The state of an office space says something about the worker. Do you want to be dismissed as the cluttered disorganized employee? Improve your productivity by having a clean and organized work area.

Come up with a workable filing system. Workable- meaning it should be a system that you can easily remember and work with. It’s up to you if you want to use an alphabetical system or color-coded one (or maybe even both), as long as you are able to maintain it, it would be fine.

Leave 10 to 15 minutes at the end of the day for filing loose sheets and other documents you have done for the day. Never leave them until the next morning. Otherwise, you’ll lose track of the tasks you’ve already done and those you still need to do.

If you cannot see your desk, then it means you have too much stuff on it. Keep only the essentials on your desk. Organize the rest in your desk drawer or cubby hole.

Spend some time every Friday before you leave work to clear your desk. Throw away wrappers and cola cans or watter bottles, shred paper, pencil shavings, etc. This way, you can start a new workweek on Monday with a clean slate.

Clean as you go. There’s a reason why employees are given separate trash cans. Once you’ve popped that gum in your mouth, throw the wrapper in the trash. When you’ve opened mail, dispose of the envelope and file the actual letter away.