There is overlap between "clutter" and "essential tools". (Where would I be without my pile of PostIt notes?). But on most of the desks I look at, there is (to my eye) non-essential clutter. For example, tape dispensers are standard-issue here; everyone gets one. But nobody uses the damn things. And yet there they sit, taking up space on 9 out of 10 desks (Including mine, until the Meditation earlier today).

So much of the stuff we surround ourselves with just sort of fades into the background, never to be questioned.