………….  MARCH 8, 2016

   ORGANIZE YOUR HOME OFFICE DAY!

..

Year by year, home offices have become increasingly more common. They are no longer used only by entrepreneurs and telecommuters; we use them as a workplace for school work, playing the bills and simply running the computerized part of our lives.

For some of us, having a home office is almost as important as having a kitchen; and for many of us, our office space can end up being just as cluttered and disorganized.

This Organize Your Home Office Day, let’s GET MOTIVATED with 10 great ideas to help make YOUR home office better!

1.    Tame the paper tiger! EVERY DAY, keep up with your paperwork so that it doesn’t pile up. Toss it, shred it, file it or take action on it now, but NEVER pile it!

2.    Store office supplies in drawers, baskets, bins and storage containers, so that your space looks less cluttered. Use a label maker so that everyone knows where to find something when they need it.

3.     Make use of vertical space! Take a hard look at the clutter on the flat surfaces in your office and use wall space for things like calendars, shelves, and filing systems.

4.    Organize your books so that they are easily accessible AND easier to return to the shelf. Try organizing by subject or alphabetically or, if you prefer, organize them by colour to give your office a more organized look.

5.    Create a printing station. Designate one space for paper and printing supplies, preferably out of sight. Keep in mind that if you have a wireless printer, you don’t need to store it near your computer. You can stow it away anywhere in your office.

6.    Set up a mail station for controlling the paper coming in and out of the office. Create your own filing system and set up folders for mail (incoming and outgoing), paper to file and bills. If you have a very busy household with school-age children, you may need to set up files for each family member. Make it a practice to set aside a few minutes every day to deal with mail.

7.    Arrange your filing system so that it is colour coded and simple to use. For instance, you can use green files for all of your financial files (bills, credit cards, invoices), and red for medical files. Whatever system you choose, don’t be blinded by how pretty the colours look; it is still best to stow them out of sight!

8.    Create “life binders” for family members (and even for pets!) which contain important health-related information in case of a medical emergency. This would include immunization records, prescriptions, and allergies. If this system works well in your household, you can also create binders for your car (including repair records and insurance), manuals (including warranties and serial numbers) and household (including maintenance records).

9.    Use Velcro (the self-adhesive kind) to secure loose cords to the underside of your desk. This is one of our favourite tricks!

10.    PURGE! Take a long and hard look at what you actually USE in your home office. If you don’t use it regularly or if it simply doesn’t belong, send it to another part of the house or toss it altogether!

Can YOU think of more ideas to organize your home office? (There are DOZENS more!) Comment on our BLOG or FACEBOOK PAGE.

P.S.  Does your home office (or any other room in your house) need a professional organizer?

TAKE OUR TEST and find out for yourself today!