Since it's usually one of the most often used rooms in the house, keeping the home office neat and tidy can sometimes be a challenge. It's important to have a well organized space to work at home not only to boost your productivity, but to give you sense of accomplishment and satisfaction of a job well done. Here are five simple tips to easily organize your home office and also make it a welcome place in which to work.
Make a List
Before beginning the task of getting your office in shape, sit down and take a long look around. Pick a day when you're free to clean and organize without worrying about unfinished business. Make a list of everything that needs done or that you'd like to accomplish. If you've got a huge job ahead of you, rather than feeling overwhelmed and possibly giving up, divide your tasks into manageable increments.
If it takes 15 minutes at the beginning and end of each day to weed through all of the files and paperwork that you've accumulated, then be sure to stick to your plan until you can see the surface of your desk.
Creativity Counts
When organizing your home office, expand your horizons and think outside the box. Use your creativity to come up with inventive ways to make use of the space you already have. If your office has a decent sized closet, consider removing the door and using that space as a nook for your desk or file cabinets. You can easily hang shelves around the inside of the closet to utilize space that may have been wasted before.
Instead of using a regular computer or office desk, experiment with different types of furniture that you can adapt to suit your own specific needs. And rather than having a hundred post-it notes scattered around the room reminding you of things to do, hang a dry-erase board near your desk. This way when important things arise, you'll have an handy place to jot them down without cluttering your workspace.
Personalize your Space
When you stop working and look around the room do you see things that are comforting and pleasant that make you happy and relaxed? Or do you see clutter, unpaid bills and unfinished tasks? It's important to use soothing colors and include personal mementos to give the room a warm, welcoming feeling. Also, have an "inbox" and an "outbox" to keep paperwork organized and in one place.
Shop at Home
Instead of spending a fortune on all of the latest gizmos and gadgets to reorganize your office, just take a walk around your own house and look for new and inventive ways to neatly store things. Colorful but inexpensive jars or containers can be used to keep supplies like paper clips, staples, pens, pencils and push-pins organized but also add another decorative touch to the room.
Separate but Together
If you must use your home office for paying bills and organizing your household as well as for your job, you may find that you have a hard time keeping everything separate and easily accessible. If you've got an extra drawer in a file cabinet or desk, use it for all of your personal paperwork and be sure to label it as such. Create a system using folders of different colors each representing a different aspect of your business. This cuts down on time spent searching for needed files.
The dream of working from home is becoming a reality for more and more people everyday. Although once home, some may find it more of a nightmare than a dream. The challenges of working from home are different than working in an office and many people are not prepared. Between the family interruptions, barking dogs and the scintillating daytime television shows it can be difficult to stay focused and be the same efficient and productive working machine at home as you were at the office. Here are a few simple things you can do to maintain your efficiency amid the chaos and distractions.
Create Your Space Just having a quiet place to work can make a huge difference. If possible, it should be someplace where you go only to work and not play. The ideal situation is an actual home office but if space doesn't allow it, someplace away from the main traffic of the house, and out of ear shot of the television, will do as well. Once you have established your work area, treat it as such. Keep it clean and organized. When you were working in an office you probably didn't keep week old coffee cups and stale bread crusts hanging around your desk. Don't do it at your home office either. Clutter and trash is distracting. A clear workplace makes for clear thinking.
Use The Technology Available Technology has been one of the major driving forces in the work from home revolution. Make sure to take full advantage of it to help you stay organized and get more accomplished. Virtual communications is probably the biggest factor that has allowed so many people to come home from the office. There is of course the whole world wide web, email, instant messages, virtual phones, cell phones, virtual fax, video conferencing, and the list goes on and on. All of these technologies make working from home a lot easier.
Let's take virtual phones for example. A virtual phone number allows you to have just one phone line in the house. You are able to differentiate the business calls from the personal calls with a simple message announcing the call is from your virtual phone number. You can even have the calls forwarded to your cell phone when you are out and about. Most of these virtual phone systems also offer email delivery of your voice and fax messages so you don't have to waste time calling in to retrieve voicemail. Unifying your voice, fax and email messages all into one place frees up time to focus on more important tasks.
Keep Deadlines For people that are still working for someone else, only now from home, this is probably easier than for those that are working for themselves. Without a boss to be responsible to, it is sometimes difficult to keep on a task until it is finished. Every action item should have a deadline, especially those parts of your job that you don't necessarily enjoy doing.
There are a lot of time management programs out there and most email programs even have task lists. Take advantage of them. One of the great things about these kinds of programs is that they will remind you when your deadline is approaching and will keep popping up in your face until you finish the task. But even if you don't use an electronic task list and reminder system, a simple pen and paper will do. The important thing is to keep your action items written down and stick to your deadlines.
It can be a difficult transition moving from the office space to the home place. We have been conditioned and trained to work in the office environment for a long time. Some may find it difficult to stay efficient and productive within their new found freedom of the home office. However, with a little organization and technology, you can keep your dream of working at home from becoming a nightmare.
Both Nancy Dean & Brandi Cummings are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
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