Rid Your Workspace of Clutter - Grab the Recycle Bin and Shredder!
When you embark on a de-cluttering spree, two of the ‘containers’ that you will want to have nearby are recycle and shred. If you have different types of recycling (paper, plastic, and glass, then go ahead and have all three types available; most office and classroom clutter involve paper recycling, so definitely have your container ready for that!) Here are tips - and encouragement for safely getting rid of your excess ’stuff’ by recycling and shredding it.
Recycle:Nearly allprofessionals need the huge blue bins for recycled paper once they begin this process in earnest. Have one handy. If the bins aren’t available in your location, then you must at least label a box as Paper Recycling, which you can then take home to leave for your neighborhood pickup. You will feel much better tossing the (almost literally) truckloads of paper that may be in your classroom, office, or lab if you know that what you’re tossing is going to be recycled.
This statistic may be useful as you begin the process: 80 - 90% of what is in the average professional’s file cabinet will never be accessed again. Hmm…. Could that possibly describe you?
Potential items for your recycling bin:
- scraps of paper and memos,
- papers that students never picked up,
- pads of paper with fewer than ten sheets remaining,
- the four “extra” calendars that have found their way into your keeping,
- worn out folders,
- handouts from a training or meeting that didn’t measure up (or that you don’t even remember attending!)
- the multitude of pink phone message slips that you couldn’t read when you first got them,
- that ream of purple paper that got wet on the corner and you thought you might cut up for an undetermined classroom o [Read more →]

