With each 9-5 workday that goes by – more people join the ranks of those who work at home.
And even if you have a dedicated space to do your work – and a door to close behind you when you do not want to be disturbed – keeping it all organized can be challenge.
So we asked a professional organizer who specializes in this area.
Elaine Quinn of Space Craft Organizing in Chicago says, “When you’re working from home, make things easy on yourself. Don’t waste time and energy searching for what you need in a cluttered and disorganized work space. A few small steps can make a big difference in how well your home office works for you.”
Try a couple of the following tips to make things run smoother –
1. Assign a logical and convenient place to keep every item.
Decide the most logical and convenient place to keep each item and always put it there. Keep like things together and store items closest to the place you will use them. If you use some types of items in more than one place, have duplicates.
2. Put each item away as soon as you are finished using it.
Avoid the habit of putting something here “for now.” All too often, it stays there “for ever.” Eventually you’ll have an unruly stack of stuff to sort through. It’s your choice: a moment now, or hours later.
3. Regularly dispose of items you don’t use.
Clear out things you no longer use so that it’s easier to find what you have. Give them to someone else, donate to a charity, re-purpose, recycle, or just admit they’re junk and throw them away.
4. Only buy items that you need, like, and have space for.
It’s a waste of time, money and space to buy something you won’t use, don’t enjoy, can’t see or is too much trouble to get to.
Elaine advises, “Like any new habit, staying organized may not come naturally at first, but it will save you time (and money!) in the long run.” Learn more by signing up for her newsletter at opens in a new windowhttp://SpaceCraftOrganizing.com.
And if you need support in building the structure of your home office space – give us a call and we’ll set you up with a member of our design team to help you figure things out.
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