1. Open your desk drawers and either dump everything on top of your desk or dump everything into a box. You must do this with each drawer. Your drawers have to be cleaned out completely so that when you begin to sort through everything that was in and on your desk, you have a place to put things away. If you try to just sort out what is in your desk as it is still in your desk, you will just stir it around and you will be no better off than you were when you started.

   The top of your desk should now be piled high (or you should have some boxes that are filled with items that were formerly in your desk).

2. Clean out the inside of your desk so that it is sparkling before you begin to put things away.
3. Divide the top of your desk into four quadrants. You may either do this mentally or with tape or string (right over the top of the items piled there).
4. Begin working on one quadrant at a time. Deal with each piece of paper, each book, each toy, each item that is in that quadrant, until that entire quadrant is cleared off. Then, move to the next quadrant and the next, until the top of your desk has nothing on it!
5. When you are putting items away inside your desk (nothing on top of your desk), consider the concept of bulls-eye or target. Imagine that you are sitting right in the middle of the bulls-eye.  The concentric circles around you can be labeled ABC & D, which correspond with these considerations:

• Your A space is considered the area at your desk that is right in front of you or that you can reach without even moving your body. This would include the top or center drawers of your desk.

• The B space is that area that you can reach without having to get up from your desk, such as the lower drawers of your desk or a shelf that is right behind your desk.

• Those areas where you keep things that you have to get up in order to reach (e.g., file cabinets, shelves across the room) is considered the C space.

• The D space would include storage areas, etc. that are outside your classroom.

Here are your next 4 steps:

1. Now, keeping the A, B, C, D idea in mind, put away the items that you have decided to keep (I hope you threw a lot of papers, pens that did not write, etc. away!). Put items in your A area that you use nearly all day, everyday (pens and pencils, scissors, your lesson plan book, etc.).
2. Put items in your B area that you use frequently, nearly everyday (grade book, textbooks, etc.).
3. Put items in your C area that you use, but not everyday (upcoming or past unit plans, reference materials, professional journals, etc.).
4. Put items in your D area that you want to keep, but that you are not likely to use this year (for example, lesson materials from other grade levels, old notes and journals, etc.). I would like you to consider not keeping those items in your D area, but if you just must, at least get them out of your room.

It will require daily duty to keep your desk clean and ready for your work, but you can do it! Part of what will motivate you to keep it in good order will include others' comments and your own sense of productivity!

Note:  You will need to train those around you NOT to trash your desk. So, provide other places where students can turn in their work and have an IN box in your B area on a shelf where other teachers and staff can leave items they want you to see.

I have been keeping a clean desk for the past several years, and it has made so much difference in my productivity and peace of mind. I also think it gives me a more professional appearance when dealing with students and colleagues. The teachers in my time and paper management workshops report similar results. Let me know how it works out for you!

For more tips to assist your productivity, feel free to access the tools at

**Top Ten Productivity Tips

**Keys to Keeping Chaos at Bay

(c) 2008 by Meggin McIntosh, Ph.D., "The Ph.D. of Productivity"(tm). Through her company, Emphasis on Excellence, Inc., Meggin McIntosh changes what people know, feel, dream, and do. Sound interesting? It is!