During the past couple of years, we are spending more time at home and more jobs are offering work from home opportunities. This can be great for those days you want to wear pajamas to work in or you don’t want to deal with rush hour traffic. It can also mean that you may start to get a little bit of cabin fever from being at home all the time. All-day every day.
A great way to help combat this feeling is to set aside a specific room or space to serve as your office. Having a set space set aside can help you focus more while working as well as keep your personal time your own. Keeping your office/workspace organized can also go a long way to helping you be more productive at work and help keep stress levels down.
What are some ways you can keep your office space organized? One of the first things you want to do is to consider what an average day looks like. What’s the first thing you do when starting work for the day? Look at your office supplies and determine what you use daily versus what you may only need a couple of times a week. You will want to make the items you use frequently the most easily accessible. Ask yourself if there are supplies that you never use but are taking up space.
Take a look around your office to decide how you can best utilize your space. What do you want to keep on your desk? What about drawers? Which items could possibly be hung on the walls? Is there space for a bookcase or even just shelves on the walls? Will the light from any windows create glare on your computer screen? Are there too many cords to keep track of? Would labeling these cords be beneficial? Try making a list of things you may need to do or additional items you may want to purchase for your home office.
Desk organizers can be purchased at most office supply stores or large shopping chains. These can be an easy way to keep all of your pens, pencils, paperclips, tacks, sticky notes and other supplies organized in one handy little space. Having a set location for these items also helps to reduce clutter on your desk. Another great idea is to have a set drawer set aside for files and paperwork. Try labeling and/or color-coding folders so that different topics are easy to find and reduce time searching for the correct place to file things. If you have too much paperwork for folders, try doing the same thing with binders.
Bulletin boards and hanging shelves are a great way to utilize wall space that may otherwise be empty. If you are hanging shelves just be sure you know where the studs are in the walls to avoid anything falling.
Having personal items at work can help increase motivation and inspiration. However, be sure to take stock of what personal items you keep in your workspace. Look at each item and ask yourself if it is something that will help to inspire you or if it will just end up being distracting clutter. Make sure each item you have in your workspace has a purpose.
