Could Dickens’ 200-year-old desk improve your Office Space’s productivity?

A 200-year-old desk may have, in part, inspired the works of great novelist Charles Dickens according to its current owner, 80-year-old Desmond Zwar. The sloping desk which was with the famous novelist from early youth to adulthood appears to have been a definite favourite of Dickens’ for writing. Today marks the 200th anniversary of Dickens’ birth and many events are taking place to celebrate his life and his great literary contributions which include A Christmas Carol and Oliver Twist.

What can you do about your desk or office space to be as productive as the greatest English novelist of the Victorian Period?

There’s a semi-popular acronym, T.R.A.F. that stands for “Toss, Refer, Act and File”, a simple but powerful tool to use when you come across papers on your desk that sets up action items for every piece of paper you find. There are only four things you can do with documents: You can Toss them, Refer them to someone else, Act on them immediately or File them away for later.

Here are 6 tips to make your office space in Toronto more organised and productive.

1. Keep stationery to a minimum.
2. Designate one place for items you empty out of your pocket.
3. The more frequently you use things the nearer they should be to you.
4. Keep wires, routers, cords etc out of sight.
5. Use a system like TRAF to make files easily accessible
6. Scan documents to maximise space. Check out apps like Evernote for this purpose