Picture this: It's a Monday morning and nothing is going your way. You can't find the email you need to forward to your boss, you spilled coffee on the pile of paperwork on your desk, and you're already feeling distracted.
Did you know that employees with a clean desk can work 7.5 minutes longer without feeling distracted?
If you want to optimize your home office space, it's time to declutter and organize. Continue reading for some tips to get started.
Why Declutter?
Decluttering is crucial for self-care. Having a clean and organized space will improve your overall mental health and productivity by:
- Boosting your mood
- Inspiring
- Improving focus
- Giving you control of your environment
- Allowing you to complete tasks quicker
- Creating a calmer environment
Taking the time to declutter and organize your space allows you to focus on work with fewer distractions. As a bonus, decluttering is a way to start fresh and create a space you can keep organized for years to come.
Get Rid Of Things
The first step in creating a more organized space in your home office is to remove the clutter. We often accumulate more than we need which takes up space and makes the room feel unorganized over time.
To decide how to declutter your space, take everything out in the open. Once everything is out, separate things into piles of what you'll keep, trash, or donate.
Rather than focusing on the negative of what you're getting rid of, focus on what you must keep. Get rid of anything else if you're unsure whether to keep it. It likely doesn't serve its purpose.
Move Items That Aren't Office-Related
It's not uncommon for home offices to become the catch-all space for other items that don't have a designated place. To help with decluttering, remove anything from the room that isn't office-related—it doesn't belong there.
Consider Everything's Purpose
Once you've gotten rid of some things and have pared it down to the important items, it's time to sort items by their purpose. Start by grouping items together that serve a similar function by separating them into piles.
When it's time to put things in their new place, having these similar items together will save time when you need to find things and keep your space organized.
Develop A System
Think about your work style and how you perform your best and develop a system of organization that works for you to stay organized. Consider how you'd like to work in the future and what has worked (and hasn't) in the past.
Write down what your typical day looks like and what would make things easier for you to work efficiently. Writing it down helps envision the most important things to focus on in your new system.
Invest In Organization
When giving your home office an overhaul, go the extra mile and invest in some new organization items. Calendars, whiteboards, bulletin boards, a desk with more storage, labels, filing cabinets, and shelving are all things you may find valuable.
Have A Space For Your To-Do Items
If you're someone who needs a visual showing what you need to do, make a designated space for your to-do items. This can be a tray on your desk where you move completed projects or a whiteboard where you write out your tasks for the day.
Purge Your Papers
Paperwork is a common source of clutter in offices. In many instances, you no longer need to hold onto them.
As you're going through items, remove and shred any unwanted paperwork. The papers you need to keep should go in their correct spot in a filing cabinet or scan and store them digitally.
Nix Distractions
For the most productive workspace, remove any distractions from your office area. If you can't get work done with a TV in the room, consider moving it to another room. If your cell phone is a major distraction that isn't necessary for your work, find a designated spot for it out of reach.
Don't Forget Digital Clutter And Organization
When decluttering and organizing our office, we often forget that our digital clutter affects our work. It's not productive to spend several minutes tracking down an important email or a file that we need to use in a project.
Spend some time deleting unwanted emails, files, and pictures from your computer. For further organization, create folders to sort your files in a way that's easy to find.
If sorting through emails on your own sounds tedious, subscription services like Mailstrom will help you keep your inbox clean.
Make Your Space Fun And Inviting
One of the most important organization tricks is to make your space fun and inviting. Incorporate colors you love, let in plenty of natural light, and spend time making it feel like home.
When you step into a space you love, you'll have less stress and stay more productive. Less stress means you'll stay calmer throughout the day and feel like you have time to put everything back where it belongs.
Get To Work! Declutter And Organize Your Home Office Today
Ready to get more work done in your home office? With these tips, you'll be able to declutter and organize your space with ease for a home office that you love.
If you have a lot of digital work to sift through and need some help, Mailstrom can take cleaning your inbox off your plate. Sign up for a free trial today.
