People are working from home today, more than ever before. Having a home office or a designated office area can help make your life easier when it comes to working from home.
Whether you are working full-time from home, telecommuting two days a week, working as a freelance journalist, or trying to start a home based business, having an area set up for work that keeps the distractions of home at a minimum is crucial. Having an organized home office can increase productivity and make working from home that much more feasible.
Designate the Space
First, the most important step. No matter if there is a separate room serving as the home office or just a desk set up in the corner of the kitchen, designating the space to be the official office is important. This means utilizing and setting up the space for work and work only.
I know, as much as we all would love to work from the comfort of our comfy couch or bed, it is not the best place to work in terms of productivity.
If possible, try not to let that one area double as a play area for children or a place for household items to collect. If more than one person in the household works from home, make every attempt to create separate work areas for each person.
Distractions should be kept to a minimum and work materials readily available at hand. If paperwork becomes buried under children’s artwork or household receipts, the chances are that more time will be lost putting things in order again rather than being spent getting work done.
Treat the Area like a Workplace Office
This step goes hand in hand with step one. A workplace office may have a few items to personalize the space and make it a space you actually want to be in! Grab my FREE Office Sweet Office printable to help spruce up your office space!
But primarily, it is used to get work done and most items are work-related. Attempt to keep wall coverings and nearby shelves free from items not part of the workplace. The items closest to hand should be those related to the job, not to live at home.
Shelving and Bookcases
Lining the walls of the room with shelving and bookcases can help keep materials neat and well organized. Shelving systems that are rearrangeable and easily put up and taken down work well for holding binders and books of different sizes with a great deal of turnover. If the materials to be used are more permanent in nature, consider having wooden bookcases built in the style of the home and anchored to the wall for safety.
Home Office Filing Systems
A well organized filing system helps increase productivity because it keeps your important papers nearby without cluttering your desk. Here are a few different filing systems accessories that may help you stay organized!
Not only can you create physical separate folders and bins, think about your computer desktop as well. Do not allow your computer desktop to be filled with clutter either. Create folders on the computer desktop to contain current work, future work, and past or completed tasks. This will help keep your tasks organized as well.
Hanging shelves and bins from the wall can help keep your desk free of clutter. Try using wire bins, colored plastic or wooden baskets for storing papers at hand. My favorite type of bins are clear bins with a label because I like to see what is in them.
Filing Cabinets
Permanent filing cabinets can be used to store completed work and important paperwork. Once a year, purge any files or materials that are no longer relevant, so that you are not storing unneccesary clutter. Try to avoid filing current or ongoing work out of sight, as it may become harder to keep track of.
Filing cabinets should be easy to flip through and find papers in. If a cabinet is getting too tight to easily put new work into, it is time to either purge older work or expand to a second cabinet.
Bulletin Boards
Bulletin boards can be used to pin important tasks that must be attended to immediately. Place them directly at eye level to keep you on track.
When working from home, be sure that the space is comfortable and customized to fit your needs. Working from home is beneficial because you have the ability to tailor your workplace how you see fit. So take the time to customize the area and find different systems that work for you. But most importantly, treat your home office professionally and not as just another area of the home.
Looking for ideas to accessorize your office? Check out these 10 affordable gold & white home office accessories to get you started!
Pin this:
