Keeping a desk organized is challenging at best, but can feel almost impossible when working on a small desk with a limited work surface.

Trying to find storage solutions for your small desk can be equally challenging.  Large desk hutches can overwhelm a small desk or office and a variety of pen holders, post-it pads and random small desk accessories can themselves result in clutter!

One way to maximize the desk top surface is to use a Desk Top Riser.  This unique desk organizer is a shelf that sits on your desk (like a desk hutch, but much smaller) with storage space below.  This one pictured below includes shelf dividers, so that you can store books or reference materials without fear of them falling off and knocking over your hot cup of coffee!

The Desk Top Riser is only about 12” deep, which is deep enough to hold your miscellaneous office items, but not too deep to overpower your desk.

For even smaller desks, try the Desktop Accessory Shelf.  Although, smaller than the Desk Top Riser, pictured below, includes a built-in pull out drawer below for small office supplies.

If your desktop or laptop computer takes up most of the desk surface, you could try the Desk Monitor Stand.  The Desk Monitor Stand includes a pull out drawer beneath with storage for office supplies, plus two side compartments to hold files, CDs or important documents.

Desk organizers are designed only to organize your everyday office supplies, so schedule time everyday to file away papers and tidy up the clutter!

Jacquie Ross is a Maryland based Professional Organizer, writer, speaker and owner of CastAway the Clutter! Jacquie has been writing for Home Storage USA since 2007 and is presently the “Ask the Organizer” expert. A member of the National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO), NAPO-Baltimore Chapter, and Maryland Association of Professional Organizers, she shows homeowners how to reclaim their time and space, and offers organizing and time management workshops and group presentations. Contact Jacquie here. Visit CastAway the Clutter to sign up for her free organizing tips and learn more about her presentations at www.castawaytheclutter.com

With the vast amount of paper that comes across the average desk today, controlling paper clutter has become more and more difficult.

If you’re a piler and not a filer, you most likely have deep piles of papers or files lined up along your desk.  I suspect too, that you feel quite organized because you have a pretty good idea of where to find a particular paper or file. However, the downside is that there’s an easier chance of important papers getting mixed up into unrelated piles.  Imagine this. You’ve stepped away from your desk and a colleague passes by and accidently knocks a pile on the floor and then returns the papers to your desk in no particular order!  How frustrating is that?  What if, instead of six separate piles on your desk, you had six separate piles inside an organized paper sorter?

Pilers like to see their paper, so file cabinets or file drawers don’t always work.  However, I recommend that pilers still use a file cabinet for rarely needed reference material and store the action paper piles or files in a paper sorter on or near their desk. 

Paper sorters, also called desk sorters or literature sorters, are perfect for busy workers who need quick access to their papers and projects.  Most sorters have letter sized compartments that are adjustable to fit the paper piles you need to organize.  Paper sorters are also perfect for long-term projects that are worked on periodically throughout the life of the project. Filing is also a breeze because there’s no drawer to open and no worries about where you’ve filed something.  Paper sorters can help you to be more organized with your day to day work and projects.

There are a few different sizes and styles to choose from.  Check out the selection at Home Storage Warehouse.

Click here to shop for more desk top organizers.

Jacquie Ross is a Maryland based Professional Organizer, writer, speaker and owner of CastAway the Clutter! Jacquie has been writing for Home Storage USA since 2007 and is presently the “Ask the Organizer” expert. A member of the National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO), NAPO-Baltimore Chapter, and Maryland Association of Professional Organizers, she shows homeowners how to reclaim their time and space, and offers organizing and time management workshops and group presentations. Contact Jacquie here. Visit CastAway the Clutter to sign up for her free organizing tips and learn more about her presentations at www.castawaytheclutter.com