Uncomplicate your Home Office

Organizing your home office is essential for creating a productive and efficient workspace. It can be challenging because there’s not always a space or rooms dedicated to that purpose. We’ve had to carve space out of guest rooms, formal living rooms, and kitchen tables because we more of us work from home  today, at least some of the time.

Even if you don’t work at home, you need a place to store and manage the business of home (warranties, medical records, Fluffy’s rabies proof, insurance documentation, etc.) in addition to stationery, pens, scissors, tape, printers….

Where do you get started on uncomplicating your office? At  the top of your desk

Understand that any horizontal space can become a clutter magnet. Your desk quite easily becomes the home of "I don't know what to do with it so I'll deal with it later but I don't want to forget about it."

Here are the steps to uncomplicated your home office no matter where it is:

1. Throw away any obvious trash on your desk: dirty tissues, papers you no longer need, receipts that you don't need, etc.

2. Remove everything that isn’t office related. These would be your coffee cups, extra sweater, kids' lacrosse gear, Amazon shipment that isn't office supplies, etc. 

3. Group the remaining contents by category which will be unique for everyone. Some examples are:
   * work related
   * bills to pay
   * papers to file
   * pictures to put away
   * papers to shred
   *office supplies (paper clips, pens, scissors….)
   * sentimental/ memorabilia
   
   Ultimately, you are going to have to designate a home for these items. It might be a pretty box or basket for sentimental cards and photos; a file folder for home or car related papers & bills. Your office supplies should end up in a drawer in divided organizers to keep like items together.
   

4. Only active work items stay on the desk. The only things that should be on your desk at this point are things that you need there because you are actively working on it and things that you really want there because it makes you happy, like flowers or pictures. 
   
   If you're not actively working on something, off to its home it goes!

Clear bin Basket tray Filing cabinet Surge protector Hanging Files File folders Clear drawer dividers Magnetic clear drawer dividers Cork board Paper shredder Label maker Accessory box

Here are some tips to keep your home office organized going forward:

• Adopt a clear desk policy for your desk at home. This means that you put everything away on your desk before you shut down for the end of the day. 

• Get a pretty basket or bin to (temporarily) store your papers to be filed. Think rectangle, open top, no taller than 3" high.

• Store extra electronics cords away in a clear lidded box. Label it!

• Take advantage of any vertical space and keep the papers that you are actively working on within easy reach with a desktop file sorter.

• Set aside 5 minutes each day to work on some aspect of your desk: filing papers, putting away things that don't belong there

To help you out, I've attached a copy of my Organized Office Essentials Checklist to help with your office organization.

Happy organizing!

Or call Neatsmart to do it for you!