even when you do find the time, you put it off. Procrastinating? More than likely you are, because you simply don't know where to begin and the papers just continue to pile up with no hope of finding a home, and the job just seems to be massive and dreadful. How many office desks become the dumping ground for any and everything? Remember we can easily be placed in an undesirable category for having a cluttered, not businesslike desk and many of promotions are lost based on this preconceived negative notion. Desk clutter can also cause co-workers and supervisors added unnecessary stress and confusion. A cluttered desktop, stacks of piles of paper, and disorderly files may paint an uncomplimentary picture of our business performance to present clients. This can in turn, become the cause of losing potential clients, truly before they get to know that beyond all the chaotic distraction, we may have an idea of what's doing and/or we may be good at our job, profession, or trade.

Not being able to locate a document in a reasonable amount of time, say not more than three minutes can be extremely costly. Consider if one spends an average of an hour a day locating a particular document or file and earns approximately $50,000 per year. Due to a lack of disorganisation, this figure escalates when you enlist the help of others, in earned income that equates to approximately a $6,300 annual loss. It is much more economical to spend some time to get yourself organised and bank that money. If you placed, let's call it, the aimless slush-fund, in an interest bearing account for 15 years, you could realise almost $100,000. If unable to do it cold turkey and you need assistance, hire a professional to assist you but, do, please keep in mind to make a commitment in keeping up some sort of system once the solutions are in place. If the system breaks down, the clutter and displacement will creep right back into your lifestyle.

The National Organisation of Professional Organiser's national "clean your desk off day'' was January 11 and they held numerous campaigns to get the business public aware of how not only unsightly it is to have a disorderly and cluttered desk, but the stress that comes along with a disorganised desk. So as NAPO's link to the Caribbean including Puerto Rico and Bermuda, I am declaring February 18th as Bermuda's own "clean off your desk day''. Where do I start you ask? Firstly, jot down Thursday, February 18, 1999 in your calendar, and make an appointment with yourself. For this long overdue commitment try to block at least three hours, if possible.

Make it as fun as possible. Play your favourite boogey down music or Kenny G, Aretha, or Natalie Cole; if classical is your style, play it. If you find you are doing more dancing and singing your attention is off target, please turn off the music, after all, the music is to enhance the work, not prolong the process.

Wear comfortable clothes. For extreme messy clutter, wear rubber gloves and if necessary, bring in a disinfectant. No joke or insult intended, the pine or lemon aroma will be appreciated, especially if the mildew hasn't been cleaned away for years. Bring along some oversized garbage bags and a serious cleaning, no-nonsense attitude.

Take every single item off the desk. Everything: papers, magazines, phone, computer, office equipment, plants, donuts, etc., everything must be removed.

For the hard to remove items like glued paper, try dabbing a small amount of nail polish remover or paint thinner, be careful, if desk is an antique or a heirloom, consult an expert.

Now we are ready to get started. Remember to start tossing out papers that won't be read again, if you can get the information from another source, toss the extra copy. Follow these tips from Custom Assignments and myself and you're in for great accomplishments: Get five boxes and label them as follows: To Read; To File; To Do; Catalogues/Magazines; and Contact.

Sort items as you uncover them. Don't get sidetracked with unnecessary trips to other rooms or cupboards.

Trash anything that is expired or not vital to your existence. The rest should go into the To File, To Do or To Read boxes.

Trash any magazines and catalogues that are older than four to six months. Get rid of catalogues that you have no interest in. If you find an article that you would like to read, rip it out, date and label if necessary, staple the pages together and place in your To Read box.

All business cards, notes, scraps of paper with phone numbers and addresses should go into the Contacts box and later be input into your computer, diary or organiser.

If you need to add another box, do so.

Then you can pat yourself on the back, take a 15 minute break to get a snack and/or drink or just sit back, close your eyes and visualise how you desk is going to look in the very, very, near future! Now that some semblance of order is seeping in, it is now time to tackle those boxes: Magazines/Catalogues -- Look at each issue and ask yourself: Will I read this? If not, toss it. Don't get sidetracked and start reading the article now.

For issues that you absolutely need, particularly if they are to do with your hobbies or business, purchase some inexpensive magazine holders. Buy an attractive basket and put all the unread issues and catalogues in it.

Contacts -- Tackle this box only when you are able to set aside enough time to go through all the items. Keep asking yourself -- do I need to keep this number? Will I ever refer to this business card again? Will I really use their services? Toss whatever you don't need.

To Do -- This box is probably quite full, but with a little time and focus, you can deal with it quickly. With each piece of paper ask: Is it too late to do this? Do I have the time? Do I really need or want to do this? Any piece of paper that has the answer yes, either deal with it immediately or place it in your desktop trays/files.

To File -- Initially all paper should fall into two very basic categories, archival (legal, tax, etc.) or current files (business, home, etc.). As you sort each piece of paper, ask yourself those by now familiar questions: Do I really need this? Is the information available elsewhere? Can I live without it? To Read -- Look at each item in this box and again ask yourself the needy questions. Anything that you really must read can then go into your reading basket and placed under your desk.

In the end, you will be grateful to yourself for taking the time to get your act in order.