Best Tips to Keep Your Office Organized
You're not alone. The average worker spends about 5 hours a week searching for misplaced office supplies. Whether you're looking for a spare piece of blank paper or the number one item on your to-do list, having a well-organized workspace can help save you both time and stress. Those working from home are find it harder to separate life from work.
Here are some tips to help get your office in order:
Purge Your Office
The first step in keeping your office organized is to create space by purging. This will help you feel less overwhelmed and more confident about making decisions about what items should be kept and which ones should go. If a certain item has been in the same spot for months, it's time to consider whether or not it's still serving its purpose—and if not, get rid of it!
Another great way to reduce clutter is by using labels on everything from file folders (for client documents) to paperclips (to keep them all together). This makes life easier when you need something quick but don't have time for searching through all the files lying around. Many find this hard to do. You are not alone.
Establish Work Zones if Working Home
The purpose of getting your office organized is to create zones for different types of items. For instance, you might have a place for files, or a space for making phone calls and writing. The important thing is that you define each activity you perform in your office so that it has a designated space.
You don't need to overthink this; just get started on the organizing process and make adjustments as you go along. If your desk area becomes too crowded with papers, move some of them into file drawers or put them away in boxes until they're needed again. By establishing work zones at the beginning, when documents are all spread out everywhere on top of one another, it will be easier later down the line when they're neatly filed away where they belong! Step one might be put receipts on an app.
Gather and Redistribute
If you've ever worked in an organization, you've probably seen people walk around with stacks of papers and folders, or pull out their phones to look up information while they're walking through the office. This is a waste of time and energy—it can also be dangerous. Instead of this inefficient way of doing things, gather everything into one place so that you can redistribute when all the work has been completed.
When all the work is done, gather everything together again and redistribute it according to your newly created zones for each type of task: file cabinets for financial documents; inboxes for incoming mail; drawers for personal items; shelves or hooks on walls for personal items like coats and keys; cubbies in shared spaces with pushpins instead of labels so people can see what belongs them without taking up too much space (and therefore making it difficult to walkthrough). To help keep things organized once they're back out there again (and prevent confusion), create a system where certain colors mean specific types of items go into certain areas—like red files go into red file cabinets (or whatever other color scheme works best).
Get a Good Label System:
Having a good label is one of the best things you can do to stay organized. If you've never tried labeling before, it might seem like a lot of work. But once you get the hang of it, labeling will save you time and frustration in the long run. You can also go paperless.
Labeling your files and folders will allow you to find what you need faster and more easily than ever before—which results in less stress, wasted time, and effort (and money). A good labeler makes it simple to keep all of your documents organized so that they're easy to locate when needed. Labelers also help prevent mistakes when filing papers because they make sure everything stays in its place!
If a colleague asks for something specific from the file cabinet but doesn't remember which folder contains their information—or maybe even what kind of document they're looking for—chances are good that without proper labeling systems those vital pieces of information could end up lost or misplaced forever.
Revise Your Filing System
Instead of trying to keep track of everything, you should revise your filing system.
● Consider having separate folders for each month and year so that you can easily see what's new and important.
● Organize all files by subject location (based on where they are physically located) and alphabetically within each subject location.
● Use one file cabinet for documents that are related to a single project or company, such as client contracts or financial statements from one company over time.
● Label each tab on the file cabinet with the name of the topic it contains (e.g., contracts). This will make it easier to find specific documents when needed without having to read through every single folder in order to locate them -- just look up "contracts" on your list before opening up those folders!
Clear off Your Desk
You can't organize a messy space, so before you do any organizing of the space, you have to clear off the clutter. You'll be amazed at how much stuff accumulates on your desk over time. The more often you clean it off, the easier it will be for you to find things when needed. Cleaning out your desk regularly also helps keep it from becoming cluttered again. Just make sure that everything has a place where it belongs so that nothing gets lost or misplaced!
Organize your Desktop
Keep the desktop clean. To keep your office organized is to clear up your desktop and only allow files you need to access daily. For example, if you are in charge of collecting sales reports from your team members, it would be wise to store these on their individual computers instead of cluttering their desktops with files they never open. Alternatively, if someone in your company must complete a project that requires frequent access to a specific file, it's best for them not only to know where this file is stored but also how often they'll need access too—and there shouldn't be more than one copy of that file! If all else fails, simply delete any unnecessary files from the desktop by dragging them into the trash bin and emptying them when needed (you can always undelete if needed).
Separate Inboxes and Email too:
You work hard, and you deserve to have an organized workspace. The best way to keep your office clutter-free is by creating separate inboxes for different types of mail. You might have one for bills, another for magazines and bank statements, a third for invitations—the possibilities are endless! But don't forget about the single inbox that holds everything that needs filing away somewhere else—that's where the real organization comes in. It's important not to let too much paper pile up in these boxes; clear them out every week so they're never overflowing with junk mail (or whatever). You can do this with your email too.
Clear Your Piles
Piles are a sign of an unorganized office. The more piles you have, the more disorganized your office will be. The best way to keep your desk clear is by using a timer and setting specific times for yourself to work on various projects or tasks for different clients. This ensures that you won't waste time trying to find things that aren't there!
Keep only the most important items on top of your pile so that when something comes up unexpectedly, all you need to do is flip through the stack until you find what needs attention first. This can be achieved by creating a separate box or bin where all of these items go once they've been dealt with properly (or placed back where they belong). If this doesn't appeal to you, try using one tray per client instead - this keeps them separate but accessible at all times! A stackable bin works well too!
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