A home office with limited space is not the place to hang on to outdated documents, unusable software or unneeded extension cords. It is worthwhile to dedicate an afternoon or an entire day to going through all of your office’s nooks and crannies and purging anything that is simply collecting dust.
Getting Prepared
Before you begin, locate three empty boxes or containers and label them as follows:
- Throw Away
- Archive
- Keep
Position the boxes side by side in the center of your office. Their intents are self-explanatory: trash goes into the box labeled “throw away”, anything that needs to be kept but is not used goes into the box labeled “archive”, and anything that needs to be kept and is used regularly goes into the box labeled “keep”.
Documents, Records, and Other Paperwork
The first thing you should focus your energy on is going through the various piles of papers that are stacked around your office. Throw out any that you don’t need immediately. You will then need to determine if the remaining paperwork should be filed in your office or can be moved to your long-term storage space. I recommend using a corner of your basement, attic, or garage for storing documents that you don’t necessarily need in your immediate office space.
Continue to purge, archive, or keep the papers you have in folders, desk drawers, or on shelves. This is a good time to clean out your filing cabinet as well.
Software, Cords, and Other Computer Accessories
I think we are all guilty of holding onto outdated software programs or keeping old phone and extension cords “just in case”. If this is the case with you, now is the time to go through all of it and determine what needs to be kept or tossed. If you truly think you may need something in the future, put it out with your long-term storage. Other than that, ditch it. There’s no sense taking up valuable storage space with useless junk.
Books and Manuals
Look through all of your books and manuals. If you don’t use them, they need to go. Keep manuals to any piece of equipment that you still use. Unused books that are in good shape can be donated to a library or sold on eBay.
Miscellaneous Stuff
Look around your office and determine which other areas need to be cleaned out and organized. Some other areas that you may want to go through include your pen/pencil storage (make sure that each one still writes and toss the ones that don’t), three-ring binders, and junk drawers.
Home Office Organization
Discover ways to maximize your home office space through a variety of simple tricks and techniques.
