How to Rejuvenate a Hopelessly Cluttered Office

If your home office is so messy that it’s starting to negatively impact your life then please read through a few of our suggestions to turn your workspace into a clean, productive environment.

Remove Everything From Your Desk

The first step in organizing your office is to start with your desktop. Take everything from your desk and put it aside except for your computer and other essential electronics. Sort through all the items on your desk and if you don’t use them once per week then toss them. This could include anything from a paperclip holder to a sticky pad. The general look and organization of your desktop mean a great deal to overall productivity levels and a clutter-free mindset. 

Stop Procrastinating – Tackle Those Desk Drawers

If you’re like most people you probably take any completed documents and simply throw them in a drawer somewhere. While this might be a short-term solution to your desktop clutter, it will eventually lead to a stuffed desk that has little to no room for even a single piece of paper. 

It’s best practice to go through all the items you’ve thrown in random areas and sort through them by their level of importance. For any tax, banking, business, investment or medical information you may want to hang onto it for a year or more. Especially with tax and business information, you may want to hang onto these items for up to six years. 

Although, for most documents, it’s best practice to shred and throw them away after 6 months to a year.

Document Organizers – How and Why

It’s also best practice to have two or three dedicated filing bins in or around your desk. If you have one filing cabinet dedicated to current tasks or upcoming projects and a second for anything finished or ready to send out, then it can greatly increase the effectiveness and organization of your work. 

This workflow concept allows tasks to easily and effectively move through stages of completion, adding an additional level of organization to your life that can save time and stress. Although, if the space on your desk doesn’t allow for organizers then there’s an easy solution; you can always utilize floor space in your office for a small filing cabinet or organizer.

It Might be Time to Upgrade Key Electronics

Items that tend to take up the most space on a desk are essential hardware components such as monitors, computer towers, keyboards, and printers. If you haven’t upgraded some of your key components for five years or more it can be worth looking into since newer versions of most hardware components occupy far less space for the same visual power and capabilities. Also, if you own a desktop computer and currently store it on your desk consider placing it on the floor and running the wires to items on your desk.

Also, try and utilize wireless components wherever possible. A wireless mouse and keyboard setup can save valuable space and ensure that wires don’t pile up behind your desk. In addition, one of the best ways to save space is to ditch your desktop computer setup for a simple laptop, if you haven’t already done so. A good laptop will generally have just as much computing power as an old, clunky machine and take up half the space. You can also utilize a normal computer monitor with a wireless keyboard in order to turn your laptop into a desktop setup while still saving considerable space. 

Best Practices for Computer Organization and Care

Just like the files in your desk drawers, the files on a computer can eventually clutter a hard drive, slow down a computer and cause numerous other issues. If files are old or never get used then they can probably be deleted, added to an external hard drive or be transferred to the cloud. Cleaning your tv and computer monitor in your office is also a good practice and will add to more positive and productive work experience. Although, it can be tricky to clean electronic devices and harsher chemicals, window cleaners, paper towels and any other abrasive or chemical substance should be avoided if they’re not certified for electronic devices. It’s recommended to spend a little more money on safe cleaning products to ensure that valuable electronics aren’t unintentionally ruined. Especially in the case of laptops, proper care is essential since laptop screens are interconnected with the other key components of the computer such as the keyboard and hard drive. 

All in all, if you gain inspiration from some of these tips then you’ll ultimately live a less stressful, cluttered life. Also, there are countless other methods and tips for organizing an office just waiting to be discovered so please feel free to share your own thoughts and opinions. 

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