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Welcome to Day 6 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.
Today we’re going to learn habits and strategies to help you keep your home office organized, your desk clear, and your life simplified.
If that sounds good, let’s begin!
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So I threw away my misc gift wrap and got one color white. I then bought bright colored ribbon, bows and tags to go with all occasions. I also bought 3 stamps I can use anytime for decoring the box-
I used to dread gift wrapping but now I am excited about the next gift. I also found in my purge misc cards for all occassions as well. Each part of my life is getting better and better.
My group decisions are as following:
Having a clean desk means we can find things; work without distraction; reduce our mental clutter; feel motivated and having a low stress atmosphere.
Items to be kept on our desks are the following: Calendar Blotter; Container to hold pens and pencils; Computer {desktop or laptop}; printer w/copier & scanner; banker’s lamp; 3 file trays: in box, out box, file/project box [one file folder for file and one file folder for current project]; desk chair with floor mat under the chair.
If you have credit or store cards you don’t need, cancel them and then cut them up and toss in trash.
If you aren’t enjoying your subscriptions, cancel them and read them online.
The internet makes information findable. Save future info in your favorites online.
Our information policy is to only buy a book, subscribe to a magazine or newsletter, attend a seminar, and print an article, etc., if the topic is one I can use now.
Think twice before you print anything. Is it something you want to use now, or is it for the future? Waste of paper and ink = waste of money. It’s OK to print something you are using now. Hold future printing until it is necessary or save it in your favorites online.
Like Amanda, I have been following through on previous days to really purge as well as organise and I can happily report that I am nearly there – yay! While at that, I have also been using your very excellent mail handling strategy to 1) refrain from piling for later, 2) file immediately or 3) diarize if it is going in the in-tray. This strategy is working a treat – my desk is clear which helps my mind stay fresh and my in-tray is neat and actionable so I am actually getting my in-tray items processed. My gift wrap is pretty OK-organised but I soo love the idea of a signature wrap so I’m looking forward to implementing this as my current supplies are used up – but immediately, I am going to treat myself with some signature gift cards – just like your wrap idea – ones that I can use for any occasion – because I usually find myself late for things because I have had to do a last minute newsagent stop to get a card. Thanks for these terrific tips Michele 🙂
Sorry I missed your comment until now Jorja. 🙁
But I’m glad you’re finding the tips helpful!! 😀
Love the signature gift wrap idea – I can finally throw out the old bags of scraps of paper I’ve been hoarding for years.
For the most part my things are organized, I want to do even better though. I have always been good at going through my mail right away and organizing my bill system. I have tons of pictures that I want to eventually go through and setup for scrapbooking (that’s a whole other week long course I need to take). My hobby stuff and gift wrap is pretty organized as are my momentos. I am already thinking/researching ideas for this for when we move.
Mail and bills are big clutter/anxiety creators, so it’s good you have those under control.
I take care of my mail almost immediately, have a designated area for bills to be paid, and I don’t subscribe to magazines because I can’t ever keep up with them. I don’t like automatic payments because I’m always afraid they’ll try to make the withdrawal between paydays and that causes me stress. Also, I tend to forget to subtract the payments. I do have two that are done that way, we just have an index card with the date and amount on it and subtract it accordingly, so I guess I just removed my excuse, didn’t I?
Reference materials is my stumbling block. I print for the future (or keep windows open on my computer for things I want or think I should read). Thanks for the tip on only printing it if I’m ready to do something with it.
I have a designated area for gift wrap – out of the way, not a problem, though it wouldn’t hurt to go through it and weed out the culls.
When my mother passed away, I discovered that she had saved every letter I had sent her and crafts that I had made. It was touching. Maybe that’s why I hang onto the few things I get from the grandkids. But I don’t know what to do with them or where to store them. I like the Memory Box idea.
You ladies are going to get me organized with paper yet. Here’s an electronic suggestion to avoid printing. Check out http://www.evernote.com
I use that as well. Big advantage is the categories and tags.
I have done the opening mail over the recycle bin, and I will continue to do the same, also filing immediately is sooo good, simple and helpful to cease drowning in paper work that I always have! So pleased that the motivation to stick this out has been solid, my husband even commented….
Haha Elisabeth – I love the husband comments! That’s when you know you’ve flicked a switch in yourself. 🙂
Step one to becoming an accountant
I am still going through all the paperwork and working through days 4 and 5, but the weekend is here so hopefully that provides the time I need to get through it all. I am already bought into the clear desk policy, I can’t cope if the surface I am looking at is cluttered. It doesn’t stop me accumulating stuff mind you, or dumping things out of regular sight (and then feeling guilty about it), so definitely not a saint by any stretch of the imagination.
I have set up daily tasks reminders (excluding Sunday) to bring in the post, process the mail and filing and set any actions in my electronic task list and my bill payments are already set up from the work I did on the 30-Day Organize-athon, but the bit that hit home for me was the Organise Your Information and “print it when you need it now” habit, as well as the Organise Your Mementos mantra “keeping everything makes it impossible to appreciate anything”.
And look at that, finished just in time for wine-O-clock 🙂
Really good progress and habits here, Amanda! Later = clutter so much of the time, so shifting to NOW makes a big difference.
Thanks for making this simple! There are plenty of these type of plans out there but I needed KISS, Keep It Simple, Sweetie. The best part for me was “Move fast. Don’t over-think.” That’s me in a nutshell; dwell, dwell, dwell. I am very fond of gentle nudges and yours are the best!
Oh thank you for that lovely feedback Glenna! I too am an over-thinker who needs things to be super-simple for them to work for me. 🙂
I like the Keep It Simple, Sweetie. I’ve heard Keep It Simple, Soldier and Keep It Simple, Stupid, but Sweetie is the best. 🙂