5 Tips For A Tidy Home Office

Staying organized both in your home life and work life can sometimes be a challenge. If you work from home or just have a small home office, it’s very important to make sure your work space is properly maintained and you can find everything easily. Too much clutter can make life much more difficult, and important tasks and papers can get lost in the shuffle.

'Sometimes the biggest gain in productive energy will come from cleaning the cobwebs, dealing with old business, and clearing the desks—cutting loose debris that's impeding forward motion.' David Allen

 

I’m not what you’d call a naturally neat person but I know that with proper organization, it is so much easier to find the things you are looking for. This will help create a sense of calm in your work environment.

Today I want to challenge you to look at your current work space and….tidy it up! I did this challenge last year and it felt soooo good.

Here are 5 tips to help you organize your work environment for a happy, stress-free start to the year.

1. Tidy your desk.

Your desk is where you do most of your professional work and a lot of thinking, so it’s important that it stay neat and clean. Use pen holders, post it note holders, a small cup for paper clips, rubber bands etc. Or you may find a desk organizer with different compartments useful.

2. Use File trays.

Having separate file trays for incoming work, work in progress or any other classification you want to make can help organize all your paperwork. Once a week go through your paperwork and file any completed work in a filing cabinet or other suitable system. Also, re-evaluate the work in your files and complete it, pass it on to your VA or throw away any items that are no longer important.

3. Tidy your computer.

In the same way you organize your paperwork into folders and files, do the same for your computer. Clear your desktop of irrelevant stuff, review your folder set up and make such each file and folder is relevant to what your current goals are.

4. Archive

Archive important but non-current information. Both in your paperwork and computer. Some items are needed such as tax receipts and contracts. You may want to keep certain ideas or projects that have merit but are unsuitable at this time. They don’t need to take up current work space so put them in safe folders and archive.

5. Control your email.

Emails can easily get out of control so now is a good time to delete old or irrelevant emails that are taking up storage space. I recently did a mass deletion of emails from my inbox and felt like a weight had been lifted off me. If you don’t know how to mass delete emails check out some guides on YouTube.

Take some time to tidy up your workspace and notice the freedom you feel.  It's worth it!

If you'd like some help setting your goals and planning your year, please apply here.