Tips For Organizing a Home Office
Organizing a home office can feel like a challenge! With papers piling up, no clear storage system in place, and no time to work on organizing, it can quickly become overwhelming and you might find yourself wishing you were working in a cubicle in a downtown office! Organizing a home office doesn’t have to be difficult. Try out these home office organizing ideas from this Professional Organizer in NYC.
Create a paperwork system. We all know that paperwork has a habit of piling up fast, and this is definitely true in a home office. Items like bills, junk mail, school or camp paperwork, important client and project files….all of it has piled up in your space! Start by scheduling time to sort through the paperwork. From there, create a color-coded filing system to store necessary paperwork. The quickest and easiest way to code your files is by using different color file folder labels. Color coding makes it easier to find items at a quick glance, and will also help keep the home files separate from your business files. Throw away or recycle junk mail, old announcements, and scrap paper that you no longer need. Shred any paperwork that includes identifying information, such as account numbers or birthdates.
Store items in a sensible way. When you have a space that serves multiple purposes, such as many home offices, it’s important to create a storage plan that makes sense and can be clearly shared with family members who may also utilize the space. When determining your storage strategy, be sure to identify all items (whether business or personal) that will require space and plan to store all items in the general area in which they will be used. For example, if you store movies or video games in your office space, store those items together in one location preferably close to your entertainment system.
Labels, labels, labels. This is your Professional Organizer in NYC’s top tip – you must use labels in your home office! Utilizing labels when organizing the contents of the bins and boxes will make it easy for everyone in your home to quickly locate the correct box or bin when needed. It is especially important to label those boxes or opaque bins that are placed on the top shelves of the closet. As this space is typically saved for less frequently used items or archives like your tax returns, you will still want to periodically review the contents on these shelves and discard those materials that are no longer needed.
Schedule time for upkeep. Once you have invested time organizing your office, do as I do and spend a few minutes at the end of each day clearing my desk. Start by scheduling time at the end of every day to walk through and organize your space. Give yourself 5 minutes to put items away, file papers, and make sure there is no clutter in your home office space. By maintaining your organized space, you’ll be able to sit at your desk every morning ready and get right to work.
Organizing a home office doesn’t have to be a complicated process, all you need is a few office organizing ideas from your Professional Organizer in NYC! Need more hands on help? Reach out today!