Now that a lot of people are working from home, the home office has become one of the most important rooms. Especially when sharing space with others. Your home may have turned into a multi-functional place with a variety of activities such as a workout center, classroom, game room, movie theater and conference room. With everyone around, it could be showing it’s inefficiencies. How do you focus with all the activity? Organization is key.
Here are five tips to help you organize a home office:
Declutter. This is the fastest way to increase your productivity. Go through your whole office and throw out or donate items you no longer use. If you’re continually tripping over something to get to an area, remove it! Hide electronic wires and cords by snaking them behind your desk using cord clips. You want your office to flow.
Next, clean up your desk. Go through papers and either toss or file. You can organize this quickly by creating two piles: one for things you need to take action on and another pile to review at a later time. Dedicate a space, either on your desk in trays or on a shelf in a bin or in a specified drawer for incoming items, like documents and mail. Then set regular time aside to go through and discard or file. Just as important as cleaning your actual desk is clearing your computer desktop of clutter. Organize electronic files, email and back up important information regularly. Clear the clutter, clear the mind!
Optimize the space. Once you declutter, you’ll be able to see what you have to work with. Going forward, keep clutter off your desk with nearby cubbies, hook and baskets. Drawer dividers are a great way to make sure a “catch-all” drawer doesn’t turn into a mess. Plus, you can access what you need more quickly. When storing items, group them in way for efficiency, such as keeping writing tools in one place and mail supplies in another.
If you have paper records, use a binder or file system to categorize information such as medical, auto, pet, house, personal, etc. Straighten up book shelves and organize by subject or by color for a design look. Decorative baskets and bins are a great way to create order and a clean look to your shelving. Label shelves, bins, baskets and drawers for efficiency. Plus, if others in the house use the office, it will guide them to where things are stored without interrupting you.
Create work zones by activity. Your main workspace will be your desk and computer. From there, create a flow to your office. Organize it in a way that makes it easy to utilize your equipment (printer, router, etc) and supplies. Little irritations can disrupt your day! Store items you rarely use. Find an accessible space to hide your router, like in a cabinet, closet or decorative basket. Different work zones can include a reference area (filing cabinet, shelves, binders), print area (printer, paper), and supply area (closet, shelves, drawers). Think of the way you move in the room and organize it to make your life easier.
Utilize wall space. Maximize a small office with floating shelves. For bigger office spaces, floor-to-ceiling modular shelving blends naturally with the room and the extra space between shelves will open it up. Use push pin, magnetic or cork boards to organize your paper and see important notes at a glance. Create a wall pegboard with floating shelves, hanging baskets, notes and inspiring decor.
Personalize your office. You can do this by using decor from around your house or purchase new items such as artwork or a small water feature to inspire flow. Enhance your focus by painting the walls a blue color. Blue evokes a feeling of trust, logic, communication and efficiency. For creative types, yellow stimulates positivity, creativity and happiness. If you’re looking to mix it up, you can paint the walls one color and then add artwork and accents of a secondary color. Consider your light sources. Natural light is best, but you can create an overall natural feel by diffusing ambient light with lamp shades to avoid the direct glare of overhead lights. Certain scents, such as mint, lemon, lavender, rosemary, cinnamon, are also known to stimulate focus.
Home office design that flows with your routine creates efficiencies in subtle ways. Taking small, consistent steps in keeping an office organized will go a long way in setting up an environment for productivity. It clears the mind to focus on what’s most important, the task at hand.
