The Covid 19 pandamic has changed the way we work and live. Over the last two years, many of us are now spending more time working from home.
Finding a designated space at to work and conduct business, has become a high priority for most working families but without the structure of an typical office working environment, it is easy to scatter work related things all over the house.
Having a defined space to work reduces clutter, helps with home organization and allows us to switch off from work at the end of day.
An organized home office will make for a faster and more pleasant workday. After all, the less time we spend working, the more time we have with our family.
Here are 10 easy steps to follow and create an organised home office.
10 Easy Steps to Create an Organised Home Office
1. Create a Separate Home Office zone
It is great if you have a spare room at home to convert into a home office. Whilst this is more convenient, you don’t necessarily need an entire room for an office, and not everyone will be able to do this. If you do not have the extra room you should have a well-defined space to contain all your office essentials and files.
A desk in your bedroom that will hold your files, paper, pens, calculator and of course computer will do fine, especially in the beginning.
If your “office” consists of the dining room table, have some additional drawers in your kitchen to store your work supply’s. Move all your files and papers into one central location, close to the computer especially if that’s where you are doing the bulk of your work.
Have everything in the one place such as your file cabinet and the computer in the bedroom, so everything is within easy access and in the one spot. Who wants to be running from room to room searching for a particular document.
2. Review your work space and office area
You want a nice clean space to work on. Review your desk and keep it free of piles of papers, files, mail, pens lying around? Do you notice anything else piling up? Use folders to store paperwork and work files.
Look at your other furniture and seating. Make sure you have a comfortable or ergonomic chair to sit on. Sitting for long periods puts pressure on our spine and leads to long term back problems so it is important to have appropriate support when working.
Consider an additional monitor to work with. Having two screens means that you can work across several documents open at the same time. Setting one up is easy (see set up guide here ).
As I use a use a laptop to work on, the additional screen is vital and provides me with a much larger screen when working. I have one at home and at work and have never looked back.
3. Separate personal files and office business papers
You will eventually have enough paperwork to deal with without having your personal bills, magazines and the kids’ after-school schedule mixed in there. Create a separate spot for those somewhere outside of your home office space.
4. Create a system that works for you
Remember, you may be working for someone else, but when it comes to your home office, you are your own boss.
Purchase some stylish home office products to set up and organise your space. I look for sustainable and minimalist designs as these have a much longer lifespan and are better for the environment.
Think about how you work. What will be the easiest way for you to find and sort through things? Then create a file system that works for you.
Don’t worry, if you don’t get it right the first time, you can always resort and try again. Sooner or later you will come up with a system that is “just right” for you.
5. Set aside a few minutes at the end of your workday to tidy
Try to “leave work” for the day with a clean, empty desk. You will appreciate it the next morning. This will also prevent you from ever coming across a huge pile of papers again.
6. Add personal touches to your office
Bring in some pictures of the kids; or framed inspirational quotes to keep you motivated whilst working at home.
Add some pretty indoor plants, eco plant displays or anything else you can think of that will make your office a pleasant place to work in.
In addition to getting and keeping you in a good mood whenever you step in your office, you are more likely to keep it clean and organized if it is a place you treasure. So its ok to splurge a little on some special office decor.
7. Create a filing system on your computer
You can waist just as much time searching for an online document as for a piece of paper. If your computer is used for work as well as for personal use, create a work folder and use sub folders for particular employers, projects etc.
Again, come up with a file system that works for you and keep your work files separate from your personal files. This is particularly important if other family members access the computer as well.
If that’s the case, and you are using Windows XP, I strongly recommend setting up a separate user account just for work and password protecting it. This will prevent other family members from accidentally changing or deleting your work files.
8. Organise your office emails
Let’s be honest, we have all wasted time searching for a particular email that contained some vital information we needed fast. Setting up folders for different clients and projects has worked well for me, but again find a system that works for you and stick with it.
Sort the email as soon as you read it. It only takes a second or two to drop it in the appropriate folder, but will save you a lot of time if you have to find it later.
9. Set aside a time every three months to purge your files
We can quickly accumulate a lot of documents both in our file cabinet and on our hard drive that we no longer need.
Setting aside 1 hour every three months to go through and discard unnecessary file and documents. Remember that if we have private or sensitive documents it is best to use a shred these before throwing out in the recycling bin.
Keeping on top of our paperwork, helps keep the space clean and functional. A well organized space is pleasant environment to work in, so at the very least, try to ensure you purge your files at least twice a year.
10. Come up with a home office system that works well for you.
I encourage you to start with a few of these ideas to get your office and yourself more organized. You will be surprised by how much time you will save not searching for files, papers or the stapler.
Before long, you won’t know how you ever functioned without an organized home office.
In summary, using the above tips will keep your home and work separate. Focus on these easy, small and regular steps to keep your home office organized.
Leave a Reply