Working from home can be a great thing. However, a home office is often times carved out of space that may not have been intended for that purpose originally. Often times, the individual who is now running their business from home, has not had to work in an office environment previously.

Here are some tips for getting your home office setup and organized.

  1. Mailing supplies. Keep them all together, stamps, envelopes, address labels, packing tape, whatever you may need or use for sending out mail or packages. This might be in a drawer or on a shelf. Whichever it is, keep all those items in that one place.
  2. Note taking. Always have notepads and post it notes sitting on your desk. The notepads might be in a wire rack or in an organizer tray, but a keep a supply of them handy and within reach for when you are on the phone or working at the computer.
  3. Calendar. Use the calendar on your computer or your smart phone for tracking your appointments and due dates. Learn how to set reminders that will pop up a day or an hour ahead of time, whichever is appropriate. Don’t limit your calendar to the digital format. Keep a traditional desk or wall calendar in sight, as well. It will be much handier to glance at when you just need to know what day of the week the 22nd falls on.
  4. File drawers. Have some method to your madness, but make sure it is a method that makes sense to you, not necessarily to anyone else. Whatever files you need to access the most, should be positioned as close to you as possible. Arrange files within your drawers by groupings. If you have files for each of your projects, group them together. If you have files for each of the bills you pay, group them together, alphabetizing within each group. Using a different colored folder for each file group can make them easy to distinguish.
  5. Bills due. As bills come in to pay, take note of their due date and file them accordingly in an unpaid bills file, with the most urgent to the front. Write the due date on the outside of the envelope or in large lettering on the invoice. That way, you don’t have to shuffle through all your bills looking to see which ones are due. The most urgent will always be in the front.
  6. Current projects. Don’t leave information for your current projects stacked loosely on your desk. Even it there is only one piece of paper, start a file folder for each project immediately. It will save you lots of time in looking through your ’stacks’ and those pieces of paper are less likely to get misplaced.
  7. Printer/Scanner. Printers can take up a lot of desk space. Take some time in deciding where this piece of equipment should be located in your office. Are you printing continually and need it within hands reach? If not, can it be set on its own stand or on a file cabinet so that it doesn’t take up desktop space? If you are purchasing a printer, consider one that can be accessed wirelessly, to avoid issues with connection distances from your computer.
  8. Desktop. Spend a few dollars on desktop organizers to provide specific spots for items to be placed on your desk and to maximize the space. Think carefully about what actually needs to be on your desktop. If you don’t use it on a daily basis, then perhaps it can be kept in a drawer instead.
  9. Information. We’re always receiving information in many different forms. It may be leads for potential clients; it may be tips for running our business; it may notices of workshops you want to attend. As with the current projects, create folders for these items. At the very minimum, have a miscellaneous folder, but one for each type of information would be better.
  10. Computer. In addition to organizing your physical space, these days, you need to keep your electronic data organized too. Create folders within your Documents folder for various information, so that it is easy to find the files you need, when you need them. When you name folders for client or project information, always begin the file name with the last name of the client, so that they will sort themselves automatically. Have a folder for any digital forms you use. Put as much thought into your electronic file system, as you did your physical files.

Organizing your home office may take some time planning and getting things set up, but it will pay off in the time you save on a daily basis by allowing you to work more efficiently.