When organizing your office, you’ve got a couple
choices. Write a list of all the little things that
need to be done and work on them a few minutes each
day, or dive straight into the deep end and do it
all in one fell swoop.
If you’re sick of your entire office, box it all up
like you’re moving, and set the boxes in a different
room. Then unpack one box at a time and organize
from the bottom –up. Make sure to file papers as you
go along.
I like the “little at a time” approach. My first
step would be to take all the papers that are
scattered about and put them into one box. You can
file these now, or clean your desktop and
surrounding area further. I like putting all the
filing together, all the books together, and then
working on one pile at a time.
If several folks in your home are receiving mail,
you can use wall-mounted acrylic holders and just
label them with each person’s name. That takes care
of the mail lying around.
A friend of mine keeps all her bills on her
refrigerator with a magnet. As soon as they come in,
they go straight on the fridge. That way, they can’t
get lost underneath piles of papers. I’ve adopted
this idea and it’s saved me a huge headache. Now I
don’t have a bunch of envelopes and bills lying
around on my desktop, just waiting for payday.
Decide what your office needs and designate a spot
for each item. If you make calls from this area,
you’ll need a phone, phone book, message pad and
pens.You’ll need a place for the computer and
accessories, plus a spot for copy paper.
Set up the basics first, and then decide
item-by-item what else you want to place in your
office. Do you have room for personal items?
Pictures can be placed on a bulletin board or hung
on the wall. You ability to focus and accomplish is
affected by a messy desktop, so make it a priority
to keep it decluttered.
Once you’ve set up the office and filed your
paperwork, you can buy some colored folders or
stickers and color-code your files to make it easier
to find what you’re looking for.
If you take just 15 minutes every other day to
clean off your desk and surrounding work area,
you’ll find your home office a much more pleasant
place to work! And your personal efficiency will
skyrocket as well!
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