Organize Your Home Office Space (3 Productivity Hacks)

How important is office organization to you? Having a properly organized home office can have an enormous impact on both your workflow and your everyday life.

Though dropping everything so that you can completely rearrange your home office may sound like a daunting prospect, your obvious increase in productivity will likely compensate you for the time you’ve spent organizing.

To help you get your home office space whipped into shape as easily as possible, we have thoroughly investigated multiple authoritative business websites to find out exactly how you can streamline your workflow at home.

Here are the top 3 productivity hacks to help you get your office clean, organized, and work ready.

1. Make Your Space Fit You

One of the best parts about working remotely or from a home office is the freedom that you get to do things your way, at least decor wise if nothing else. Taking the time to make your home office a place you want to be is one proven way to increase your work rate and overall productivity in the long-run. There are a few ways that you can make your workspace more comfortable and accommodating.

• Invest in Comfort and Quality

Many people tend to settle for ergonomic office furniture that serves a basic purpose and functions on a mediocre level. This is actually a mistake. In a corporate office environment, it makes sense to settle for whatever office furniture is around.

In your home office, you have a chance to choose pieces that truly work for you. You’ll get more done if your back is comfortable, the lighting is right, and your desk is set at the proper height.

Update your computer, router, printers, and other critical devices. You’ll find that things flow much more efficiently when they’re working correctly.

• Add Personal Touches

In addition to this, you can add your own decorative and inspirational touches to your home workspace. This Forbes article suggests adding touches like inspirational quotes, pictures of family, and motivational posters.

If you are comfortable and content in your home office space, you’re more likely to want to spend time there.

2. Minimize Clutter

Trash, paperwork, office supplies, and other materials can pile up very quickly when you’re busy or distracted. There are a few ways that you can minimize clutter in your home workspace to make your office a task efficient environment.

• Find Storage Solutions

Whether you go with Tupperware, baskets, a filing cabinet, or designated storage closet, you will need somewhere to keep your office related materials.

We suggest multifunctional storage solutions.

• Toss the Trash

If something isn’t needed, throw it away. Trash will quickly pile up in your workspace while you’re focusing on other things. Make sure you have a large enough garbage can available at arms reach. This way, you can toss out daily debris and trash as soon as it accumulates.

• Save Only What You Need

It’s also a good idea to know how to quickly differentiate between what materials must stay and which ones need to go. One way to do this is to create a system that helps you separate documents or supplies that you might need later from things that you definitely will need.

Setting up a “temporary bin” is a good place to start.

Place questionable materials in this bin if you aren’t sure if they are needed or not. Once a week, go through and toss out anything that isn’t needed anymore.

This way, you’ll have peace of mind knowing that nothing critical was accidentally thrown away.

• Useful or Beautiful

Another great rule of thumb to remember when reducing clutter is the “useful or beautiful” rule.

If you look at something in your workspace and it isn’t either useful or beautiful in some way, it may be time to remove that object. If you haven’t used something in over a year, consider moving it to your supply closet or to another area of your home.

This simple tip can be a great way to reduce clutter in multiple areas of your life.

3. Divide and Conquer

Dedicating space to specific task related work zones can help you increase your productivity.

When our minds are cluttered and distracted, our ability to follow through and complete certain tasks can be hindered. Designating zones for different jobs allows you to maintain a kind of laser focus on each and every task at hand. Here are a few zones that tend to be utilized within a home office.

• A Printing Zone

This will be where you keep your printer, scanner, fax machine, and other important document and image tools. It’s also a good idea to have your document storage area nearby or attached to this zone.

That way, you can print, copy, or fax important documents quickly and easily without having to wander around looking for everything you need.

Have a look at our best printers for home office buying guide.

• A Research Space

If you need to brainstorm, come up with new ideas, or find inspiration, a quiet and comfortable place that’s free of distraction may just do the trick.

We suggest designating a space specifically to research, planning, and thinking. A separate table near your desk may work well for calendar plotting or research on your laptop.

If you really need to focus, a separate area of the house may be a good start. If both of these options don’t fit well into your line of work, consider adding a second monitor to your computer desk setup for research, planning, and side projects.

This way you can do everything from one desk.

• A Storage Area

Knowing where your office supplies are is another important part of streamlined productivity.

Think “everything in its place, and a place for everything.” You’ll want to keep extra cords, equipment, binders, folders, and other office materials that you will need later but aren’t using now, stored and organized so that they’ll be readily available when you need them.

• A Work Focus Center

Finally, and possibly most importantly, you need your work zone. This is likely going to be your desk, computer, and office chair area. If you work on your phone frequently, a side desk with all of your gear may also be necessary.

Make sure that this space is comfortable, easy to maneuver, stocked with everything you need, and as distraction-free as possible.

• Other Ideas

This article suggests a 3 way division of zones that can also be helpful.

Organize zones in a way that works well with your individual needs. You may have to re-arrange things a time or two before everything is perfect, but in the end, you’ll likely find that zoning out your office makes life much easier.

So there you have it, the top 3 ways to streamline productivity and organize your home office or home workspace. We want to know what tips have worked best for you personally.

Are we missing any hacks that could potentially simplify someone’s day-to-day? Please feel free to leave us your feedback and tell us what you think.