Organized Home Office: A Visual Guide

A tidy home office can improve focus and productivity, but it's easy to let papers pile up and clutter take over. To get your home office under control, you'll need to dedicate time to sorting and organising your space. Start by clearing your desk, then create an organisational system for your papers and supplies. Use colour-coding, labels, folders, and storage solutions to keep things in order. Make use of vertical space with wall pockets, shelves, and calendars. Keep personal items to a minimum, and store supplies you don't use frequently out of the way.

Create a colour-coded filing system

Creating a colour-coded filing system is a great way to organise your home office and ensure you can find what you need when you need it. It's a simple yet effective method for displaying information by using different colours.

Step 1: Separate Documents into Categories

Start by sorting through your documents and deciding on the main categories you want to use. For example, you could have categories such as client invoices, sales receipts, financial statements, vendor invoices, and tax documents.

Step 2: Choose a Colour for Each Category

Assign a specific colour to each category. For instance, you could use green for financial documents, red for medical, orange for personal, yellow for insurance, and blue for house-related documents. Make a list of the categories and their corresponding colours for quick reference until you memorise them.

Step 3: Determine Your Filing Cabinet and Folder Needs

Consider the type of filing cabinet and folders you will need. Vertical filing cabinets typically hold letter-sized documents, while lateral filing cabinets are designed for legal-sized documents. Choose folders that correspond to the colours you designated for your categories. If using plain folders, purchase coloured stickers or labels for easy viewing.

Step 4: Place Documents into Coloured Folders

Once you have your system in place, it's time to fill it! Place your documents into the appropriate coloured folders and then file the folders into the cabinet.

Step 5: Organise the Categories

Arrange the categories to suit your needs. For example, place the folders you access most often or the categories you add to the most at the front of the filing cabinet. You can also alphabetise files if creating individual files for clients, patients, or other specific groups.

Step 6: Add New Categories as Needed

As your needs change or your business grows, you can easily expand your colour-coded filing system by introducing new colours for new categories.

Tips for Maintaining Your Filing System:

• Go through your filing system regularly (at least once a year) to review and adjust your categories as needed.
• File new documents as soon as possible to avoid clutter building up.
• Use a label maker to clearly label your files, drawers, and boxes for easy access.

Set up a mail station

Setting up a mail station is a great way to keep your home office organised and clutter-free. Here are some steps to create an efficient mail system:

Designate a Space:

Firstly, choose a location for your mail station. This could be a table in the entryway, a desk in your home office, or even a space in the kitchen. Ensure you have enough room for sorting mail and organising supplies.

Stock with Supplies:

Equip your mail station with essential supplies, such as stationery, stamps, a letter opener, scissors, a wastebasket, a calendar, a recycling bin, and a paper shredder. Having these tools easily accessible will make sorting and processing mail more efficient.

Create a Filing System:

Develop a simple and consistent filing system to manage your mail. You can use stacking trays, baskets, or wall-mounted organisers labelled with categories. Here are some suggested categories to get you started:

• "To Pay": For bills and invoices that require payment.
• "To Review/Act On": For documents that need further attention or action, such as bank statements.
• "To File": For important documents that need to be retained for future reference, like tax statements and receipts.
• "Coupons": For any vouchers or coupons you wish to keep.
• "Incoming" and "Outgoing": For mail that is received or needs to be sent out.
• Family Member Names: Create a folder for each family member to sort mail accordingly.

Make it a Daily Routine:

Commit to processing your mail daily to prevent it from piling up. A good time to do this could be in the morning or as soon as you get home. Open each envelope and decide which category it belongs to. For bills, mark the due dates on the calendar and the envelope, and keep them in their original envelopes until paid. For other documents requiring action, set aside a specific day and time each week to review and manage them.

Additional Tips:

• To reduce junk mail, unsubscribe from unnecessary mailing lists, switch to electronic bill pay, and sign up for Informed Delivery services to preview your incoming mail.
• Protect your personal information by using a thick black marker to blackout names, addresses, and account numbers on junk mail before discarding.
• Consider investing in a small scanner to digitise important documents, reducing the need for physical storage.
• If you have a wireless printer, move it away from your desk to free up space.

By following these steps, you'll be able to efficiently manage your mail and maintain a neat and functional home office.

