Productivity 501 offers these 12 tips for an organized desk. They are, of course, not aimed at legal secretaries at all, so I was a little surprised at how many of the tips have applications for us. One of my faves:

Easy to access files. Without moving your chair or getting up, you should be able to grab an unused manila folder, label it and put it in your file cabinet. Easy filing is one cornerstone of good organization. The more effort it requires the more difficult it will be to stay organized.

I keep “action folders” on the credenza area of my bay. These are plain manila folders, slotted into an ascending wire sorter, in which I keep documents pertaining to new files that aren’t yet open, current projects, upcoming trips, etc. (That is, when these items can’t be simply scanned and e-mailed to me for storage in my Outlook folders.) I label my action folders using wide redacting tape, because it pulls off easily and leaves the folders ready for reuse in a snap.

And here, it almost looks like the guy read my mind:

Scanning documents. This is something I’m experimenting with. I have a scanner and I’ll turn important documents into PDFs and keep them on my computer. I use OCR so the documents are searchable. This is wonderful if you travel a lot because it keeps everything right there with you. The problem is trying to figure out what to scan and what can just be filed. If you are good at guessing what you’ll want to have electronically this can work very well. I haven’t figured out how accurate I am just yet.

Well, I have figured out exactly what I can scan and what I need in hard copy. Scanning paired with organized Outlook folders is the way I keep paper clutter off my desk.

Productivity 501: 12 tips for an organized desk

Further Reading

Organizing from the Inside Out, second edition: The Foolproof System For Organizing Your Home, Your Office and Your Life