How to Organize Your Office
Your office is not just a place of business. Your office is a place of comfort, sanctuary, and inevitably, it’s also a place how you present yourself to the outside world. A well-organized office will not only make you feel more in control of your business, but it also presents a good impression to people who will drop by your office. Here’s how you can organize your office.
Clean the whole office. Organization means neatness, and there can’t be any neatness with junk lying around. Get rid of the things you don’t need anymore, which means all the papers, notes, documents, unused office supplies and the like. Have the windows washed, the carpet cleaned, the walls repainted. Start with a clean and blank slate.
organized office
Rearrange the office furniture. Believe it or not, how the furniture is arranged helps make any space feel more comfortable, bigger or smaller. Rearrange the furniture in such a way that there is a clear pathway to any part of the office, especially the pathway between the door to the office desk. If there are unnecessary furniture lying around, don’t have second thoughts and get rid of them.
Make the office more conducive to people. Get comfortable but office-appropriate seats for guests talking to you at your desk. Install a coffee table and a small sofa as a waiting area. Put a few magazines on top, and a vase with flowers to make it look more inviting.
Clean your office desk. A cluttered desk means a cluttered worker, and that is not good for visitors or for you. Keep things only on the desk for things that you really need, such as your phone, a pen holder, document trays, paper weight and other necessities. Put away items in your desk drawers or store them away in boxes. Leave just enough items on top of your desk that you can easily pack them up in under ten minutes.
Organize how work comes in and out of your office. Having an “inbox” and “outbox” stack trays will help a lot.
Use trays hidden in drawers to keep office supplies like paper clips, staplers, and post-its, among others.
organized office
Get rid of broken or unsightly office supplies and desk items. You might be fond of that rusty pen holder, but it won’t look as good to other people. Replace them with new ones.
Keep book shelves in your office. Keep non-essential documents in boxes, labeled carefully and packed away from sight, if possible. Only keep books that are important in your line of work in your shelf to keep you from having too many books in your office.
Arrange the items on your desk in such away that everything is within easy reach.
Assign a wall or a portion of your wall to keep your memorabilia, such as family photos, awards or citations. If you don’t have that, just assign one shelf for that. Limit your personal pictures. You’re in an office, not a photo album come to life.
Have your office equipment and technology updated. Technology comes in smaller packages now, which is great news for offices. Get rid of bulky versions of the fax machine, printer and scanner, and go for the sleeker ones that work better.
Make sure that you still have storage room for future items that may need storage.
Move your desk to a nicer area in your office.
Keep small potted plants for fresher air and a more lively atmosphere.
Improve your lighting by investing in good window treatments that can soften or brighten the room, depending on what is needed.
Artwork can also make look your office more interesting, and will speak more of your personality and tastes to visitors.