The strategy behind degunking (that’s my made-up word for cleaning, organizing, and maintaining any work area), is to first rid any problem area, in this case, your home office, of unnecessary “stuff,” then organize what you want to keep, and then create a long term strategy for keeping the rest in order. The last part, keeping order, also means applying tricks for keeping the area clean and organized such as those that assist you in performing daily tasks quickly, finding ways of storing things in optimal places so they can remain organized, neat, and easy to get to, and creating areas that you can use to store everyday items.
Throughout the Home Office Channel here on BrightHub, you'll learn lots of ways to manage all of the "stuff" you have to keep and how to keep it organized. You can find these articles listed in our Complete Guide . For the most part, our strategy behind our suggestions is based on how your home office is used (and abused) on a daily basis. To create your own strategy then, you'll need to know exactly how you use your home office, and how others do.
You need to learn how to manage all of the following: - Newspapers, magazines, school papers, mail, coupons, insurance papers, health forms, user guides, bills, owner manuals, bank statements, warranties, tax records, contracts, loan papers, and similar documents are a part of life and often become a problem in a home office.
- Rarely used items like staplers, tape dispensers, mailing containers, and duplicate printers take up precious desktop space.
- Broken or unnecessary electronic equipment are space hogs and minimally used electronics take up limited desktop space.
- Keys, cell phones, PDAs, briefcases, purses, pens or pencils, organizers, notebooks, and other items create everyday clutter. These items usually do not have a designated place.
- Dirty dishes, and pet hair and dust, and most are often not dealt with in a regulated manner. By the time you get around to cleaning, the task is overwhelming.
- Unwanted guests who drop off bills, mail, and even personal items they want you to store in your home office. You need to claim this space as you own, and take ownership of the area.
