10 Organizing Tips for the Home Office
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Organizing all those different supplies, books, files, electronics, etc. in your home office can be daunting if you have a lot. Do you have an entire room for your home office or just a small space? Your home office may be a multi-functional space and have some unique organizing challenges. The following tips may help.
Home Office Tips #1, #2 & #3...Declutter First...
As always, go through everything and declutter what you no longer need, love or want. If you keep all these things you will just be organizing clutter. Start in one area – one drawer, one bookshelf, one file cabinet, one desk area and work your way around.
Consider how you want to use the space. Do you just pay bills or work on the computer? Is it also a guest room or craft room? Is the space shared with anyone else – kids, spouse?
Are there items that should be stored somewhere else or haven’t been put in their proper home? Your kids toys, your spouse’s golf clubs, dirty cups or dishes? Find a better home for them and put them where they belong.
Home Office Tips #4,#5 & #6..Decluttering Items You Don't Know What to do With..
If you have something that just needs to be repaired so you can use it again, make a plan to do it! Take it to a repair service and find out how much it will cost. If it will cost more than the cost of purchasing a new one you may decide to just let it go.
There may be items you know you don’t want anymore, but you don’t know how to get rid of them. Old electronics can be recycled but what about laptops, tablets and phones that have personal information on. You may be able to wipe them all clean first, before recycling. But what if you can’t turn the device on to do that? You may have to get help to do that from a techy person who knows how.
You may also have buyer’s remorse if you spent a lot of money on something and can’t return it. Selling it might be an option to regain a little of the money you spent, but donating it may the better option if it will help someone else. Remember – the money is already spent though, and regaining your space and sanity will be worth letting it go.
Home Office Organization Tip #7... Create Zones
Create zones for different functions and storage needs.
- Work area – desk or table, & chair
- Files – current and archives
- Office supplies – papers, pens, ink cartridges, staples, tape, scissors, etc.
- Tech stuff – cords, external hard drives, camera equipment, headphones, microphones, etc.
- Computer and printer and accessories.
- Books – reference and entertainment(if not kept elsewhere).
If multi-purpose:
- Sitting area.
- Sleep area.
- Craft area.
- ??? area.
Home Office Organization Tip #8...Containerize...
All those small items can become a jumbled mess in a drawer. Contain them in drawer organizers, small boxes or bins. Cutlery organizers work great, but old card boxes and dollar store bins also work just as well. I have some interlocking bins for my desk drawers. You can get a similar set here from Amazon. There are also nice bamboo expandable organizers if you have a larger budget.
I re-purposed some boxes and bins to hold electronic cords and accessories and notebooks.
Tip #9...Label...
Label boxes so you know what’s in them and save time looking through them all when you need something. If more than one person is using the space, you may want to label the organizer spaces to remind people (aka. kids or others) where things go.
Home Office Organization Tip #10...filing system...
Create a filing system if you haven’t already. A lot of bills come online now but you may still get some paper ones in the mail and there are other papers that still come the old-fashioned way. Have an in-box or in-file and/or a to-do folder.
You can watch the video below...
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