It happens to all of us. We get the idea in our head that we are going to get some work done. We are excited and ready to go, but then we get into our office and everything just isn’t right. Our workplace is cluttered, we can’t find anything, and we end up spending most of our time just trying to get organized and not getting any actual work done. If this happens to you more often than you would like, here are a few home office organization ideas that will help you boost your productivity.
Keep it Neat
Most of us know that you can’t get as much done with a cluttered workspace. Those piles of papers get in the way, and they bog you down. But I mean more than just keeping the paperwork cleared up. If you take a look at offices of highly productive people you will notice a common trend. They are not only spotlessly clean, but they are very minimalist. There may be a few pictures of family, but for the most part, there are not a lot of knickknacks around. Keeping the distractions to a minimum will help you focus on the task at hand.
File Those Papers
Regardless of how neat you try to keep your workspace, it can get cluttered with papers. The best way to keep your work time productive is to get rid of those papers quickly. Have a good filing cabinet or another system, that will clear the papers out of sight. If you don’t have time to get to them now, dump them off in a drawer, then sort them when the work is done. Organizing your home office is an ongoing task, be sure to do a little each day so the mess doesn’t pile up.
To-Do List
As you may know, I am a big fan of keeping a list of everything you need to do. My lists are handwritten as I find it is easier to glance down at a piece of paper than to keep a digital list. But the point is to make sure you have a list of things that need to be done and keep it handy. It will help prevent you from getting sidetracked. For important items, such as appointments or phone calls, I set a reminder on my phone.
Air Temperature
This one may not seem that important, but the fact is that having a comfortable workplace will make you a more productive worker. In a 2004 study, Professor Alan Hedge found that by increasing the air temperature a few degrees, productivity increased, and errors decreased. When you are uncomfortable, you just don’t work as hard.
Wrapping It Up
We all want to make the most of our time in the office. Especially when we are working for ourselves and we get paid by the project, not by the hour. The bottom line to keeping productivity at a maximum is to keep your workplace comfortable and uniquely yours. It should be a place where you want to go, a place quiet and clean that will help you relax and think. By making sure your space is dirt free, organized, your papers are filed away where they belong, and pleasant to sit in, you can make the most of your time spent working.
