The pandemic has seen the rise of the home office, with more people than ever working from home, either on an employed basis or self-employed as part of the Great Resignation. Whatever your situation is, if you have a home office, it’s imperative that it’s organized and kept in immaculate order. If not, you’ll find that your workday becomes infinitely harder as you attempt to rifle through endless amounts of loose paperwork.
This can be detrimental to your work output, making it all the important to focus on keeping your working environment orderly and neat, although this is easier said than done. If your home office is looking a bit on the messy side and you’re struggling with how to better organize it, here are five tips you can take on board to get your space as productive and as tidy as it possibly can be.
1. Invest in good desk tidies
First and foremost, your desk needs to tidy. If you’ve got endless amounts of paperwork and pens everywhere, it’s high time to invest in some desk tidies. For paperwork, buy a tiered letter tray. This will ensure everything has a place and will make it easier for you to find important documents that don’t need to be filed away just yet (this is all the more important if you don’t have space in your home office for a filing cabinet).
You should also consider a compartmental desk tidy that comprises of a pen pot, spaces for your stapler/eraser/sticky tape/ page pointers, and a slot for your phone. This will keep all those random little bits in one place and within easy reach.
Desk tidies are fairly cheap to pick up, but they’re one of the most essential facets of a tidy office.
2. Keep your cables and wires tidy
The next step to organizing your home office is to keep your cables and wires tidy. If you have loose wires everywhere, it will look messy and may even distract you from your work. Instead, look into cable tidy systems, including securing your cables to your desk if possible. If not, you can always buy a larger cable tidy tube that will keep everything together in one neat line, preventing tangles and trips.
3. Keep your desk clear
The key to a good workspace is to keep your desk as clear as possible. Desk tidies will help you achieve this, but you also need to limit the number of personal items on your desk, such as photo frames, trinkets, and snacks. One or two is fine, but try to reserve a good, clear space for you to write and type.
4. Keep track of notes with a wipe board
Rather than using an endless number of sticky notes to keep track of important notes and deadlines, consider buying a wipe board. Magnetic wipe boards are a particularly good choice because you can stick bits and pieces on them, but they’re far less likely to fly off like loose sticky notes. You can also map out your work schedule in clear view, making it easier for you to keep track of everything you need to do in a day.
5. Keep basic office supplies in-stock
The final tip we have to organizing your home office is to keep basic office supplies in stock in a storage box or a drawer somewhere. You never know when a marker pen might run out, and if you spill something on your notebook, it’s important to have another to hand immediately. This will save you rifling through other drawers in your house or using scraps of paper, both of which can create mess.
