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CAD Manager – Clean your Desk

I am going through my annual year end desk/office clearing and cleaning process.  Each year I take some time, before the Christmas break, to clean off my desk, clear away the clutter and go through my collections of documents and more.  I take a hard look at what I am keeping and getting rid of.  It takes some time and is often hard to make the call about getting rid of something, but it is worth it.

CAD Managers need to save a lot of information and examples.  I have a box full of CAD Standards Manuals [1] that I have collected or written over they years.  I use these to get ideas about what I need to think about.  But they also need to not save so much.

Here are my tips for cleaning and clearing your desk of all of the hard copy and papers:

1.  Run through it Fast

The first time through just make a quick pass on everything.  Get rid of the stuff that you know you do not need.  If it has been sitting on your desk or shelf for a long time – chances are you don’t need it.  If it is a hard copy of something that you have electronically – get rid of it.

2.  Sort before you Eliminate

Before you start throwing away too much stuff, maybe you could sort it first.  Make a pile for Keep, Store, Scan and Trash.

Keep – means keep it on your desk.   This should only be actionable items.  Things that need you attention now.

Store – means keep it, but get it off your desk.  Store it away.  Store it permanently, whatever, just not on your desk.

Scan – means scan to PDF.  Store it electronically.

Trash – means just that – toss it.  If you cannot think of a vaild reason to keep it – get rid of it.

If you are like me – you will agaonize over the stupidest little items.  If you cannot quickly think of a good reason to keep it, but cringe at tossing it, then put it in a box under your desk.  If you have not dug through the box to get it in a month or so  – then toss it.

More to come…