Keep Your Exhaust Pipes Clear

I just emptied my office garbage and recycling, as I do every single
friday. I think this is one of the most important things to help with
having a tidy, organized environment: always having your garbage and
recycling within arms reach, and almost all the time less than 50% full.
If they're more full than that, my brain starts to generate subconscious
resistance to putting things in there; if I have to force it down onto the
heap, I am more likely to absent-mindedly put my kleenex or whatever on my
desk (getting up and emptying it as needed would be even worse, for the
large disruption of flow) If there's not a regular, well-defined set of
processes taking garbage and recycling from your hand to out of the house
or office, crap will build up at the different stages, ultimately leading
to clutter and paralysis right where you don't want it, like sewage
backing up. When it's working good on the other hand, in the middle of a
work flow you can just reach over and instantly eliminate some piece of
clutter from your space and your mind, forever. So even when other
cleaning jobs fall by the wayside, I empty those wastepaper baskets like
clockwork!