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Welcome to Day 2 of 7 Days To An Organized Home Office.
Today’s task will take about 1 hour for the average home office. Depending on your home office situation you may need more or less time.
We’re going to redesign your office space today. First we’ll create zones, then we’ll re-allocate space according to my real estate model.
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At present I use my home office for home working, managing the household, managing other family members (e.g. elderly parents), studying and entertainment (watching downloaded tv shows etc. when I want to watch something specific and get away from everyone for a bit). Apologies for it taking me a while to leave a comment this week, but I focused on organising the inner city locations of the drawers near my desk, which now have all the printer supplies, stationery, technology (the bits I know what they do and use) and my general office supplies for my notebooks, diaries, desk wipes etc. My prime CDB of my desk is now clear (on top and below – if you ignore wires) and all those drawers and surfaces are clear other than for the items I have listed above. I have allocated what I want to use my shelves in the suburbs for (although that isn’t what is on them just now) and what I will use the filing cabinets and outskirts for (again not that this is what is on/in them just yet). The suburbs and outskirts still have all the sorted piles we did in the purge session. I don’t feel the need to buy anything else at present although I acknowledge that I may need a little filing cabinet for under my desk to act as a kind of in tray for those office uses above – so that I can keep my desk completely clear and have out only what I need for the mode I am in at any given time. It feels much better already, so thanks as always for the advice, inspiration and motivation to get my backside in gear!
Our group responses are: Creating your Home Office as follows:
1 Determine what space you have available for a home office.
2 Define the needs you have for your office space.
• You will need a desk or other surface for your computer, a chair and space for files or reference materials.
• Office machines such as a scanner and printer are necessities in homes offices.
3 Make a budget for your home office and list what you absolutely need to purchase for your office.
4 Decorate your office to make it as inviting as possible.
• The more pleasant and attractive your office space, the more you will enjoy the time you spend there, which has been shown to translate to increased productivity.
• Consider using full-spectrum lighting to get many of the advantages of sunlight if your office does not have natural light from a window.
5 Set ground rules with your family and for yourself about use of the space, noise and interruptions!
6 Determine whether your home office qualifies as a tax deduction.
Your office needs to be kept neat and orderly every day.
how does one ask questions or join group?
Does the notebk for joining a download?
How did you go creating your zones? Was it simply satisfying? 🙂
I am in the process of creating my zones; however, my business is my primary real estate. Personal items for paying bills etc is on one drawer.
I have cleared all non work stuff from my desk area, cleared the draws and shelves and realised I actually have some room! The reals estate analogy worked like a bolt of lightening for me. Premium space – I love it! The family stiff is where it belongs – in the family room – not my space!
Desk Supplies: Address Book, Appointment Book, Binder Clips, Binder[s], Calculator, Clip Board, Correction Fluid, Day Planner, Desk Calendar Blotter, Glue, Highlighters, Hole Punch, Markers, Paper Clips, Pencils, Pens, Phone Message Pads, Pocket Calendar, Post-Its, Push Pins, Rubber Bands, Staple Remover, Stapler, Staples, Tape, Telephone Book’.
Computer Supplies: Air Canister, CD-ROMS, CD Storage, Disk Cleaner & Repair Kit, Toner & Ink Cartridges, USB’s.
Paper Supplies: Copy Paper, Colored File Folders, Bill & Business White Envelopes, Manila File Folders,
Manila Envelopes Stationery, Spiral Notebooks.
Did you re-allocate the real estate? Yes. Our real estate would be used for studying, checking our e-mails, paying bills online & keeping a monthly spreadsheet to see where our money goes = saving a small amount each month.
Desk Space saved for:
Computer, keyboard, mouse and typing stand; Desk diary or calendar desk blotter; Pens placed in a pen container, ceramic cup or mason jars and notebook; Printer with scanner; 3 trays: In, Current documents and Outgoing.
Drawers: Use these spaces for:
Stationery and supplies you use often: post-its, pens, stapler, calculator, and ruler.
Reference materials: for current projects depends on your project.
Technology/gadgets you use often: printer with scanner: scan you’re photos & documents.
Drawers: Use these spaces for:
Stationery and supplies you use sometimes: hole punch, spare staples, ruler, scissors.
Reference materials (dictionaries) you use sometimes.
General files*
Extra printer paper.
Technology/gadgets you use sometimes: shredder, label-maker or Avery labels.
Spaces That Are Harder To Reach: Use these spaces for:
Archived files: Legal documents, Insurances and Warranties.
Your portfolio of work: Job hunting keeps a portfolio of your work: resume and copies of things you’ve created, awards, volunteer activities.
Spaces have been reallocated somehow already during the enormous purging sessions. Feels really great to sit down at the work space now. I think there might still some tweaking needed but what an impactful change this is. Thanks Michelle for your well thought out process!
Think I am zoned out and reallocated. My office is starting to move in the right direction!
It’s motivating when you can see progress, isn’t it – good work Briana. 🙂 Kylie, Community Manager
The real estate analogy worked for me. I share my office with my husband – it’s big, so we both have our own decent sized desk. He has a lot more paper and folders hanging about than I do (especially after the Day 1 purge). But as we have fairly clearly defined zones, I just take care of mine and it works fine. Just managed to sort out something I’ve wanted to tackle for a while – to get my printer/scanner next to my desk so I don’t have to get up and walk across the room to it. Great! My 8Y.O. daughter helped me with zoning (by the way, she was motivated by watching me purge and we spent 1/2 day last weekend purging in her room – greatly improved the usability and feel of her space – great habits to get her into). Now I need to enlist my husband’s help to put a shelf on the wall next to my desk.
Excellent changes here Michelle. I love that your daughter is learning good habits too – she’ll thank you when she’s older!
Thank YOU Ketty for making such a great start! You’ve done the hardest steps and now you’re going to love the rest of the week!