Organize Your Home Office and Increase Productivity

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Organize Your Home Office and Increase Productivity

Author: KCKudra | Total views: 38 | Word Count: 711 | Category: Office Automation | Date: Mar 31st 2008

Are you frustrated with your office space? Do you hunt for a pen every time you put one down? Is the search for documents a half-day event? Is your paper filed chronologically - working your way down the pile to 'one week ago' and unable to pull out 'four months ago' for fear of a paper flood catastrophe?

Every home office deals with excess paper and whether you are running a small or large business, it is still something to contend with, and one that gets worth when there is no organization.

So, what do you do to wrestle the clutter-beast into submission? Space to Organize Is Essential

The biggest problem with staying organized in an office is that people set up a system and do not give themselves enough room to grow.

If you organize a drawer, take everything out and replace it in the drawer but still have no space to put anything else in that drawer, you have pretty much wasted your time. The un-filed pile of papers remains and will simply grow again.

Be certain to have at least a quarter to a third (more if possible) of growing room when implementing a system. You may need to change over at some point, but having some extra space will encourage you to keep up with the organizing.

This system includes everything from architectural drawings to products and documents you accumulate in the course of doing business.

Adding home office desks and storage organization items will go a long way towards making your organization implementation successful. Set aside time to get rid documents that are no longer relevant. This will allow for more space. Invest in a scanner and make PDF files out of things that can be stored electronically.

Filing systems do not need to be hard, confusing, and complicated. In fact, the simpler the better. The easier it is to setup and maintain, the more likely you will be to keep up with it. Some of the most effective systems are as simple as three or four categories like "Expense', 'Correspondence', and 'Projects' or something similar.

When filing large groups of things like clients, projects, and invoices use a single drawer for each group of files that are related. Using a four or 5-drawer filing cabinet is good in that it can be divided either alphabetically or chronologically.

Another class of things you will need to make room for are the things that you refer to daily or even hourly. A posting board or corkboard near your desk would be in order. You can hang things like phone lists, 'To-Do" lists and appointment calendars in one central location for easy reference.

After You Set It Up, Maintenance Is Next

A system is only as good as the person using it is. If you do not keep it up, no system is useful. Starting with a smaller, simpler system of files in a cabinet near you is good. You can then take your daily or weekly items and store them in a more permanent place when you are finished.

This also works for items that you need nearby such as current project information or price lists etc.

Filing Style

If you want to realistically keep up a filing system, labeled boxes might be a better fit. You might want to alleviate the piles of papers and sort them into boxes when you are done with them. I had a friend who invested in a really good scanner, and digitized everything, then threw the originals away. While that might be a bit excessive, it just goes to show that different filing techniques work for different people. Whatever you decide, keep it up and purge your papers occasionally and the system will work like a charm for you.

Every piece of paper, each pen or pencil, the stapler and staple removers, post-it notes and the like need a place to sit. When you use them, replace them. Do not allow clutter to pile up around you or your business efforts and productivity will slow. You want to recognize ways to keep yourself as organized as possible in order for your business pursuits to go smoothly. Be sure and give yourself a little reward for keeping your system going, too!

Article Source: OrganizingWeb.net

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Are you frustrated with your office space? Do you hunt for a pen every time you put one down? Is the search for documents a half-day event? Is your paper filed chronologically - working your way down the pile to 'one week ago' and unable to pull out 'four months ago' for fear of a paper flood catastrophe? 
Every home office deals with excess paper and whether you are running a small or large business, it is still something to contend with, and one that gets worth when there is no organization. 
So, what do you do to wrestle the clutter-beast into submission? Space to Organize Is Essential 
The biggest problem with staying organized in an office is that people set up a system and do not give themselves enough room to grow. 
If you organize a drawer, take everything out and replace it in the drawer but still have no space to put anything else in that drawer, you have pretty much wasted your time. The un-filed pile of papers remains and will simply grow again. 
Be certain to have at least a quarter to a third (more if possible) of growing room when implementing a system. You may need to change over at some point, but having some extra space will encourage you to keep up with the organizing. 
This system includes everything from architectural drawings to products and documents you accumulate in the course of doing business. 
Adding home office desks and storage organization items will go a long way towards making your organization implementation successful. Set aside time to get rid documents that are no longer relevant. This will allow for more space. Invest in a scanner and make PDF files out of things that can be stored electronically. 
Filing systems do not need to be hard, confusing, and complicated. In fact, the simpler the better. The easier it is to setup and maintain, the more likely you will be to keep up with it. Some of the most effective systems are as simple as three or four categories like "Expense', 'Correspondence', and 'Projects' or something similar. 
When filing large groups of things like clients, projects, and invoices use a single drawer for each group of files that are related. Using a four or 5-drawer filing cabinet is good in that it can be divided either alphabetically or chronologically. 
Another class of things you will need to make room for are the things that you refer to daily or even hourly. A posting board or corkboard near your desk would be in order. You can hang things like phone lists, 'To-Do" lists and appointment calendars in one central location for easy reference. 
After You Set It Up, Maintenance Is Next 
A system is only as good as the person using it is. If you do not keep it up, no system is useful. Starting with a smaller, simpler system of files in a cabinet near you is good. You can then take your daily or weekly items and store them in a more permanent place when you are finished. 
This also works for items that you need nearby such as current project information or price lists etc. 
Filing Style 
If you want to realistically keep up a filing system, labeled boxes might be a better fit. You might want to alleviate the piles of papers and sort them into boxes when you are done with them. I had a friend who invested in a really good scanner, and digitized everything, then threw the originals away. While that might be a bit excessive, it just goes to show that different filing techniques work for different people. Whatever you decide, keep it up and purge your papers occasionally and the system will work like a charm for you. 
Every piece of paper, each pen or pencil, the stapler and staple removers, post-it notes and the like need a place to sit. When you use them, replace them. Do not allow clutter to pile up around you or your business efforts and productivity will slow. You want to recognize ways to keep yourself as organized as possible in order for your business pursuits to go smoothly. Be sure and give yourself a little reward for keeping your system going, too! Article Source: <a href="http://www.organizingweb.net" target="_blank">OrganizingWeb.net</a> About the Author: Is your <a href="http://switchsystems.net/category/business/">home office</a> out of date get <a href="http://switchsystems.net/">articles of latest new technologynology</a> at the website dedicated to the modern business and technology world SwitchSystems.net.