Being successful in your office has a lot to do with having it organized. If you have a task to complete, but can't find what you need quickly, you are wasting precious time and your work may suffer. In order to make the most out of your time and your space, use the following tips to keep your office space organized.
One of the first things you should do is purge. You probably have many cluttered items on your desk that you don't need. These items do nothing but waste space and give you a feeling of disorder. Look through your office space and figure out what you can do without and what you have duplicates of. Once you have only the necessities, you will have a better idea of the space needed to organize those items.
Next, you should look into reconfiguring your office space. Do you find yourself continually getting up to file something or throw away trash? If so, arrange your furniture so that the things you use on a regular basis can be accessed easily. You won't feel the need to lay a file in a random location before putting it where it belongs.
You should then make sure all the necessary items are within your reach. Do you need a bottle of whiteout sitting on your desk? Since most things are performed electronically, you will find that there are several things you can remove from the top of your desk. Decide what you use the most throughout your day and keep those items the closest. Things like your stapler, a few pens, your phone, and computer should be within reach and the other items can be stored to keep your space free of clutter.
An effective filing system can be quite helpful in your office space. Piling papers on a shelf or on the floor is not a good way to file. Fortunately, there are several filing systems that can work; you just need to find what works for you. Would it be helpful to file your papers by project, alphabetically, or by client? Find the system that goes best with your way of thinking and what will be the easiest to maintain.
Keep communication a priority and stay on top of it. You should set aside time each day to not only check your phone messages and emails, but you should respond to them in a timely manner. You may find that doing this one time in morning and again in the afternoon can help you work more efficiently as your workflow is not interrupted.
One of the first things you should do is purge. You probably have many cluttered items on your desk that you don't need. These items do nothing but waste space and give you a feeling of disorder. Look through your office space and figure out what you can do without and what you have duplicates of. Once you have only the necessities, you will have a better idea of the space needed to organize those items.
Next, you should look into reconfiguring your office space. Do you find yourself continually getting up to file something or throw away trash? If so, arrange your furniture so that the things you use on a regular basis can be accessed easily. You won't feel the need to lay a file in a random location before putting it where it belongs.
You should then make sure all the necessary items are within your reach. Do you need a bottle of whiteout sitting on your desk? Since most things are performed electronically, you will find that there are several things you can remove from the top of your desk. Decide what you use the most throughout your day and keep those items the closest. Things like your stapler, a few pens, your phone, and computer should be within reach and the other items can be stored to keep your space free of clutter.
An effective filing system can be quite helpful in your office space. Piling papers on a shelf or on the floor is not a good way to file. Fortunately, there are several filing systems that can work; you just need to find what works for you. Would it be helpful to file your papers by project, alphabetically, or by client? Find the system that goes best with your way of thinking and what will be the easiest to maintain.
Keep communication a priority and stay on top of it. You should set aside time each day to not only check your phone messages and emails, but you should respond to them in a timely manner. You may find that doing this one time in morning and again in the afternoon can help you work more efficiently as your workflow is not interrupted.