Home Office - How to Improve Productivity by Organizing Your Home

By KC Kudra

Are you frustrated with your office space? Do you hunt for a pen every time you put one down? Is the search for documents a half-day event? Is your paper filed chronologically - working your way down the pile to 'one week ago' and unable to pull out 'four months ago' for fear of a paper flood catastrophe?

First, take heart. Every office - home or otherwise - has to figure out how to deal with paper, pens, and clutter. Creating and maintaining an organized space is just part of the job.

So, how do you regain control of the paper monster that is cluttering up your business?

Space to Organize Is Essential

One of the largest problems with staying organized lies in the lack of a system and not having enough room to effectively implement the system.

If you organize a drawer, take everything out and replace it in the drawer but still have no space to put anything else in that drawer, you have pretty much wasted your time. The un-filed pile of papers remains and will simply grow again.

Having space to add home office furniture in the form of filing cabinets and storage bins will help considerably with organization. Be sure and have at least one quarter to one third or more growing room when you implement your system. Extra space encourages you to keep up with your organization efforts.

This also goes for items such as architectural drawings or other products or documents you may accumulate.

Set aside time to purge unnecessary documents. Not only will this provide more space but it will save you time that would otherwise be wasted looking through worthless paperwork.

Keep It Simple

Keep It Simple. When it comes to filing, the simpler the better. If you make it too complicated, you will not keep up with it because it is too hard to follow. Consider color-coding, but do not go overboard with the number of categories. Use general topics like "Projects", "Correspondence" and "Expenses", or something similar. Not too many of them or you will get lost in your categories.

For filing of large groups of clients, projects or invoices, use a single drawer for each group of related files. A tall filing cabinet can even be divided into alphabetical or chronological systems.

For items, you refer to daily or even hourly; you might consider a posting board near your desk. This is a great idea for phone number lists, 'To Do' lists, and appointment calendars.

Maintaining Order

A system is only as good as the person using it is. If you do not keep it up, no system is useful. Starting with a smaller, simpler system of files in a cabinet near you is good. You can then take your daily or weekly items and store them in a more permanent place when you are finished.

You will find that this works for current project lists, product pricing, and things of that nature.

How Do You File?

If you want to realistically keep up a filing system, labeled boxes might be a better fit. You might want to alleviate the piles of papers and sort them into boxes when you are done with them. I had a friend who invested in a really good scanner, and digitized everything, then threw the originals away. While that might be a bit excessive, it just goes to show that different filing techniques work for different people. Whatever you decide, keep it up and purge your papers occasionally and the system will work like a charm for you.

All Things Need a Place

Every piece of paper, each pen or pencil, the stapler and staple removers, post-it notes and the like need a place to sit. When you use them, replace them. Do not allow clutter to pile up around you or your business efforts and productivity will slow. You want to recognize ways to keep yourself as organized as possible in order for your business pursuits to go smoothly. Be sure and give yourself a little reward for keeping your system going, too!

About the Author:

Think blogs will leave your mind hungry? Discover a world of new computer technology and the latest information to keep your home office running smooth and productive.