Organizing your Office

Your office can be the place where you spend the majority of your time away from home. If your office is cluttered and disorganized, it can therefore easily be a major source of the frustration and stress you take home from the office (and dare I say it, take it out on the family!) Therefore any time spent getting your office organized is time well spent to reduce some stress, not to mention improved efficiency. I don't think anyone could be efficient in an office that looks like the one in the picture. If that is how your office looks, you really need to read the rest of this post.

Craig J. Vom Lehn shares some good tips in his "How to become successful!" blog in an article entitled Ten Ways to Get Rid of Office Clutter. Here is his list, then I will highlight one I think is especially important.

1. Assess your space. Is there a place to store non-priority files, extra office supplies, etc?
2. Take immediate action. Decide daily which item you no longer need and get rid of it.
3. On Friday, go through your desk ten minutes before work ends and throw away things that you know are just idle clutter.
4. Organize and systemize. Organize paperwork, reports, etc. into files that are filed by a system of priorities.
5. Remove personal clutter.
6. De-clutter your computer. (See my previous post Organize your computer's desktop)
7. Clear floor space. This will create a perception of more space (and people won't trip over things!)
8. Don't become a dumping ground. (I'll highlight this one in a bit later.)
9. Learn from others. Visit other de-cluttered offices to pick up tips for yourself. Notice how they use desk and floor space efficiently.
10. Keep it clean! Keep office furniture dusted, trash bins empty, throw food stuffs some place outside of your office (do you really like those lingering nasty smells?)

By utilizing these organizational tips, you will boost your job productivity. And that is a good thing!

Now to # 8. Don't become a dumping ground. Here is Craig's explanation. "When you're working on a project with others, let one of them become that place where all project-related documents are kept. If a co-worker wants to leave a stack of papers for you to review, offer instead to visit your co-worker's office to review them there. This also presents an opportunity to take a break away from your office."

The break away from your own office is good. It gives you a chance to stretch, to get your mind off of your current tasks for a bit, to let your mind flow freely while you walk to the other office (that's when solutions to problems often present themselves), gives your legs a little exercise, and gives you a change of scenery.

Keeping the "stack of papers" in your co-worker's office also keeps that clutter out of your office. Plus you don't have that stack of papers staring you in the face reminding you that you have to look at them sometime (stress building from the ground up). That way you can schedule yourself a time when you want to look them over and do them at your own pace, rather than because those papers were staring you down until you finally gave in. Don't underestimate the power of a stack of papers!

You can check out the full article for a little more explanation to all these points. Also, see my previous post Organize by dealing with it once!

So there you have it - a way to help keep your office decluttered, your stress level a little lower, and your efficiency a little higher. Wow. Aren't you glad you read this?