Turning your study into a home office is an excellent way to demarcate a specific part of your home to only be used for work. Unfortunately, if you do not properly organize your home office, it can quickly lead to chaos – and you will soon find that non-work related items creep back in. The good news is that you don’t need real estate advice to set up a remote office, all you need to do is follow the simple tips outlined in this article.

Get Organized

It might seem like a daunting task to transform your relaxed study into a super-efficient office space. Once you get yourself organized, however, even if it takes the whole weekend to get it done – you won’t have to waste cycles rummaging around through piles of paper trying to get to that all important file you needed 15 minutes ago.

When you start running your business from home, or working remotely for your employer, it becomes increasingly crucial to stay on top of where everything is. You will find that your days are less stressful if you get everything in order before you start working from home.

Stay Healthy

When you work remotely you become responsible for your own health and safety. Getting organized will reduce stress but there are other things you can do to help you healthy. Keep the place clean. You will end up spending several hours at a time in your home office. Real estate advice might suggest that you build a little extension to your house, but a well maintained office space will suffice. Dust regularly and remove any office clutter. Asthma and allergies can be aggravated by the germs and insects that thrive in messy environments. Even if your office is in an otherwise untidy household – and you don’t have the budget for an extension – make sure this area is maintained at a high standard.

Now that you are starting to focus on your remote office it is a great time to check that the supplies you do have are in order, and purchase anything that you think you will need in the near future. Have a clear out. Check every pen in your study to see if it still works. Throw out any that no longer work. You may be surprised at how much you have held onto over the years. Giving yourself a fresh start will save you a lot of time in the long run. Pick out a handful of pens that you like using, and store the others somewhere safe. As soon as one of these pens runs out replace it from your stash. You could purchase yourself a tray for all of your stationery. It can be enjoyable getting these sort of things organized, just make sure you don’t get a little too obsessive-compulsive about it

It is likely that you agree you will not need to remodel your home, or get substantial real estate advice, when you want to turn a study into a remote office. Organization is key; but you might also want to get a lock for the door…

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Many of those who have a home office struggle with keeping it organized. If you’re one of them, worry no more. Below are some of the tips and tricks to spick and span your home office and finally get some work done.

1. Declutter your desk.

Whether it’s a bunch of receipts, old notes or other paperwork, you need to sort your mess first. You’re in the process of organizing all the items you have in your home office so make sure you toss out those you don’t need.

Hiding the mess inside your drawer or postponing it for another day won’t help. You need to declutter you desk right now so everything else will follow.

2. Have a memo board.

A lot of us rely on our smartphones for task reminder. The problem here is we often forget to alarm it or easily neglect it once the phone beeps.

What you need is a good old-fashioned memo board. Once you’ve gotten rid of your unnecessary mess, it’s time to lay out the meetings, deadlines and to-do lists for you to see. Not only will it be good for visual reminders, a memo board is something you will look at everyday.

3. Fix your cables.

Cables crawling like snakes in every corner— that’s a sight that’s eternally cluttering your area. Not only are they messy, they can be dangerous too as they are a fire hazard.

Get rid of those appliances and electronic devices that you rarely use. Replace your mouse and keyboard with wireless ones. If it really can’t be helped and you need all those cabled devices, get them neatly tied and tucked.

4. Maximize your vertical space.

Your home office should be a place where you can move around without making a mess of anything. That’s why you need to keep things off the floor as much as possible.

Maximize your vertical space by installing shelves, hooks and racks. You can dedicate this storage area for paperwork you don’t always need to access or other knick-knacks you may have.

5. Invest on wheels.

The beauty of wheeled chairs and cabinets is you can easily move around with them. You no longer have to reposition each and every time you need to reach something.

So instead of just getting those stagnant drawers and cabinets, go for the more mobile ones to save your time and effort.

6. Be systematic and file wisely.

Filing cabinets are best for those folders, papers and envelopes that need to be arranged in a specific order. You also need to label everything.

A home office should be a place where you actually want to work. So if you want to be productive at home once again, consider these steps.

By Petar Dzhingarov

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Here’s a few tips to help you get organized at home and stay that way:

Do Not Strive for Perfection

The most important thing to achieving an organized home and life is to just make the commitment to follow the rules you have set in place. If it’s “sort the mail right when it comes” (instead of letting it stack up on the kitchen table), then make it a point to do that. But, don’t beat yourself up by striving for perfection. Just accomplishing the task is what is important here, not how perfectly it is done. Be sure to praise yourself with a reward system when you have staying with your new rules for at least 3 weeks. It takes 21 days to form a new habit, so, after 3 weeks you are well on your way to sticking with your routine.

Everything in Its Place

Don’t be tempted to create a box or bin that you label or tell yourself is “miscellaneous”. After a few days, you will not remember what is in there, and then you’ve just created a box of disorganization, and are not furthering your cause to stay organized at home. Now, this doesn’t have to be an expensive task. You can get plastic bins from the $1 store to sort and organize every room, drawer and closet. Once you decide which box or drawer is for “hairclips” and which one is for “Sally’s Toys”, you may want what’s inside to be easier to find as well. There are great organizers and inserts available with pockets and elastic bands that make it very easy to store and find even the tiniest items. Many are small enough that you can remove it from the box or drawer and take it with you. This is especially helpful with cell phone can camera cords (and memory chips), hair accessories, items you want to move in and out of your purse and kids toys.

Involve Others

Unless you live alone, you certainly cannot do this task by yourself or you will always be the one constantly cleaning and organizing the whole house for everyone. Be sure to get every member of the family involved and make sure they are clear on what the new routine is in order for you to achieve success throughout the household. They may even find that it’s fun to stay organized if each one gets to choose their own color storage bin or basket.
Best of luck and happy organizing!

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