Not everyone has a sprawling mahogany desk placed next to a grand marble fireplace with a staghead directly above it. Some of us have more modest workspaces, be it your dining table, a small desk in your spare room or even a nook under the stairs.
Wherever you work, if you feel like your small desk is stopping you from working effectively, you’re in the right place. With a bit of thought about what actually needs to be on your desk, you can free up a surprising amount of space without sacrificing functionality. Here’s how to make the most of what you’ve got.
Start by clearing the decks
Before you start to reorganise anything, take absolutely everything off your desk. Everything, even your pen holder and your family photo. It’s the quickest way to see what you’re actually working with.
Then, only put back the items you actually use everyday (no cheating here).
The monitor, the keyboard, a notepad and some pens are all fine. But the stack of old post, an external hard drive you used three years ago and the pile of books you’ve been meaning to read? Get ‘em gone.
It’s an obvious first step, but a necessary one.
Use a monitor arm
When you have a small desk, your monitor/screen is going to take up a substantial amount of space on its own, never mind all the other things you need to work.
A monitor arm is the perfect solution here. Some of them clamp to the back of a desk, others can be mounted directly to the wall, but the outcome is the same: it’s saving precious space on your desk. It also lets you position the screen at exactly the right height and angle for your posture, which is a useful bonus.
If you’re using a laptop rather than a desktop monitor, a laptop stand does a similar job. It raises the screen to eye level while leaving the area beneath it clear for other things.
Get your cable situation under control
Cables are one of the biggest contributors to a desk feeling cluttered, even when the desk itself isn’t particularly full. A mess of leads snaking across the surface eats into your usable workspace and makes everything feel more chaotic than it is.
Cable clips and adhesive cable channels allow you to route any wires along the back or underside of your desk and out of sight. Better still, switching to wireless where possible removes the problem at the source so invest in a wireless keyboard, mouse or charging pad.
Switch to compact computer accessories
The size of your keyboard makes more of a difference to available desk space than you might think. A full-size keyboard with a number pad takes up a significant chunk of your work surface, but switch to a compact version and you could get yourself some extra space.
If you’re open to it, a 60% keyboard goes even further (also known as a gaming keyboard). These strip back the layout to just the essentials and can free up a considerable amount of room, especially on a narrower desk.
Go vertical
When desk space is limited, the answer is often to look upward.How can you make use of the walls above and around your desk to make it work better for you?
It could be shelves that sit above your workspace to keep frequently used items in reach. It could be the monitor arm we talked about earlier, that then allows you to use the space underneath the screen. It could even be a clamp-on desk light in place of a tabletop one.
Keep only what you need within reach
One of the easiest habits to develop is being deliberate about what lives on your desk permanently versus what just gets left there. Things that don’t need to be on the desk include stationery you rarely use, reference books, chargers for devices you only use occasionally, etc.
A small drawer unit nearby, or even a designated spot on a nearby shelf, keeps them accessible without adding to the surface clutter.
Work on keeping it this way
Congratulations, you’ve tidied your desk, made some changes and now you feel that you have the space you need! But this is an ongoing change, and one you need to maintain. Whatever you do, don’t let the clutter build up again. Take a couple of minutes at the end of the day to clear anything that’s crept onto your desk and you’ll find you have a much more productive working day.
After all, tidy desk equals tidy mind.
You can find more tips here about saving space with clever storage or making your home office feel bigger.
