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Keeping your Home Office Organized

admin — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 15:55:20 +0000

Organization can be the downfall of many an home office worker. You can start the day with your desk neat, tidy and completely organized and after the first hour of a busy day, disaster strikes. Your desk looks like a hurricane hit it. Some suggestions for keeping your desk organized include taking “regrouping” breaks, creating project areas, and utilizing baskets in your office closet.

A “regrouping” break can be very beneficial not only for cleaning and organizing your desk but for your own mental well-being. During a busy day at work at your home office, many people find that projects, files, notes, packages, etc. are dropped on their desk by a variety of co-workers. In order not to lose your mind or control over your workload, a five or ten minute break used to clean-up and organize your desk can be very helpful. During this break, you can take time to organize the projects based on timing or urgency.

Additionally, you can glance through the projects to determine if there are any that can be completed and “off your desk” quickly. Another option is to create “project areas” on your desk and/or work area. This system can help keep various projects and the information associated with those projects from getting commingled. This is particularly helpful in a multi-task, paper and file intensive work environment. You can even label the areas of your desk or office with the name the each project. This way, co-workers can easily identify the location of a specific project they need.

Finally, there is the “basket” method to office closet organization. Several medium sized baskets or even the lids to boxes (such as boxes used to deliver reams of paper), can be used to store information for projects that are in process. This is especially helpful when you have a project that is on your office closet desk but waiting for additional information. This allows you to move the project, and all its associated content, to another location on your desk or work area without losing important pieces of information. When you are ready to work on that project again, you just need to grab the basket and the information is ready and waiting. A disorganized desk can be very distressing for you when working from home. However, by employing a few simple organization ideas, a busy day can still be a happy day.

Home Office Design

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Planning your Office Closet Desk

admin — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 13:34:55 +0000

As a professional organizer, I will know share my secrets with you. Start with a completely bare desk; clear off the surface and empty the drawers. Give it a quick cleaning if it needs it. Once that’s done, sit down at your desk with paper and pencil and make a quick list of all the things you do at your desk. Bills, correspondence, crafts, homework, creative writing – whatever you do, write it down. Once you have your list, imagine yourself doing each task. What supplies do you need for each one? Write them down.

Once you’ve narrowed down the supplies you need on a regular basis, go through the contents of your desk and put everything that doesn’t belong in a pile. You’ll probably find that there are things you use for each of your tasks, so you’ll want to put those where you can get to them. Use a desktop organizer or put them in the top drawer if you like the look of a completely clear desktop. Using trial and error, move the rest of your supplies around until you find the best storage arrangement for you.

Avoid putting things into boxes with lids because you won’t want to deal with them when you’re rushed. Bins, large or small, are more user-friendly. Try to group your items together in a way that makes it easy to start a new project. For example you may want to group typing paper and stationery. Give yourself a week with the new arrangement. At the end of that time, see what’s not working for you and make small adjustments to your storage. Add or subtract items as necessary. Some people love a clean desktop. Mine contains a vintage lava lamp, my laptop, my Rolodex and a mug full of pens and pencils. Finally, give your desk a quick once-over every night. It doesn’t take that much time to do and you’ll have the pleasure of sitting down to an organized and inviting office closet each day.

Office Closet Desk

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Maintaining a Clean Office Closet

admin — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 14:21:31 +0000

Have you ever heard the old saying a messy desk is from a messy mind? Well even if it’s not true, there are certainly some good reasons to keep your desk clean. Your desk being neat and organized will leave a good impression with employers, coworkers, customers, friends and family, most anyone who will come in contact with you at your desk. When your office closet desk is well organized in such a manner so as you know exactly where everything is to do you work, you will be able to your work more efficiently. No time will be wasted try to find that important paper or tool.

If you have a big mess on your desk, dive in and clean it up content with the knowledge that once it’s done it will stay that way with the institution of a little simple housekeeping of your office closet each day. It might be a good idea to start completely over, empty every drawer, clear the top, and make good use of a little soap and water at the start. Then put all of your projects in folders and pick an appropriate drawer to put them where you will know where they are. Label your folders and put in alphabetical, numerical or alphanumerical order. If you use paper clips, rubber bands, tacks and the sort just don’t toss them in your drawer or even place neatly in your because the wont stay that way in the heat of battle as you open close your drawers of your office closet desk on a busy day.

Find yourself some small attractive containers that can either be on your desktop or in your drawer so long as they prevent scattering of your items. Don’t hang you jacket on your desk chair use you closet or if you are in a cubicle get one of those nifty coat hanger that you can hang on your office closet wall. If you are a coffee drinker, get yourself a nice coaster and an attractive coffee mug. Never leave half full cups of cold coffee on your office closet desk just asking to be spilled on important papers whilst attracting flies. Keep your coffee cup clean, inside and out, this is your office closet desk not a laboratory for science experiments. In closing, now that you a clean an organized desk keep it that way, in the same you might clean as you were cooking in your kitchen.

Guy working in his Office Closet

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Can an Organized Closet Save you Time?

admin — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 14:47:59 +0000

Organizing a closet is not the most exciting thing one can do in a lifetime. However, if done right and properly maintained, it can pay a huge dividend. An organized closet will save time, save money, and reduce stress in anyone’s life.

What is that one commodity one always spends but can never replenish? It is time. Our time is spent on a variety of activities each and every day. Why waste it searching for the left shoe or digging for that favorite sweater? Organizing belongings into logical categories and leveraging the proper storage components will reduce the time it takes to locate desired items.

An additional time-saver is never speculating where to put items when it comes time to return them to the closet. Closet organization can also save money by reducing or eliminating unnecessary purchases. The ability to quickly and easily locate and quantify the amount, color and size of various items improves our personal inventory skills, thereby reducing the likelihood of buying duplicate or excessive items.

A smartly designed organization concept can save hundreds of dollars over the course of a year. Stress is a common factor in day to day life. While it cannot be completely avoided, organized storage can simplify and expedite the retrieval of needed items. Reduce the stress in life by eliminating those frantic searches. Stop trashing entire rooms trying to find a specific item that might be buried in that ghastly mountain of disorganized chaos. Get organized and the end result might just lead to a calmer lifestyle.

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What tools are needed to build an Office Closet?

admin — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 14:07:11 +0000

There are a variety of ways you can change your standard clothes closet into a working home office. Many people will not take on such a project because they may not know what tools will be needed to build a closet office. However, there are some options available that can make the change from a place to store your clothes to a workplace much easier.

First, you will need to spend some time planning the design for your closet office. You will need to determine what you like to put into your new office space. In particular, if you will be using a laptop or a full computer with its own monitor. Also, you may want to consider how much desk space you would like to have. This is especially important if you will be doing a lot of writing in this area, using paper and pen.

Once you are set with your design, you will want to determine what items will be needed to meet these needs. In some cases, the closet will already have a shelf that you can use as your new desk. If this is not the case, look to see if there are support beams in the closet that you can rest a board on. Keep in mind that a board of at least ¾” will be needed to support the weight of the items on your new desk.

Perhaps the easiest method to transform your closet into a workplace is to use existing storage bins and desks. If you locate a small enough desk, this may fit easily into the closet, without the need for many tools at all. To help complete your desk, you can use file cabinets and hanging baskets to store other items. This can get your closet office up and running quickly.

The tools that are needed to build a closet office will depend on your needs and the amount of money you are willing to spend. As you can see, there are several options available and there is a lot you can do at little to no cost. The office closet can be a welcomed addition to get your home office up so you can start being productive.

Working on a new office closet

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