If you are blessed enough to work from home or at least have a central place where you take care of all your home interests, you probably have a home office. And if you are like many people, this place in your home can quickly spiral into a disorganized mess. If you are looking to bring some order to the chaos with decluttering, here’s ideas, tips and tricks on how to organize your home office for free.
Hacks on How to Organize Your Home Office For Free
Clear the clutter
First, you must clear the clutter. As with any organization project, the less you have to organize, the more efficient your system will be in the end. Start making piles and stacks of important documents and separate them out into important files you use regularly (such as client information or other businesses you have agreements with), files that are not working ones (such as contracts) and papers that need action. Here are more detailed tips for organizing paperwork.
Next, decide what tools you need to do your job and which ones are just on your desk creating clutter and clear the area. Get rid of any pens that don’t work, gadgets that are missing pieces and so on. There is no need to keep things in your home office space that don’t serve a specific purpose.
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Find a way to corral cords
Nothing creates a sense of chaos than 10 little cords to things wrapped up in each other or always missing. Start fresh by unplugging everything, unwrapping and labeling them. Consider making a system that helps them stay that way. Look on Pinterest for inspiration, but I’ve seen little bread bag clips put on cords with permanent marker saying what the cord is.
Make a space for garbage to go
Many reasons we have clutter on our desks is because a garbage or “outbox” is not readily available. If you have a space to toss out garbage, you are more likely to use it and not let it clutter up your work area. Make a point each day to clear your desk of any unnecessary garbage. Just taking an extra 2 minutes at the end of each day, can really help set the pace for staying on track with your organization plan.
Organize your drawers in a way that makes sense
Nothing is more annoying than looking for the one thing you need, be it a highlighter, a stapler, or a hole punch and not being able to find it. Organizing home office supplies that you use most often into the top drawer will mean you have easy access to them.
Get rid of the “junk drawer”
Your home office is not the place to store other household stuff. In order to maintain an efficient work space, you need to separate it from the rest of your home. Don’t allow yourself or other family members to drop off their stuff in your work space or its drawers and bins. Remember that being organized will save you money!
Streamline your gadgets
If your work space is small, it is important to get rid of as much gadget clutter as possible. Instead of having an extra drive, backup your files online in a cloud. If your monitor is huge, get a smaller one. Do you need speakers on your desk? If the answer is no, move them elsewhere or consider hanging them on the wall to free up more desk space. If you have a flat screen monitor, you could stick your speakers behind your monitor. You still get the sound and it’s amplified a bit! Just be sure to face them outward.
Have the right kind of desk
Having the right kind of desk, can make or break your organization. Check out this article on how to declutter your desk.
For me, I like to have one with doors and drawers everywhere, so I don’t see what’s inside, because clutter makes me all fidgety. If you have doors on your desk, you can get letter trays to organize papers in “To Do” and “Done” piles.
In my top drawer, it’s a deep drawer and didn’t have a pencil holder. Rather than having a pencil holder and a bunch of small supplies on my desktop like paper clips, erasers, post-it notes, etc. I purchased an adjustable silverware tray (here’s the one I have on Amazon) and put my pencils and smaller items in the top of the drawer and store the things I use less often in the bottom of the same deep drawer. If you don’t have a deep drawer, you won’t have to worry about it, and of course, if you want to keep things free, just use what you have around the house.
