Tips for cleaning and organizing your home office
Whether it’s a repurposed bedroom, a corner of the living room, or wherever else you’ve been able to squeeze in a desk and laptop, it’s worth investing some time and money into maximizing that home office space. The end result is a more productive, clearer-headed you.
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Prioritize prime real estate
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Reconsider those limited spaces you have the easiest access to, such as desk drawers, and scrutinize which papers, files, or supplies deserve to be in those locations. Even if you have a color-coded, labeled, and comprehensive file folder system (highly recommended), if you rarely need to access them, the primary desk drawer isn’t the best place for them. Clutter on the desk itself is best kept to a minimum, even if organized — for example, even if you use the printer regularly, it probably takes up too much space to deserve a spot directly on your desk.
Structure prime real estate
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An unkempt drawer is an underutilized drawer. Drawer organizers will keep all of your supplies in their place, and affordable options are readily available online. Meanwhile, even in an increasingly digital world, paper can quickly thwart your well-intentioned organization system. Combat this with having a plan for whatever mail or paperwork that may come your way. Papers you need to keep should be heading right to a designated and easily accessible location.
Shelving done right
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A dedicated home office should have dedicated shelving, which can be tricky if your home office location is a repurposed part of a bedroom, living room, or kitchen. If it’s in the living room, for example, you may have a hard time disrupting your home library, which is a nice decorative touch in most homes. But if it’s now infringing upon the busy home office, consider relocating it to take advantage of that space. If such pre-existing shelf space isn’t available, explore floating shelves, box shelves, adjustable shelves, fixed bracket shelves, and built-in shelves, depending on your style preference and budget.
A wall that works for you
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Perhaps you aren’t in need of so many shelves. That doesn’t mean prime wall space should go to waste. If your desk is adjacent to any wall, that’s the perfect place for a bulletin board, white board, or calendar. You can also choose to forgo any of that and instead decorate the wall in a way that will keep you happy, motivated, or inspired throughout the workday.