It generally starts with, “Can we put this extra chair here? We don’t want [name of nefarious furniture stealing department here, such as Marketing, Accounting, Sales … you get the drift] to take it!” All of a sudden, you have a chair, a small bookcase, a file, the color printer and more in your suddenly cramped quarters. But hey, at least [name of nefarious furniture stealing department] didn’t get that chair that you’re stacking file folders on!

 4. Awards and souvenirs
If they’re truly important to you, showcase them on a separate shelf or bookcase. Otherwise, take them home.

5. Computer clutter
Computer manuals still in the shrink wrap, CD-ROMs, odd sizes of paper you rarely use, unlabeled “mystery” diskettes and other computer paraphernalia can take up needed space. Stow it all in one place, eliminating items you no longer use.

6. Homey touches and “cutesy” toys
Your work space isn’t your family room at home. A couple of family photos are fine, but too many personal items detract from the professional image you want to project. Yeah, you may have sweated bullets to get the entire bean-bag baby collection from the fast-food restaurant, but they don’t need to be lined up all over your workspace! Well, not if you want to eliminate the clutter.

7. Old sticky notes
If your work area is plastered with so many sticky notes that you think your decorative scheme is bright yellow, it’s time to take them down and organize. Phone numbers can be stored, and haven’t you committed that Excel shortcut you jotted down three years ago to memory yet?

8. Anything that’s counterproductive and slows you down must be tossed – bosses excepted!
Be ruthless with your discards as you weed out unneeded stuff.

Look at what’s left in your space and decide the best way to arrange it to fit your needs. Carefully evaluate where to place your furniture, and make sure the overall arrangement fits your work assignment and your work style. The next step is to make a list of anything you need to make your freshly de-junked workspace more effective. The following low-tech (i.e., cheap) space-saving tools can be invaluable.

Six Super-Duper Space Savers

• Vertical wall-storage units for your paper files
• A wall-mount telephone
• A telephone headset
• Hot pockets or hot files that attach to the wall (rather than clutter your desk)
• Hanging picture frames for those certificates of achievement that you’ll be getting once you’re more organized
• Bulletin boards for hanging things, white boards for schedules and planning

When it comes to organizing your work space for optimum effectiveness, one size does not fit all. Choose the arrangement and tools that will make you most productive and effective – and keep that wastebasket within arm’s reach!