Organizing Your Office Space to Maximize Productivity
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If you are like me and work from home most days since the pandemic, you have likely been faced with the challenge of creating a clean, aesthetic, and productive office or work area. This is likely the place you spend a large share of your time, and therefore want it to feel well put together and systemized. And I have got a plan for you!
Let’s start with what items can or should be in this area, as well as what should not. Of course depending on what space you have to work with, some of these items may spill into other sections of the home - the same organization systems can still apply!
What you SHOULD NOT have in or near your work area.
Items kids need access to such as arts and crafts or toys; creating a need for your kids to dig around your systemized work area is asking for dysfunction of the space, items to become lost or misplaced, or spillage on important documents. Creating a separate zone for those items will keep them out of your hair (especially during work hours!). You should also avoid storage of back stock items for the household as the consistent usage and overflow of said items may cause the same issues as kids toys, as well as taking valuable space away from your productive space. You also don’t need your partner or child coming and grabbing emergency paper towels while you’re in a meeting with your executive team!
What you SHOULD have in or near your work area.
Office supplies, necessary cords and chargers, computer equipment, printer equipment, work files and/or personal family files, as well as daily wellbeing items.
So how do you organize the above items effectively?
PAPERWORK AND FILES
When considering paperwork for your job, these things can look very different based on the occupation and needs of the role. If you are someone who is consistently printing or pulling paperwork, you may want to create a storage system on top of your desk. These tabletop paper organizers are great for storing the immediate-use files. You can also use the same system to categorize incoming mail and bills for the family - if you can see them, it will get done! If you hide them in a drawer, it becomes out of sight and out of mind.
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Now let’s talk about family files and important documents. There are a hundred ways of sorting these items appropriately, but the KEY necessity is appropriate filing and labeling. I will provide one simple idea here: Purchase a few binders, labels, and binder sleeves. Categorize your files in a way that is sensible for your family. You can create by family member, by house/utility/insurance/receipts/etc, or by something similar. Use the binder sleeves in each binder to neatly store the paperwork allocated to each grouping, and appropriately label. These can be stored within a cabinet, labeled side up in a drawer, or safely in a locked filing cabinet. Up to you!
OFFICE SUPPLIES
This bucket of items can be completely your own - but the idea and system will always be roughly the same.
On your desktop you will want to store items that you grab more frequently. These may include pens and pencils, scissors, staplers, tape, and post-its. A product such as this supply organizer will do just the trick! For any other supplies you may have (printer paper and cartridges or packaged back stock pens and pencils) use a basket in a cabinet, or plastic drawer organizers to keep them tidy, accessible, and kept together. The same goes for any larger or less frequently used items, ensure that you keep similar items near each other in an organized fashion!
CORD MANAGEMENT
Please see my cord management shop for different ways to make your space clean, aesthetic and functional.
DAILY WELLBEING
This space will differ widely across the individual. That said, and to give you some ideas, consider items such as supplements, essential oils, hand lotions, blue light glasses, or anything that you may need throughout the day to avoid disrupting your day or distracting yourself as the needs arise!
The best storage solution for these items will be one of two things: 1) an organized drawer using plastic bins for ease of viewing and use. I would recommend using the top drawer as its typically the smallest and these items are generally not of high volume! Or 2) a decorative piece such as this decorative lazy susan that can store your items in a pretty way, that also serves as a reminder to take care of yourself throughout the workday!
Your work area should be the space in which you feel most productive. This should be the place that you feel calm and collected - really the best version of yourself in a sense! You can get really creative with how you set this up, depending on your line of work and your personality. Hopefully the above tips are a great starting point for you to build off of! Try creating these systems in your home and PLEASE let me know how you do!
