Organizing The Office

Ever feel your home office is a magnet for clutter? Between bills, receipts, office paper and schoolwork, your desk can become a sea of mish-mashed papers. But, your office is one of the most important rooms to keep organized. After all, you don’t want to have to dig through piles of papers in search of passports, tax documents or other important odds and ends.

That’s why this year’s spring cleaning is the time to take back your home office.

The most difficult part about organizing is breaking lifelong bad habits – like letting all that paperwork pile up. The key to getting better organized is to start with one small step and then take others one at a time. You may find that what you've put off for years takes only an hour to do. Plus, once you see the benefits of having a clean and organized office, you'll be motivated to keep on going.

Here are a few tips to get you started:

· Have a strategy. You may be able to straighten out the clutter in a few hours, or you may need a weekend. Sometimes it's better to devote a couple of hours a day to the job until you're done.

· Find your desk again. Clear the space you want to organize (the desk surface, one of the drawers, etc.). Next, make a big pile of all the paper.

· Get a trash bag. Don’t be afraid to do some serious purging. Evaluate each item, categorize it and put it away (in the desk drawer, in a file, in one of the desk organizers, etc.), throwing out as much as possible. If a document contains credit card, social security or other confidential information, make sure to shred those before you throw them out.

· File away. Have on hand a trash can, a pen, file folders and the other desk organizational aids mentioned above that suit your needs. A file cabinet with organized folders will be your new best friend.

· Get help! Enlist the help of a partner – a spouse, your kids, anyone who can help keep you going.

Once you’ve organized your home office, remember that cleaning shouldn’t be an annual event – it should be a daily routine. If you take just five minutes every day to put things where they belong, your office can remain a productive work area.