{"id":1999,"date":"2019-07-09T01:00:57","date_gmt":"2019-07-09T08:00:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.physicianzen.com\/?p=1999"},"modified":"2019-07-09T01:00:57","modified_gmt":"2019-07-09T08:00:57","slug":"how-to-declutter-the-physical-workspace-by-sorting-and-purging-step-2-of-12","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zenproductivity.com\/how-to-declutter-the-physical-workspace-by-sorting-and-purging-step-2-of-12\/","title":{"rendered":"How To Declutter the Physical Workspace by Sorting and Purging (Step 2 of 12)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

“I hate clutter. It really bothers me because I can’t think properly. If you’ve got distractions in front of you, your mind goes nuts.”<\/p>-Simon Cowell<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

I remember as a medical student, I didn\u2019t really give much thought to how important organizing my physical environment was. I was swamped with textbooks, curriculum documents, journal articles, bills, financial aid paper work, and other documents that completely cluttered my physical workspace. I did not know this at the time, but each item that was unnecessarily in my workspace was taking up a small amount of my mental space and preventing me from becoming maximally productive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Unfortunately, many students and clinicians will have hundreds of unsorted documents on their workspace. Your mind will continue to process, on a subconscious level, any items that are not rightfully in their place. So, each rogue piece of paper that is left on your workspace is taking up precious mental energy that you could be using to focus on studying, to advance a project, or to engage in deep work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What You Will Need:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Time needed<\/em><\/strong>: Approximately 0.5 to 1 full day
Materials needed<\/em><\/strong>: Trash bin, lots of Trash Bags, Paper Shredder, Pen, Post-it Notes. For a list of recommended supplies for productivity please see the STEP 1 blog post on getting supplies<\/a>.<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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