How to organize your home office space?
1. Clean your space
Evaluate the current state of your home office. Discard any items you don’t need such as old newspapers and unused boxes. Clean your space, including dusting all surfaces and sweeping or vacuuming the floor. A clean area will help you assess your office needs and free up unused areas.
2. Organize documents
Sorting and shredding papers regularly will prevent them from accumulating around your home office. Separate papers into three different piles:
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Discard: Includes anything that contains outdated or expired information. Remember to shred anything that has sensitive personal information.
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File: This stack should include documents you need to keep for at least a month.
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Action: Keep papers that you need to act upon shortly, such as bills, on your desk.
Some documents contain information that is easy to obtain if you need it in the future. You may not need to keep paper copies of these. If you’re unsure, here are a few suggestions for how long you should keep different types of documents:
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One month: Shred credit card statements after one month. Make sure these statements are accurate before you discard them.
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One year: Shred medical bills, pay stubs, bank and investment statements after one year.
3. Create a filing system
An effective filing system will help you locate documents with ease.
Color-coded file tabs or folders provide a clear visual layout of your files to help you quickly find the document you need. As an example, you could color code:
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Green files: Health
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Blue files: Taxes
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Red files: Bookkeeping
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Yellow files: Miscellaneous
If you keep folders for specific projects or clients, file these alphabetically under the designated color. For example, if yellow represents active clients, you could alphabetize these clients by their last name using yellow tabs.
You can keep important information on file while eliminating paper clutter by creating digital copies. Once you finish scanning a document, you can discard the original copy. Digital copies of important papers such as work-related certifications can help you access information without pulling out a folder. Just as you would when filing paper documents, keep scanned documents clearly labeled and organized in folders on your computer.
4. Organize mail
Create a system that helps you sort and organize mail:
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Keep important mail out. Keep time-sensitive mail out so you can respond to it. Designate a mail station on or near your desk so you have a visual queue.
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Create a sorting system. Find a sorting system that fits your space and allows you to sort mail into different categories. Label each category so you can find the mail you need quickly.
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Use stacking trays. Stacking trays allow you to divide mail. You could also add hanging trays on a wall or behind a door if you want to conserve your desk space.
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Keep a calendar. Keep a dry erase calendar above your mail station to markdown deadlines and due dates for bills. Once you pay a bill, you can throw away the paper.
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Go paperless. Opting for communication via email can remove most of your paper clutter. Check your accounts online to see if you can opt for emails instead of receiving physical bills and letters by mail.
5. Organize your desk
Here are some additional tips for keeping different areas of your desk organized:
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Desktop: Only keep on your desk what you use daily. Think about how often you use the office supplies on your desk. If you are not using a particular item daily, store it in a drawer instead.
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Desk drawers: Use small containers in your drawers to keep items grouped. It may be easier to focus on maintaining your organization methods for individual containers than for whole drawers
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Printing area: Keeping your printer on your desk may take up valuable working space. Instead, use the top of a filing cabinet or a side table as your printing area.
6. Organize cords
Use cord organizers to keep wires neatly bundled together and prevent the space around your desk from becoming cluttered with cords. You can use adhesive hooks to attach cords to a wall or your desk and cord boxes to organize and hide wires to keep them out of the way.
A USB hub allows you to plug multiple devices into your computer with one cable. You can also use a wireless mouse, keyboard, and speakers to eliminate wires.
7. Prioritize in-progress work
Use your desk as a place where you can complete tasks. Sort items into an actionable or “to do” pile to prioritize important work.
Having a clearly-placed reminder for tasks will help you stay organized and focused if you are a visual person. You can use sticky notes on papers describing specifically what you need to do or a whiteboard to write notes and make lists.
You could keep a digital task list on your computer. You can also sync some digital task lists to your smartphone or tablet so it’s always available.
It can take some effort to organize your home office space, but having a system can help you complete the work you do at home more efficiently. After you have arranged your home office, you must maintain it. Periodically shred papers, supplies, and computer clutter to keep your home office space in order.