We continue our series on fulfilling your Decluttering New Year’s Resolutions by looking at ways to organize your Home Office. If your home office has started to feel less like a hub of productivity and more like a junk drawer with Wi-Fi, it’s time to organize and clear out. This space can be a catch-all for paper of all kinds – notes, bank statements, greeting cards, junk mail, bills, medical files. The disorganization of dried-up pens, tangled cords and towering paperwork isn’t just inconvenient. It’s quietly working against you.
EIGHT ITEMS TO GET RID OF IN YOUR HOME RIGHT NOW:
- Unnecessary Paperwork
Keep tax documents for seven years and receipts for anything with a warranty. Be ruthless with the rest. Scan any documents you are unsure of and save to your computer. Read and throw out mail as it comes in to avoid a pile-up. Create file folders to store any documents you keep.
- Duplicate Items
If you have three staplers, five pairs of scissors and two pencil sharpeners, choose the best version of each and either put the others in different rooms or donate them.
- Old Notebooks, Calendars and Planners
Now that most of us have moved from paper planners to digital, we don’t see so many of these in our offices. Clear out any old ones piled up in your drawers.
- Random Cords and Outdated Tech
Old tech takes up space and if it serves no current purpose, get rid of it. Do cords in your desk drawers resemble a bowl of spaghetti? If you no longer own the device, don’t keep the cord.
- Distracting Decor
Anything that distracts or overwhelms you doesn’t belong in your workspace. You can donate the framed inspirational quotes and ditch the dusty knick-knacks. Keep things that make you feel peaceful and productive.
- Non-Office Supplies
Try to keep your home office a singular-use space. However, if it’s a multipurpose room, clear it of non-office supplies after its second use. For example, if your home office doubles as a guest room, fold up the sofa and return linens to the closet after guests leave to keep the space well-organized and free of distractions.
- Outdated Manuals, Books and Media
You do not need “Windows 97 for Dummies” or that CD rom set promising to teach you Spanish in ten weeks. Recycle any manuals for items you no longer use. Get rid of CDs or cassettes if you don’t have a player that supports them.
- Dead Pens and Dried-Up Highlighters
Test every writing instrument in the room as you go. If it doesn’t work or you don’t like it, toss it in the trash. Choose one place to keep pens, pencils and highlighters
Clearing out the items on this list will help you achieve your goal of making your home office a peaceful and productive place to do your best work.
As always, if you are interested in professional organizing, contact us for a consultation. We offer a variety of services at different levels to suit your needs.
Stay tuned for our next blog post about decluttering your closet and wardrobe.
