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Blissfully Organised Expert Tips To Declutter And Organise A Home Office

Expert Tips To Declutter And Organise A Home Officehome office organisation; home office decluttering; setting up a home office; paperwrok management; blissfully organisedJane Howdle, Editor Herts Advertiser Property

A wall-based storage system can transform a home office

An organised home office can save you time and help you work more effectively, says local lifestyle management guru, Tracy Ross. These are her top tips…

 

“I believe that having a well organised desk and office is a must for both your own well-being and the success of your business.Organising your workspace will cut down on time wasted looking for important documents and force you to focus on the task at hand, without flitting to other projects that you spot on the pile on your desk”. Tracy Ross, Expert Organiser.

Exactly how you organise your home office will depend on several factors, including the nature of your business and whether you share your workspace, however.

home office organisation; home office decluttering; blissfully organised

A decluttering session should help boost productivity

Luckily these tips work across the board.

  1. Think of the essentials first

Decide what you need to keep in the home office to enable your business and home to function effectively. The minimum is a desk, chair, lighting and adequate storage for paperwork, stationery and reference materials. You may also need a printer/scanner or storage for products. Next, you need to review the ideal layout of the room. Think carefully about how you will use the space and the things that you will need most frequently.

Think how much more you could get done if you could see your desk

 

  1. Clear your desk

The next step is to clear everything off your desk to make a tidy workspace. Can you create storage solutions on the walls for a notice board or essential stationery? Your desk should have effective lighting (a desk lamp or floor standing lamp next to the desk), your computer/laptop and an in-tray system. I would recommend a tiered system so that you can clearly separate different tasks, ie. items that need to be actioned, current project, papers to be filed, and your diary/current notebook.

Some of my clients have gone paperless and use an online diary but most still have a paper diary and notebooks for client meetings. It’s essential that you have easy access to your diary so that you can respond promptly to client requests and manage your time effectively.

It’s also nice to have a couple of personal things around your workspace but keep this to a minimum.

  1. Provide adequate storage

Now that you’ve identified the things that you no longer need to stay on your desk you can start to review your storage requirements. Don’t fall into the trap of buying more and more storage systems. Decluttering is key: get into the habit of clearing out the things that you don’t need on a regular basis.

You should start by going through everything in your home office and identify those items that need to be thrown away, displaced items to be returned to other rooms in your home, paperwork to be shredded and papers to be filed. This will make it much clearer for you to decide what you need in addition to your desk, such as a lockable filing cabinet for client projects and household paperwork or shelves for essential files. If you work in a business that has stock make sure you have adequate storage to store your supplies.

  1. Create an effective filing system

I am often asked for the best way to file key documents and household paperwork. I think the simple answer is to set up a system that works for you and makes sense to other people. You will also need to think about creating an effective electronic filing system as well as organising your home office filing cabinet. I advise my clients to go paperless as much as possible. Effective electronic filing is so important. It can easily get in a mess without a system of folders that make sense to the way you work. It should be easy to file key documents that you are working on and retrieve information easily when you need it. Regarding the filing cabinet organisation, it’s important to have clear labels on all files. This will remind you where to put things back and save time when you’re filing paperwork.

  1. Maintain a clutter-free home office

Now that you’ve decluttered and organised your home office so that it works effectively for you, how are you going to maintain an uncluttered space? Managing the systems that you have put into place is just as important as setting the systems up.

Here are just a few simple things that you can do to maintain an uncluttered home office:

  • Schedule time each day to deal with incoming post, emails and client calls
  • File weekly to maintain that uncluttered desk and workspace
  • Schedule time once a month to purge unwanted paperwork and tidy your electronic filing system
  • At the end of each day take a minute or two to tidy your desk so that when you arrive the desk day it’s organised and you’re ready to go.

If your home office is cluttered and you don’t know where to start please Contact me at Blissfully Organised Home Organisation and Decluttering  for trusted, confidential and valued support.

 

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  • Tracy is exceptional at what she does and is generous in what she gives. Highly recommend.

    thumb Jayne reah
    February 23, 2022

  • Tracy has helped me many times over the years, and I think I must have known her for 10 years now! When I first contacted her I had reservations about letting someone into my home, making judgments and telling me what I should do. But Tracy's service is NOT like that at all. She did a full home audit and we chatted about what I hoped to achieve. For years I'd been frustrated by our storage area, a large room under the house which was hard to access and full of things we hadn't seen for years. We agreed to tackle it and Tracy suggested that to start with, we took everything out. I thought she was completely mad at this point. Three hours later we had done just that, assessed what was there, got rid of some of it, sorted some and made plans for the rest. It was like a massive weight had lifted from my shoulders. After that she helped me organise rooms, and filter through boxes of stuff. More recently she helped me prepare for a big move. It's always an absolute pleasure to see Tracy and she is very thoughtful in her approach. Her service is life changing and I am very grateful that I contacted Tracy all those years ago. Contact her now, you honestly won't regret it.

    thumb Clare Suttie
    June 11, 2020

  • Tracy is amazing. We were renovating our house and finally was able to plan some extra storage. Tracy helped us to plan out new fitted wardrobes and then came back a few months later to help me get into a system with my laundry ( one of the things as a family I find hard to keep under control! ). She is kind, non judgemental, motivational & inspirational! I would say most people could do with a bit of Blissfully Organised in their lives!

    thumb Laura Dannan
    December 14, 2020

  • I first met Tracy in 2019. I live overseas and wanted to help my Mother clear a downstairs room to become a bedroom, I needed a gentle, trusted professional to complete the task after I had returned to my home. We all met and agreed upon a plan, but it was not to be as my Mother’s health deteriorated very quickly and she passed away. Although I did return to the UK a few times that year, decluttering wasn’t a priority. Then Covid put an end to my being able to return. Finally, in spring of this year, flight restrictions were lifted and I saw an opportunity to return to the UK, now faced with the task of clearing the family home. I contacted Tracy and thankfully, despite short notice, she had some free days to help me. We arranged 6 days throughout my 2 1/2 weeks to help me stay on track and motivated. Tracy helped me stay focussed and helped me believe we could achieve a fairly daunting task of going through a lifetime of memories, papers, photos and possessions. I had to be very disciplined about what was kept as whatever I chose to keep was to be shipped back to my Country. Tracy gave me time to tell a story about an item and why it made the “keeper”, or “think about it” pile, yet didn’t break stride in her work whilst listening. It was a very cathartic process. I felt like I was talking to a long time friend. She has a talent for putting you at ease, and for helping you see objects with a critical eye. Not once did I feel she was making the decision, more that she helped me verbalize my attachment, or not, and that really builds a bond of trust. After each session, I had “homework” to complete before we met again and a follow up email charting the successes of the day and the plan for the next session. As I was on my own during my stay in my family home, this could have been rather lonely, but knowing that Tracy was coming, both broke up the monotony of going through endless boxes and kept me on task such that the job was successfully completed.

    thumb Andree Stow
    May 9, 2022

  • Tracy helped my young girls and I declutter before a house move. In particular I was impressed with how Tracy got on well with the girls (7 yrs and 3 yrs) straight away and explained the sorting process simply. This has had a lastly impact on my children, getting them to appreciate you can’t keep everything!! I too enjoyed spending focused time with Tracy looking at my wardrobe. I will definitely be implementing the learnings for my clothes purchases such as reducing my tendency to buy some items in too many colour ways! Thank you Tracy for all your help. Jo

    thumb Joanna Dew
    August 25, 2020