By Laura Baird
A home office is a valuable addition to many home setups today. This is where you can be creative, productive, and inspired, one of the reasons many people treat it like a sanctuary. How well the office is organized, however, separates it from the kitchen table. That said, it’s advisable to ensure the space is not only well organized, but creates a serene environment to get work done.
Here are a few organizational tips and ideas for creating the perfect space for a home office.
1. Develop a Filing System
First, you’ll need to visualize how you wish your office to look like. Once satisfied with the setup, you can then bring in a filing system. This can be in the form of bins, folders, cabinets, or matching boxes. Whatever makes sense to you, ensure it is labeled well to make finding files and other items easily. You could print the labels yourself or have someone do it for you. Color-coding the boxes or cabinets would be recommended too.
2. Identify the Ideal Printer Station
One way to ensure there’s order in your office would be by sectioning the office space. Start by identifying the perfect spot for the printer. You could invest in a printer table, stand, or use one of the filing cabinets as a printer stand. Keep all the extra ink cartridges and other printing equipment in an office supply organizer. Wireless printers don’t necessarily have to go on your desk. Setting it up on one of the filing cabinets should leave you with lots of ample space.
3. Have Each Station Labeled
Proper labeling is required if you are to keep your office space well organized through business copier solutions. Identify where every office supply and miscellany will go before starting the labeling process. Create labels to stick on caddies, bins, cabinets, drawers, and mason jars.
A good marker would also come in handy when labeling the items. You can use the labeling marker on boxes, drawers, and files. This should make your work easier, especially if there are lots of files to sort out.
4. Personalize the Space
The home office is where you will spend most of your time working. That said, you should consider personalizing it with personal effects, family, and pet photos as well. These items are a source of inspiration when feeling down or when you need midday motivation. Print out those favorite photos of your family and pets to bring life to the office space. Consider adding colorful curtains, a splashy pillow, and even invest in real plants and flowers to make the space livelier.
Don’t forget the vertical space, either. Have extra shelves and filing systems installed on the wall. Use the blank space to hang calendars and whiteboards as well. You can even hang items and pieces of art you find appealing.
5. Set Boundaries
Distractions from kids, husband or wife, pets, and laundry are some of the issues you have to deal with when working from a home office. Setting ground rules about this can, however, help improve your productivity. In addition to talking to your family, you could print out a ‘Do Not Disturb’ sign then stick it to the home office door. Pinning the sign on the office wall should drive the message home to anyone who reads it.
6. Dedicate Time for Office Organization
The key to keeping your office clean and well organized is by dedicating time to do just that, clean and organized. This should be done during slower days or weekends. It would be even better if you handled the cleaning and organization yourself. This makes it possible to keep everything where it should be, and also care for equipment and items in the office. A well-organized office can also provide a getaway when stressed.
7. Make Use of Storage Containers
All office supplies ought to be kept in a safe place and away from direct sight. Keeping these items in drawers, containers, bins, and baskets would, therefore, help keep the office organized and clean.
8. Keep the Books Organized
If you work with lots of books, you should then have them shelved and organized accordingly. Organizing your books according to size, color or genre would add an aesthetic appeal to the office.
9. Use Binders
Keep important paperwork organized in a binder. Binders make it easy to find a specific document, such as a medical file, with ease. Organize these binders according to their purpose for easier retrieval.
10. Organize You Home Office with Categories
Categorizing all items in the office will make organization easy. It improves your office’s functionality significantly, too. Categories you would want to have in your office include:
- Tools (staple, staple remover, straight cutter, hole puncher)
- Budget (calculator, bill calendar, checkbook)
- Writing tools (pencils, pens, markers)
- Mail (stamps, envelopes, address labels)
- Stickies (Stickers, tabs, sticky notes)
- Labeling (labeling tape, labeler, etc.)
