Tips on organizing your home office

Working from home gives me a freedom to be a mom when needed. I can take care of my family, my pets and my house as needed. I have the flexibility to run, make appointments and even grab a coffee with a friend when I want. There are down sides of course, but for the most part I enjoy it. It is great to work from home — unless your home office is a disaster. By following these tips you can de-clutter your home office to make it comfortable to work in.

Create a Printing Station

Your printer and printer supplies should be designated a space in your office. If you have a wireless printer, it doesn’t need to be on your desk. Place it in a cabinet or somewhere in your office to gain more space on your desk for other items.

Create a Mail Station

A mail station will help you to be in charge of the paper and packages coming into or going out of your home office. Make a folder for outgoing and incoming mail, bills, mail to file, etc, and a folder for every member of the family. Once a week, take a few minutes and go through each folder to ensure everything is in order. If you are a blogger you can have an assembly line for reviews with the most important/priority in the front.

Color-Code Your Filing System

To organize your office, you can separate the filing system into five color-coded categories:

  • Blue – House
  • Red – Medical
  • Green – Financial
  • Yellow – Insurance
  • Orange – Personal, etc

A well-organized filing system is a good indication of a functional office space. Your organization will pay off come tax time as well.

Purge Paper

Get control of the clutter before it takes over your space. Papers can easily pile up in your home office and this will cause a lot of distraction. Check each and every piece of paper in your office and apply the System of Three: take action from it, file it or toss/shred it. Keep the papers that are not related to work or managing the home out of the office unless you are hanging up the drawings your child made at school.

Do you have anything to add? How do you keep your work space organized at home?

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Comments

  1. I have a pretty box that acts as a holder for all of my stationary items so I can have my pens, pencils, tape, etc in a drawer so I have more space on my desk. I need to use some of these other tips, as my desk is always messy. 😛

  2. Robin Rue (@massholemommy) says

    These are all really great tips. I think being organized is the key to success!

  3. These are such great tips. Right now, my office looks like an episode of hoarders. Ugh.

  4. Love these ideas especially the color code filing system. This is the inspiration I need to get organized.

  5. Jenna Wood says

    I am the worst at filing- I always start with good intent (a cabinet or folder system) but inevitably end up frustrated and giving up. Thanks for the tips!

  6. My mail station saves my bacon! These are great tips!

  7. My office space is just my desk. I don’t really get mail so I don’t need to worry about that. But I do like to organize my bills and I usually put those in a drawer of my desk until I get them paid.

  8. I’m in the process of color coding everything and it’s working out great. It just takes a lot of patience up front!

  9. These are some great ideas. I need to get my office space a lot more organized. I hate having it a mess.

  10. I really need to pick a space for my home office. These are great organizing tips.

  11. Thanks for the awesome tips, I am setting up my home office now!

  12. I just need a home office. All my school and work stuff is all over the place. I constantly have to move it around everyone.

  13. Those are awesome tips. I love the idea of color coding your file system. This will make things easier to find.

  14. These are great tips! Sadly my home office is also the wash room and the catch-all for my photo props! Basically, I need a miracle.

  15. MY desk is pretty small so I have to make sure. I do have my files color coordinated though. That’s a great tip and has helped me.

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