6 easy rules for keeping a small office/home office organized
If you have an office at home, or if you work in a small office, it’s
vital you keep it well organized so the office does its job: that is, it
keeps you organized, able to quickly locate such essential papers as tax
records, insurance documents, customer data and other information.
Below are 6 straightforward rules to abide by:
Keep the desk clear. Whether it’s a home office or an office that
serves a small business, the desktop is the “home base” for
productivity, the area where you actually work and get things done.
Always keep the desk free of stray papers, clutter and other things that
can thwart productivity and also cause items to get lost.
Use “tickler” files. In a home office, you surely
have “pending” bills to pay. Set up a special temporary file for these,
and as they’re paid, move the paperwork to a permanent file. In a small
office the same holds true. “Hot” files such as daily timesheets could
go in a tickler file, then be moved after they are used to a permanent
file.
Have a desk diary, and use it. Small offices and home offices
need a “blueprint” for the tasks that need to be completed. Set up a
daily diary and update it each day so that nothing falls through the
cracks.
Set aside a regular time for filing. Loose papers will quickly
turn into messy mountains if you let them. Designate a time, once a day
or maybe only once a week, to regularly file your paperwork in an
organized filing system.
Maintain your computer. Your PC is likely a focal point of your
home office or small office, you rely on it, you need it to keep
functioning properly. Run the defragmentation utility frequently (every
few months or so), and always back up your work from the hard drive onto
other media such as CDs, DVDs or external drives.
Organize the flow of information. Be certain to take steps to manage
incoming papers such as mail, and also outgoing items. A desktop
organizer (example: Oxford® DecoTray® Letter Tray, would work very well
for this). In addition to “hardcopy” information, also organize the flow
of emails by creating a digital folder for incoming emails and a
separate folder for ones you want to save.
