Purposeful Desk Clutter

A few weeks back, I mentioned that I had a few study programs that I was working on. Today, I plan to go a little further into that, and how I keep everything organized and ready to go.

First - Remembering to do the work.
Certain days of the week have certain programs attached to them - Sunday has a specific workbook to go through, as does Monday. These are added to my planner each week, and they are to be done on those days, no matter what.
The other two studies are more 'whenever' studies, but still need to be done on a weekly basis. I try to make sure they are put in my planner at least once a week, starting on Tuesday or so, and then moved down the week each day until I have done at least one lesson for each study.
All of this is kept in my regular planner, just like any other task.

Second - Organizing my binder.
Each program has its own section in my binder, and each program is set up a little differently than the rest. The first follows a color co-ordination scheme. The second is set up more like a note-taking journal. The third is mostly easy questions with short answers, but it can vary week to week. The fourth is actually a complete Seminary program, so it's just like school work, with lots of longer-answer questions.
In reality, they all look very similar. And sadly, I wish I had set them all up the same! It's a pain having to go back and remember which one is done which way, but it's really not too bad. Plus, I'm slowly learning which style I like more - I'm leaning towards the color co-ordination and the note-taking journal types.

Third - Study materials.
Each workbook is saved to my computer desktop. No searching for them in folders, no remembering which drive it's on. Handy, desktop, ready to go. Since these are all church lessons, I need scriptures, and those are always kept on my desk. Pens and pencils are always here as well. I am ready to learn, no matter what the time. I have copies of them on my phone and tablet as well, so if I want to move to the couch or bedroom, I am able to do so.
The best part about these lessons, is that the referenced stories or talks are mostly already in the study materials themselves, so no outside searching is necessary, unless you choose to do so. Everything is here and ready to go, no worries, and no way of being able to say it's too much work to get going!

Fourth - Doing the work.
No distractions. If the TV is on, I can mostly block that out, as it's on the other side of the room, but anything else needs to be off. My phone gets hidden (as movement turns the notification/unlock screen on, so half the time just writing on my desk turns the screen on). My browser tabs get forgotten about, music gets turned off, and I try to be as focused as possible. Of course that doesn't always work, but that's the hope. If I notice I'm fidgeting a lot with my hair, hair goes up. If I'm twirling my pen about too much while reading the material, pen gets set down and a little farther away - I'm hoping to train my fidgets out.
I have to practice, basically, being attentive, as I'm out of habit! I naturally want to multi-task, but I also know that doing more than one thing at a time isn't the best way to go about things. I retain less, and it takes much longer to get anything done, as I forget where I was in my tasks.

Fifth - Completion.
Once I'm done with my lessons, everything is easy to put away (since it all just stays on my desk anyway). I cross it off in my planner, and I'm ready to go on about the rest of my day.

I really don't think I was ever this organized with study materials when I was in school! But, for me, it works, and it helps me to be able to focus on what I'm learning, and to be able to do so whenever I want. Plus, with everything being here and ready to go, there is no excuse to not stay on top of it, other than being lazy and full of procrastination (which is what we're trying to work around in the first place!).

Do you make time for learning or personal study? How do you go about it?

~Havok