On Career Intensity, Dave Lorenzo talks about “a career-intense” workspace.  Dave advises that your working environment, with its spatial flow and visual elements, influences your mood and also sends out a message to coworkers, clients, and visitors about your vision, aesthetics, and personal brand.  He suggests that you bring materials into the workplace that will aid you in achieving your goals.  For example, if you want to get organized, devise a filing and storage system that makes sense. If getting places on time consistently is your goal, prominently display a clock that you enjoy looking at.

A useful post, no doubt.  In my mind, it’s most critical that your workspace is organized above all else.  For some reason, the myth persists that having a cyclone of a desk makes people look like they are so busy they just can’t keep up with the work raining down on them.  That could be true, but it also makes them look overwhelmed. The business world judges performance by results, not effort, and your boss and colleagues will doubt that you can achieve such results in the midst of total chaos.

How do you do it?  Well, Dave is right in that you have to create a system that works for you.  Here are a few suggestions, though:

• Create intuitive online and offline filing systems that allow easy access to regular materials and can be used readily should a co-worker need to take over a project.
• Remove documents from your physical mailbox and e-mail inbox as soon as you are finished with them, and write notes in a book or on a dry erase board to avoid a sticky-pad explosion.
• Delete spam and other messages you don’t need as soon as they pop into your e-mail inbox, and if you know you have to respond, get in the habit of doing so immediately.

I’m always looking for good organizational tips myself, so if you have any, feel free to share!