Tips for Organizing Your Office

By organizing your office, you will avoid this scenario...

You're searching for an important document through a clutter of office papers only to end up with more confused clutter...

This is one of the biggest dilemmas with establishing a home office. Most people tend to be even more disorganized than they were at an employer's office, thinking that being organized isn't really that important since you're only at home anyway.

But, if you lack the crucial skills of organization, this could lead to reduced productivity, because while you're digging through piles of papers looking for that one urgent document, time continues to tick away and you could easily miss a client deadline.

So follow these tips for organizing your office and you'll be running a smooth ship.

• Keep your desk clutter-free as much as possible. Try to actually pretend your old boss is still looking over your shoulder and he's a neat freak.
• Get those papers off your desk and organize them into a stackable letter tray.
• Pick up a cheap plastic pen & pencil holder to keep those out of your way.
• Regularly go through your papers, magazines and newspapers, sales letters and flyers, and toss them out at least once a week or so.
• Buy a corkboard memory board for your important notes to keep handy - but off of your desk!
• Regularly clean and dust your desk. It's actually easier to work in a clean area than always breathing in dust.

Need some motivation for organizing your office? Well, some of you might have a husband who shares an office, like I do, and he gets on me once in a while if I start slipping up, but if it helps, print out this list and keep it handy. Then try to keep at it at least once a week.

• You are a professional, not just a "work at home mom" or an "at home typist." You are providing a valuable service so it helps to work in an environment that projects that professionalism, even if no clients ever see it!
• Finding things you need, like a client paper, an invoice, a bank statement, is faster and less frustrating when you already know where those things are.
• You will avoid a potential crisis of losing or throwing away any important documents or items.
• Regularly cleaning and organizing your office is actually less stressful since neatness can be very calming. You won't be dealing with clutter when you're trying to concentrate on your work.

 

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