Your bedroom is where you sleep, and your kitchen is where you eat, but your home office may be the nerve center of your entire house. If you own a home-based business, this is where you keep your files, communicate with your manager or clients, and keep track of your bookkeeping. Even if you don't work a 9-to-5 job out of your home office, it's where you manage your household's most important financial, medical and educational documents.
No matter your office's official use, you can't get much done in there if it's a cluttered mess. Unless you're cleaning your desk, clearing the floor and weeding through your filing system with some regularity, you could find yourself lost and buried under a pile of papers.
This month set aside a few hours every week for cleaning, organizing and getting a handle on your home office. These simple tips will show you how to get started, and will guide you through the entire process. By February you might even be able to see the top of your desk again. Then we can move on to the next project.
No matter your office's official use, you can't get much done in there if it's a cluttered mess. Unless you're cleaning your desk, clearing the floor and weeding through your filing system with some regularity, you could find yourself lost and buried under a pile of papers.
This month set aside a few hours every week for cleaning, organizing and getting a handle on your home office. These simple tips will show you how to get started, and will guide you through the entire process. By February you might even be able to see the top of your desk again. Then we can move on to the next project.
Lets Get Started!
From my experience, I think we should get started slowly. Lets begin with a 2
part homework project to get this party started. Take it slow. Don't get overwhelmed and make sure to put aside at least two hours for each one.
Reach out to me with any comments questions or concerns and we can do this together.
1) Get an Organizational System in Place
Before you clean a single thing off your desk or floor, remember that you need somewhere to put all that stuff -- and some rational system for organizing everything.
Chances are if you need to organize your home office in the first place, you're working in a state of partial or total clutter right now.
You can use a variety of tools to organize your office, including:
Before you clean a single thing off your desk or floor, remember that you need somewhere to put all that stuff -- and some rational system for organizing everything.
Chances are if you need to organize your home office in the first place, you're working in a state of partial or total clutter right now.
You can use a variety of tools to organize your office, including:
- An inbox you can use to put assignments, bills, letters and other projects on your to-do list. Remember that this isn't a permanent storage container: If a piece of paper has been sitting in your inbox for more than a couple of days, you need to either file it or trash it. While you're at it, you might want to add an outbox to handle paperwork that's finished but still needs to be filed.
- A file rack to hold current projects
- A trash basket, recycling container and shredder
- A filing cabinet
2) Sweep Your Desk Clean
The purpose of cleaning your office is to help you get organized. The best place to start is at the part of your office where you spend the most time -- your desk.
Is your desk buried under stacks of papers, rainbow-colored mountains of Post-Its and piles of office supplies? Start with a clean slate. Take everything off your desk except for your computer, printer and phone.
This might be the first time you've actually looked at your desk in a long time. If what you're looking at is several years' worth of accumulated dust, you can use this opportunity to clean your desk and vacuum under it.
Then, go through every item that was on your desk. Consider how often you use it. Once a day? Once a week? Once a month? Never? If you don't use the item at least once a week, put it aside. Once you've organized the rest of your office (read further down this list), you can find new homes for all of the supplies and other items you've relocated.
Is your desk buried under stacks of papers, rainbow-colored mountains of Post-Its and piles of office supplies? Start with a clean slate. Take everything off your desk except for your computer, printer and phone.
This might be the first time you've actually looked at your desk in a long time. If what you're looking at is several years' worth of accumulated dust, you can use this opportunity to clean your desk and vacuum under it.
Then, go through every item that was on your desk. Consider how often you use it. Once a day? Once a week? Once a month? Never? If you don't use the item at least once a week, put it aside. Once you've organized the rest of your office (read further down this list), you can find new homes for all of the supplies and other items you've relocated.