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Last Updated on April 7, 2018 by Work In My Pajamas
You have a lot to do in your home office – it’s no wonder things get messy from time to time. Your home office is likely a lot smaller than a commercial office, which makes it even more challenging to efficiently organize it. How do you make the most out of a small space? How do you create an environment that will allow you to spend more time productively, allowing you to get back to doing things that you love much sooner? The answer could come in the way you set your office up.
In This Post:
1. Store Vertically, Not Horizontally
Taller shelves will always be better than wider shelves. You work within the floorspace of your office – you aren’t going to move around on the walls. When possible, opt for taller desks, taller cabinets, and taller shelving units. Things won’t feel so crammed that you can’t move around. Get a step stool if you need one, and slide it under your desk to use as a footstool when you aren’t using it. Vertical storage will even add a nice decorative touch to your home office, making your storage system feel more like a library.
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2. Properly Utilize Drawers
We all have a tendency to shove stuff into drawers when we don’t need it right away. It frees up the space at your workstation and allows you to jump back into what you were doing. What happens when you need to find your shove-away items later? Get some great drawer organizers, and be diligent about putting things back where they go. They’re out of the way, unlike desktop organizers, and they even come in customizable configurations.
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3. Go Wireless (Or Come Close)
A wireless mouse and a wireless printer will make your life a lot easier. Cleaning is a breeze when you don’t have tons of wires in the way. Some things will still need to be plugged in, and you might have cables running to your wireless router. Bundle and clip cables together behind furniture, so they won’t cause any obstructions when you’re trying to dust.
4. Try to Go Paperless
Paper takes up a lot of space. You probably have some documents that can’t go completely digital, and that’s okay. As long as you stick to the essentials, it will be easy enough to file away those papers or store them in binders. Recycle paper documents you don’t need, and opt to receive digital statements or documents when possible. You’ll never struggle to find a place to put them, and they’ll be even easier to find when you need them.
5. Give Everything a Place
The biggest key to a functioning organizational system is giving everything a specific place. It might help to do a single intensive organization session where absolutely everything in your office finds a storage home. Get a label maker, and permanently designate that home. Once you get used to it, you can remove the labels. You’ll intuitively know where things go without the need for a reminder. When you get something new, find something old to get rid of or designate a place for it immediately. It’ll help you stay on top of things.
Your home office needs to be a place that you enjoy spending time in. If you enjoy a tiny bit of decorative clutter, allow yourself to indulge. Just make sure your organizational system and your design choices aren’t preventing you from accomplishing important tasks in your home office.
