Home Office: Sort 整理
Remove everything that doesn't belong.
Home offices accumulate paper and equipment relentlessly. Sort requires going through every drawer, shelf, and pile.
Understand the zones before you sort
Desk zone
Monitor · Keyboard · Mouse
Current project only
Notebook · One pen
Reference zone
Active reference books
Binders for current projects
Manuals · Style guides
Supply zone
Pens · Scissors · Tape
Stapler · Paper clips
Sticky notes · Stamps
Archive zone
Completed project files
Tax records · Contracts
Anything not active this month
The desk rule: only the current project earns desk space. Everything else is reference (on the shelf), supply (in the drawer), or archive (in the filing zone). A clear desk isn't aesthetic — it's the difference between focused work and distracted work.
Sort tasks for the Home Office
- Shred or recycle papers older than 1 year (keep tax, legal, and financial records)
- Remove dead pens, broken stationery, and dried-out markers
- Clear the desk of everything not related to current active work
- Sort through any "inbox" piles — file, action, or recycle each item
- Toss outdated tech, cables without a device, old peripherals
- Remove personal items that belong in other rooms
- Donate or recycle books and manuals no longer referenced
What is the Sort phase?
Sort (整理, Seiri) is the first phase: remove every item that doesn't belong in the space. Expired products, duplicates, broken items, and things used elsewhere all leave before any organising begins. You cannot set up a good system around things that shouldn't be there.
Common questions about the Home Office
How do I keep my desk clear?
The desk should have a base state — monitor, keyboard, mouse, lamp, nothing else permanently. At the end of every workday, return to base state. Items that resist being cleared signal that they need a designated home: a filing tray for active papers, a shelf for reference books, a drawer for stationery. Fix the home, not the desk.
How should I organise paperwork at home?
Three categories: action (needs a response or decision — maximum 10 items, reviewed daily), file (needs keeping — in labelled folders by topic), and recycle. Nothing else exists. Paper that doesn't fit one of those three categories should not be kept. Process new post the day it arrives; never let it stack.
How do I organise cables in a home office?
A cable tray mounted under the desk handles the main runs. Velcro ties (not cable ties — they're reusable) bundle cables that run together. Label both ends of every cable with a label maker or masking tape. Toss cables with no current device — they will not become useful.
How do I focus better by organising my workspace?
Visual clutter directly increases cognitive load — your brain processes every item on the desk as a potential task even when you're not actively looking at it. A clear desk is not aesthetic preference; it reduces the mental overhead of sitting down to work. The base-state desk practice takes 5 minutes and has a measurable effect on focus.
Common Home Office mistakes
✗ Mistake
Desk as the default landing zone for everything
✓ Fix
A desk is a workspace. Nothing lands on it that isn't active work.
✗ Mistake
Paper piles that "need to be dealt with"
✓ Fix
Piles grow. An action tray with a daily review is the fix — maximum 10 items.