Shopping Cart A disorganized office can rob you of productivity and send the wrong message to your boss, co-workers or clients. Professional organizer Diane Albright shares a few easy tips on how to organize your office—whether you work in a corporate setting or from home.
Here are 8 easy tips to help keep you organized
- A Place for Everything and Everything in Its Place – By having a designated place for supplies and other frequently used items (and actually using it), you should always be able to quickly and easily locate the things you’re looking for.
- Toss, Recycle, Donate – Throw out or recycle what doesn’t work, and donate what you don’t need, don’t want, or don’t use.
- Go Vertical – If you use it often, keep it close. But if you only use it once in a while, Albright says to store it in high or low storage spots to open up the space in between for things you do use often. She suggests shelving, wall baskets, wall-mounted file folders, and wall hooks as great ways to go vertical.
- Label, Label, Label – Labeling not only helps you stay better organized, it also helps others function more independently in your workspace. So Albright suggests that you find an easy-to-use label maker and start labeling!
- Create a Meeting Bin – Never can find what you need for a meeting? How about creating a designated bin in your work space devoted to upcoming meetings? Whenever you find something or think of something you’re going to need for your next meeting, put it in the bin. Then when the time comes for the meeting, most or all of what you need will be in one place.
- Create a Pending Folder – A pending folder helps you clear off your desk and centralize pending projects. Albright suggests having a “pending” email folder as well.
- Keep a Notebook Close By – Have a notebook, call log, or journal to keep a record of telephone messages. You can also use it to jot down important notes and reminders during phone calls. This way you’ll have a record of all your calls and conversations in one place.
- Get Your Desk in Order Before You Leave – Not only can a disorganized desk become an ongoing source of stress, it can also result in important taks getting lost in the chaos and clutter. Albright says that by tidying up your desk an hour before you leave, you not only may discover a task that got lost in the clutter, you might still have enough time to handle it.
