Top Ten Tips - Organizing Your Office
By Tip Diva | Mar 19, 2008
Categories: Adult, Backup, Behavior, Books, Cleaning, Computer, Difficulty, E-Mail, Files, Goals, Home, Household, Job, Office, Organization, Shopping, Stores, Tips, Websites, Work, Workplace
Whether you work in an office or from home, keeping your desk and work area organized will help you be more productive, less stressed and happier. Here’s how:
- Use Desk For Desk Supplies Only - Don’t use it for children’s toys, books and other things that have nothing to do with your office functions. Put everything where it belongs, whether on a bookshelf in your office or another room in your house. If you must…
- Make One Drawer For Personal Supplies - Put food, your purse and other personal items in a drawer specifically for non-office use. This way, your personal items will not take over the office.
- Throw Out Broken And Useless Items - Chuck useless items - pens that don’t write, dried out correction fluid, the broken tape dispenser. You’ll be amazed at how much space this clears.
- Buy Organization Tools - Pen holders, desk caddies and organization boxes will keep items together and easily accessible.
- Keep Like Items Together - You’re more likely to find items if they’re paired with like things. For instance, keep stamps, envelopes and packing tape together. Same with staples, paper clips and tape.
- Invest In A Filing System - If you have a lot of papers floating about, invest in a filing cabinet. They’re not that expensive - you can get a two-drawer metal cabinet at stores like Target for under $30. Using hanging folders and file folders, store away papers in a way that makes sense to you.
- See Where You Can Downsize - Look around the office and see where you can merge items or functions. For instance, you can buy a multi-use machine to replace your fax machine, phone, printer and scanner.
- Go Paperless - If you have a habit of printing every e-mail, PDF or file that comes your way, stop. If it’s not important, don’t print it, because you’re just making clutter for yourself. If you have the files on your computer, back them up and toss away the papers (shred them if they’re confidential, or recycle by using the old papers as scrap).
- Make Sure Important Items Are Within Reach - If you have to store often-used items across the room, then you have too many things located in or on your desk.. Reevaluate where you store things so that important items are nearby.
- Clean Up Every Day - The only way to stay organized is to keep on top of all of your hard work. Take five minutes at the end of each day to put things away, file papers and throw out unneeded items.
Other Tips To Check Out:
