You may work from home every day or you might only occasionally use your office as a quiet place to pay bills, compose birthday cards, and create a schedule for your household. No matter how you use your home office, it’s important for it to be clean and functional. Here are a few helpful tips to better organize your home office.
Designate the Space
The office may be an entire room all to itself, or it could be tucked into a corner of the kitchen or guest room. No matter where you locate your home office, make sure to designate the space. Any space can become an office by adding a desk, comfortable chair, filing cabinet, and a bookshelf.
If you are working from home, use a ‘Do Not Disturb’ sign or create a schedule of your work hours to hang on the office door so your family knows when you are busy.
Declutter to Organize Your Home Office
An important step in maintaining your office space is to declutter it regularly. Move things out of the area that are not necessary for work. Find an empty cardboard box and use it to gather items that do not belong in the space. If your office has accumulated a pile of toys from your children coming to visit, box them up. You can put things away in their proper locations later.
Next, take a look at your desk. You probably won’t use an entire box of pens during your workday, so choose a pen to keep nearby and put the rest away. Do the same with the rest of your supplies and materials. Don’t let things you don’t use take up space on your desk. Focus on making the desk a place you can work productively without clutter.
Tackle the Paperwork
In most home offices, paperwork and documents are the biggest sources of clutter. Move paperwork out as quickly as possible. Pay bills right away to get them off the desk. Use your printer to scan documents that you don’t need hard copies of. Digital files can be stored easier than paper. File away any papers that you need to keep, setting a goal to do it by the end of each workday.
Organize Your Home Office With a Printing Station
You can avoid searching everywhere for paper and ink cartridges when you create a printing station. Make sure your printer is on a sturdy table or shelf. Use drawers, baskets, or plastic bins to store your printing supplies. When you need to print a document, you’ll be glad you have everything within easy reach.
Use Labels
Labels are helpful for organizing anything in your home. When a box or bin is labeled, there’s no question about what belongs there. You will be more likely to keep an area tidy because you know exactly where things should go.
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