5 Simple Home Office Hacks To Stay Organized
Working from home has its benefits, but it takes some extra effort to keep your office space neat and tidy. A clean work space allows you to think more clearly and be more productive throughout the day. Thankfully, it doesn’t have to be difficult to maintain an organized home office. From shelving tips to desk organization and more, here are 5 simple home office hacks to stay organized and make your space feel even more productive.
1. Use A Shelving Unit To Organize Boxes & Binders
It’s important to have shelves in your home office because you don’t want to take up too much room on top of your desk. Any files, extra papers, and other essential work items can be kept on nearby shelves for easy access without the clutter.
Start a box storage system for any extra office supplies such as a set of pens, notecards, paper clips, and sticky notes. Stackable bins or boxes with labels are the best ones to place on your office shelves so you can clearly see what you’re looking for. The stackable element is a great way to save room on your shelves for other necessary items and even some decorations.
Additionally, you can use these shelves to store binders. If you have a lot of papers for your job that you need to keep around, it can be useful to organize them into binders and then store these on your shelves. This organization method is much easier than keeping all your papers on your desk or in your drawers. Now you’ll be able to quickly and more efficiently find the exact paper you’re looking for while reducing clutter.
2. Set Up Drawer Dividers To Organize Small Office Essentials
Desk drawers can very quickly become cluttered and filled with office supplies or even random small items that you tend to file away without a second thought. If you take a moment to clear out your drawers and get organized, you can easily keep them neat and tidy for a long time to come.
Drawer dividers and organizers can prevent a mess and can help you keep track of everything that you have. Start by using some drawer dividers for your office supplies: pens and pencils, sticky notes, a stapler, tape, scissors, and any other items that you usually use on a daily basis.
If you have some deep drawers, you can even use small baskets as makeshift drawer dividers. This will give your more room to store extra supplies if you don’t have any shelving in your office. Making the most use out of your drawers will save you much needed desk top space.
3. Organize All Of Your Papers Into Labeled Folders
While it may seem pretty obvious to organize your papers into folders, it’s sometimes challenging to create or maintain an organization system in your home office. However, once you develop a system that works for you and your needs, it can be easy to stay organized for a long period of time.
Labels are a huge part of filing systems, so it can be well worth it to invest in a good label maker. Optionally, you can label folders by hand so long as your writing is clear and visible. Color coding is another important part of a filing system, so make sure to get folders in a variety of colors for easy organizing.
Once you have a filing system set up with folders and labels, decide if you want to add a filing cabinet into your office. If you don’t have enough room for one, or if you want a more decorative look, you can still stay organized in a different way. For instance, you can place your files in a large decorative bin and store it on a shelf. This will blend your files into your decor style while still keeping them all in once place.
4. Keep Desk Decorations To A Minimum To Reduce Clutter
Your desk is the main hub of production in your home office, so why not keep it as clean as possible? Keep the desk decorations to a minimum in order to have more working room on the desk. Luckily, you can still have a stylish and decorative space even with minimal desk accents.
First, consider any decorations that can double as useful desk items for your work day. For example, a lamp is the perfect desk accessory that can be both stylish and functional. Take advantage of that fact by finding a decorative lamp that fits in with the style of your room. That can be the main decorative element on your desk, without even needing other decorations.
You can also use stylish desk organizers to keep some necessary supplies and papers on your desk while maintaining a chic work space. Find creative ways to make your home office look decorative yet productive. It’s all about balance and personal taste.
5. Set Up Your Printer On Its Own Table To Amplify Desk Space
A printer can take up a lot of room on a desk; why not give it its own desk? Setting up a small table next to your desk or in another area in the room will free up some much needed space on your desk but still allow you to have your printer nearby.
You can even set up an entire command center in an area of your room to keep your desk even more clean. Here’s how to do so.
How To Create A Command Center In Your Home Office
- Start by choosing an area of your room to set up your command center. A corner area usually works best.
- Set up a small table for your printer and any larger electronic office items you own.
- Stock the drawers with printer paper and extra office supplies.
- Add a trash bin and a paper shredder on the floor next to the table.
- Hang up a dry erase board calendar as your main calendar in the room.
- You can also add an “inbox” and “outbox” bin to this table to keep track of papers you need to work on and papers that you have completed.
- Lastly, keep any additional important files and papers on this table to keep track of these items more easily.
Looking for even more home office hacks to stay organized? Check out our selection of Storage Solutions to find organization inspiration for each room including the office, bedroom, kitchen, bathroom, and much more!
