Results of my 30-day challenge for March

Last month, I started a 30-day challenge to start and keep a clean routine. I'm happy to say that it's been very successful.

I don't have photos of my workspace, mainly because I was up to my ears in work during the last week of March. I pulled all-nighters frequently that week. I slept at 2am on the 31st and woke up two hours later to attend to org-related things, and, after our last activity for the semester, rushed back home and packed up to leave for my shortened (but nonetheless existent) vacation.

Take my word for it, though: my desk and my workflow has improved since I started the challenge. My desk still gets cluttered, but here's the thing: it's such a breeze to clear now. Clearing it up used to take a whole afternoon's worth of time. Now, it's as easy as picking up the action item on my desk (it's usually either a reading assignment or a paper that's just been graded and returned) and deciding whether it should go to my "In" bin or to the "For Sorting" pile for long-term storage.

I credit my newfound ease to two things. First is the existence of the "In" bin (I refuse to call it an inbox—sounds too official). The second is the mindset of "sort this right away," which is a tenet of David Allen's Getting Things Done system. It's all about making sure that things are assigned to where they should be for proper action as soon as possible, instead of just sitting on your desk in a sort of "limbo" state.

That said, though, there are improvements that need to be made to my workspace as well as my workflow:

• A bigger desk. Mine still gets cluttered because I have too little surface area to work with, especially with all the things I have on my desk.
• A wide file case. I have one of those plastic ones, but because my reading assignments tend to be very thick, it quickly reached its capacity. I've seen wider ones made of stronger plastic. I might invest in one of those, especially since I will theoretically be able to use it all throughout college, as I plan to transfer everything inside it to a cardboard box at the end of every semester.

My 30-day challenge for April has already started, but deserves a separate post. 

30-Day Challenge: Keeping a clean routine

Last month I said I'd start doing 30-day challenges to better my life, instead of taking gratuitous photos of random things everyday.

For March, I've decided to create, tweak and hopefully maintain a clean routine. See, I'm usually very messy, but once in a while I get an explosive, raging and often short-lived burst of productivity and cleanliness. I think it's time I make those outbursts a habit.

My routine will focus on keeping my desk clear. This means assigning actions to stuff—research projects, homework, reading assignments—as soon as they reach my desk. I can either relegate them to long-term storage if I'm through with them, chuck them in my "In" bin so I can work o them later, or stack them neatly on my desk if I plan on working on them right away.

I'm anticipating some kinks—perhaps some action items that are hard to sort—so I'll be taking note of them as the month goes by so I can apply all that I learn into a long-term "neatness plan."

It's a good thing I decided to do this in March, too. It's the busiest time of the year for me, with deadlines looming and extracurricular activities demanding my attention. I'll get to test-drive my new routine to the limit.