Desk drawers, whether at home or in the office, are a sanctuary for productivity and focus – except they’re actually really, really not. They’re supposed to be and, don’t get me wrong, when we first saddle up to one, they are – for about the first week. Then the clutter comes.
Over time, we turn these areas designed to help us work into a treasure trove of trash. Before we know it, the drawers are filled to the brim, sometimes with seemingly useful items – that end up being anything but and, at other times, it’s just rubbish, quickly swept inside in a mad dash to clear surfaces.
But we’re not going to live like this anymore. We need to take back control and restore these once useful areas back to their intended purpose. And the best way to do that is making sure we know exactly what belongs there and, more importantly, what doesn’t. Here’s everything you should toss from your desk drawer, today!
Pointless pens
Pens are an essential staple of any desk drawer, however only if they actually work. We’ve all been there, involved in some confusing overly attached relationship with a pen that we ‘swear works if you just push really hard on it’. It’s not doing you or your desk any favours to keep dried up, empty old pens – no matter how much you once liked them – chuck them!
Replace with fresh new ones that actually work. But still be strict, restrict yourself to no more than three pens otherwise your collection will get out of hand and you’ll be right back to frantically scribbling your way through 10 ball points just to find the one that actually works.
Random keys
One of the most universal drawer mysteries; that one random key. That one key that’s been in your desk drawer for as long as you can remember. That one key that despite holding on to so intently for all these years – you haven’t a scoobies what it unlocks.
We all have them, or even a whole collection of them. Spare keys for friends’ homes who don’t live there anymore, for bikes you no longer own, for windows that no longer have locks. The list of possibilities are endless – and pointless. They’re kept in the desk drawer to symbolise their importance, but if you can’t remember what they do – they can’t be that important, can they?
Take the time and try to test them out around your home to discover their true identity. If you can’t find one, and no friend or family has come forward to claim it – get rid! And if you do manage to discover its purpose, maybe consider labelling it this time.
Gift cards
We tend to store gift cards in our desk drawer to avoid them cluttering up our hand bags or wallets – plus this way, they’re primed and waiting for our next online purchase. But these little plastic promises can clutter up really quickly.
Often they sit in drawers for years, containing impossible amounts like 43p. People keep them because technically they still have value, despite knowing full well they’ll never use them. So, use it or lose it. And check the expiry date, you may have already missed out on those free pennies anyways.
Old receipts
Yes, I can appreciate that sometimes you do need to hold on to receipts, and desk drawers do seem like an organised and responsible place to put them. Except, this only works as organised and responsible if you do actually need that receipt. The likelihood is the return date or relevancy for the majority of your papery tower has passed, rendering that messy scrap utterly useless.
Sift through the pile and finally dispose of those expired receipts. And for new ones, or ones of actual necessity, I suggest employing a plastic wallet to store them in. This stops your desk from looking messy and means you know exactly where to find your receipts, if and when you need them.
The charger nest
Again, chargers and other cables seem like they would be in the right spot in your desk – but not when they’re tangled into a rat’s nest of wires. The likelihood is you’re holding on to far more than you need. Today, companies actively streamline their charging ports so, more often than not, one cable will do most things.
Sift through your collection and axe any duplicates or out-of-date cables. And, to stop them from clumping together again, I suggest investing in some velcro straps or cable holders for a more cohesive storage solution.
Snacks (and subsequent crumbs)
Snacks inevitably end up in the desk drawer. From morning cereal bars to cheeky afternoon biscuits, it’s nice to know we have the option of a little treat waiting for us. But you have to stop. Snacks in the drawer lead to crumbs, sticky residue and stale smells. But if that’s not enough to put you off, this also creates the perfect environment for bacteria and even pests such as ants or mice. When discussing the topic of this article, one colleague even recalled how when working at a newspaper many years ago, a family of mice were actually born in her desk drawer – and I’d venture a guess as to why they chose there as their home.
Forgotten food can also damage paperwork or electronics nearby, while empty wrappers and loose crumbs tend to make drawers feel far more cluttered and unhygienic than people realise. So keep your food in the kitchen where it belongs.
Excess notepads
As a journalist who does literally write for a living, it’s safe to say that over my career I’ve acquired enough notebooks to last me a lifetime. Some as gifts from loved ones, others from brands or promotional events, and yes, even some I actually bought myself. Regardless as to how obviously useful they may appear, the point is they take up so much space – and you never write in them!
Granted that might be a sweeping statement. I’m sure many still love a scribble, myself included, but the reality is more and more of us are turning to electronic means to jot down our various life admin nowadays anyways. And even if you don’t, you can only fill a notebook so quickly, so I feel confident in saying one notebook in the drawer at a time is more than enough.
Old diaries/calendars
Our desk drawers are often filled with the good intentions of our past. Remnants of the new year’s eve resolutions to be more productive and organised, that have inevitably laid idle for the last three years. None more so than calendars and diaries, beautiful stationary that represent orderly productiveness, that never seem to be filled in past February.
Even when these become rendered useless by the passage of time we often still find ourselves clinging on to them due to the guilty feeling of wasting empty pages. But just because it’s in the drawer, it doesn’t mean you’ll actually use it. Rid yourself of the guilt and remove them now.
Post
This is one I’m definitely guilty of. It’s just so easy to let post pile up on your desk. But putting them in the place where actioning is supposed to happen doesn’t actually guarantee they get sorted. So, whether it’s a mail tray on top of your desk or a not-so organised designated pile in a drawer, you need to maintain an effective method that stops post piling up and cluttering your workspace.
I suggest implementing the one-in, one-out rule. Meaning if you go to add another piece of post to your pile, you’re not allowed to if there is already another letter sitting waiting for you. You must action the previous letter before you can drop off the new one. Or address the problem head on with the ‘touch it once’ policy, where post is immediately sorted into recycling, action, or filing upon arrival, rather than being placed on or in the desk at all.
Sentimental items
Slightly brutal and perhaps controversial, but just because something is sentimental, it doesn’t mean you should let it clutter up your workspace. While a photo or two isn’t harming anyone, when you start to let the miscellaneous knick-knacks build up, the clutter can quickly take over. Plenty of sentimental items end up in your desk drawer, even without you realising it. Be it old birthday cards, concert tickets, event wristbands etc. Cute in the moment – but pretty hard to remember mere months later.
It’s not just about visuals, though. The amount of sentimental or playful items you allow on or in your desk can also end up being a form of distraction from your work. So if you want to be more productive, you’re going to have to be more strict.
Dried-up beauty products
While, yes, having a hand cream or lip balm in your desk drawer is super handy, this can also lead to what I like to call the beauty product graveyard. Clear out any dried-up lip balms, empty hand creams, splodgy nail varnish or anything in between. You’ll be shocked to realise quite how many of your desk treasures have expired, and even more shocked to see how much space is freed up once they’re gone.
Loose change
Despite the fact that I honestly couldn’t tell you the last time I paid for something using cash, I still seem to find coins all over my home – but especially in desk drawers. This is often because, naturally, money isn’t something we want to declutter. But because we’re in a predominantly cashless world, it somehow also doesn’t feel that useful. Leaving us to simply chuck and store coins all over the place.
Instead of decluttering loose change out of your desk drawer, reintroduce it in a more deliberate way. Create a designated coin pot and add it to your drawer, that way, whenever you find cash all over the house – you’ll know where to put it. Helping to declutter the whole home. And who knows? Maybe you’ll collect enough to treat yourself to a shiny new mousepad or keyboard.
Our favourite drawer organisers