Create a printing station

To create a printing station in your home office, you'll first want to designate a space for it. If you have a wireless printer, you don't need to put it on your desk, and a printer stand or bookcase can be a great way to save space.

If you're using a bookcase, you can customise it by installing shelves for paper trays. You can also use simple drawers or trays on a shelf to store back-stock paper.

On the shelves, you can store other office supplies such as staplers, envelopes, scissors, and letter openers. You can also add decor or plants to the shelves to add a stylish touch.

If you don't have a bookcase or printer stand, you can easily make one yourself with a fun DIY project, or thrift and refresh an old one. Just make sure to check the size of your printer before selecting your printer stand to ensure it fits.

Having a wireless printer can make a huge difference, as it means no cords draped across the room and more flexibility in where you place your printer.

Use drawers and dividers

Drawers and dividers are a great way to keep your home office organised. Here are some tips to help you make the most of them:

Choose the Right Materials

You can buy ready-made drawer dividers, but these can be expensive and may not fit your drawers exactly, leaving you with wasted space. A cheaper and more flexible option is to make your own dividers out of cardboard, cardstock, or foam board. That way, you can customise them to fit your drawers perfectly. You will also need a way to cut the material (such as a craft knife or scissors) and something to join the pieces together (such as glue or tape).

Plan Your Compartments

Before you start making your dividers, think about what you want to store in your drawers and how you want to organise it. Measure the items and plan out compartments that will be the right size and shape to hold them neatly. It's a good idea to group similar items together, such as paper clips, rubber bands, and other small stationery. You can also use dividers to separate different types of items within a drawer, such as keeping pens and pencils in one section and notepads in another.

Make Your Dividers

Once you have your plan, it's time to cut out your divider pieces. If you're using cardboard or cardstock, you can join several pieces together to make them longer or stronger. For foam board, you might want to wrap the pieces in contact paper or stick-on wallpaper to give them a neater finish and add some colour. Then, simply slot your dividers into the drawer.

Keep On Top of the Clutter

Even with the best drawer organisation system, it's easy for things to get messy again over time. Make sure you regularly go through your drawers and declutter, throwing away anything you no longer need and finding a better home for items that don't belong there. That way, you can always find what you need quickly and easily.

Sort and section

Sorting and sectioning is a crucial step in organizing your home office. It involves going through all your belongings and deciding what to keep, toss, or donate. Here are some detailed tips to help you with the "Sort and Section" phase:

Dedicate Time:

Sorting through years' worth of papers, photos, or other items can be a time-consuming task. Make sure to set aside a few days to go through everything thoroughly. It's easy to get distracted by memories, so limit your "Memory Lane" time and stay focused on the task.

Sort Items into Categories:

Go through your belongings and create separate stacks or sections for different categories. For example, you can have a stack for important documents, another for office supplies, and a separate section for items you want to toss or donate.

Separate by Years or Projects:

If you're dealing with a large number of papers or photos, try sorting them by year. For instance, you can have a stack for each year dating back to a certain decade. If your work involves multiple projects, you can create sections for each project.

Be Selective with Photos:

Photos can be one of the most challenging things to sort through. It's essential to be selective and only keep the ones that are truly meaningful. Toss or recycle photos that are blurry, unflattering, or irrelevant. If you have multiple photos of a similar event or occasion, choose the best one or two to keep.

Organize by Person or Event:

If you have photos of specific people or events, create separate stacks for each person or event. This will make it easier to manage and file them later.

Assess and Donate Unwanted Items:

As you sort through your belongings, be mindful of items that you no longer need or use. This includes outdated office equipment, broken supplies, or items that no longer bring you joy. Donate or recycle these items to create more space and reduce clutter.

Create a "Toss" Pile:

During the sorting process, have a designated pile or bin for items that you plan to throw away. This can include broken or damaged items, outdated magazines or newspapers, and any other clutter that is no longer useful.

Use Post-its or Labels:

As you section your items, use Post-it notes or labels to indicate the categories or dates. This will make it easier to retrieve and organize them into their proper places later on.

Remember, the "Sort and Section" phase is an important step towards achieving a well-organized home office. It might be time-consuming, but it will make the rest of the organizing process much smoother and more efficient.

Frequently asked questions