Four Ways to Reorganize Your Small Home Office

Does your home office look like something out of a hoarding documentary? Would one glimpse send Marie Kondo racing for the front door? Don’t worry. 

These four tips will help you reorganize your small home office and transform it from a demotivating dungeon to an organized retreat that allows you to focus on your work:

1. Eliminate unnecessary items (Hint: it’s mostly papers)
2. Add storage space with office cabinets and drawers
3. Develop an organization system (that you’ll stick with)
4. Take back your desk space

Now that many people are working from home, this is the perfect time to optimize your office — even if it is a small space. 

Keep reading to find out how you can tackle this weekend project that will bring you a greater sense of calm and control during these uncertain times.

It doesn’t matter how hard you work. If your home office is packed with possessions, you’ll never get it to a point of organization. All the folders and organization “hacks” can’t save an overstuffed space. 

That’s why the first step to reorganizing your small home office is always purging those unnecessary items that are eating up valuable real estate. If you’re like most people, you’ll probably find papers are the biggest offender, particularly on your desk and other flat surfaces. But there are a number of other items that you should watch out for:

• Neglected equipment, such as phones and scanners
• Broken items, from dead pens to busted computer monitors
• Old belongings that are no longer useful, such as last year’s calendar and day planner

Now that you’ve emptied your office of everything extraneous, it’s time to organize what’s left. Still look like a lot of stuff? Fortunately, the right office cabinets and drawers can do wonders by keeping the items you need safely stored.

Visually, your cabinets and drawers will help you conceal your office items and maintain a sense of order. Functionally, they’ll keep the items you need at your fingertips. If you’re debating whether office cabinets and drawers are worth it, there are some big benefits you’re probably not considering:

• Maximize storage space: Unlike that random side table that you have laying around your house, cabinets for your office offer maximum storage volume. With office drawers, options range from those designed for smaller items like pens and paper clips to larger sizes designed for paperwork that you need to keep neatly filed away, yet accessible.
• Save time: Office cabinets and drawers have the dimensions of your frequently used office items, allowing everything to effortlessly fit. That means you won’t be wasting time jamming products into tight spots or digging through cavernous shelves that were designed for another area of your home.
• Maintain a sense of order: Most people underestimate the influence their surroundings have on their feelings. Cabinets and drawers keep your space neat and organized so you can focus on your work and not the messy distractions all around you.
• Set the tone: Stop blurring the line between your work life and personal life. A home office that actually looks like an office helps you focus and stay productive. 
• Embrace custom options: No two jobs are the same, which means you have some special needs when it comes to your office. Custom office drawers and cabinets allow you to pick the perfect furniture for how you work instead of slinging together mismatched items that just allow you to get by. 

Remember, this space is where you’ll spend hundreds of hours every month earning your living. Investing a little back into a well-designed office will save you time and future headaches and help create a space that you actually look forward to entering every morning.

What’s the best kind of organization system out there? The one you’ll actually use.

If you create an intricate system of organization that requires a 100-page manual, there’s little chance you’ll stick with it. There’s no right or wrong way to embrace your inner neat freak, but here are a few ideas to help you get started:

• Develop a color coding system: This one’s perfect for those paralyzing piles of paper. Sorting your mail, paperwork and files into neat categories will make them seem far less daunting to find and go through, allowing you to locate items with a glance. 
• Set up a “staging area”: Every work from home professional has a flat surface that holds whatever items that don’t have a home. More often than not, that surface is your desk, which is the worst spot (more on this later). Setting up a designated staging area gives you permission to temporarily put items down, and it keeps the clutter confined. Just make sure you revisit this space to clean it up later.
• Set a designated time/day to tidy up: Staying organized doesn’t just happen. It’s a deliberate act. What’s the best way to ensure you don’t fall back into your old hoarding habits? Set up a designated time at least once a week devoted to nothing else but organizing (recurring calendar reminders help). Want some bonus relaxation? Play some of your favorite relaxing tunes to embrace the moment of calm.
• Obey the “one-minute rule”: If it will take less than a minute to complete, do it now. Although this admittedly applies to many facets of your life, it can do particular wonders when keeping your home office organized. 

You can implement one or several of the tips above. Take a deep look inside yourself (and your office) to see where you need the most help organizing. 

For virtually everyone out there working remotely, the desk is the MVP of the office. It’s where you keep your phone and computer, and it’s where business gets done. But if it’s so important, why are you weighing it down with piles of mail, garbage and useless items that you don’t even use? If this sounds like you, it’s time to take back your desk. 

Staring at your chaotic desk right now and wondering where to start? Here are some tips:

• Draw a blank: You want to create a blank space to see how much room you actually have to work with, so sweep everything off your desk.
• Do a deep cleaning: Chances are your desk hasn’t felt the soft caress of a damp paper towel in a long, long time. Once you see how great it looks without an inch of dust covering it, you’ll be amazed how motivated you’ll be to keep it clean.
• Prioritize your possessions: Decide which items you need to keep within arm’s length and which can be stored away. If you’re like a lot of people, you actually won’t need much more than a computer, its accessories and your phone. Remember, less is more here, so embrace the desolation of an empty desk.
• Cut the cord: Invest in some nifty ways to tame those tangles of wires and cords from your office equipment. Options include binding cables together, buying wireless items (mouse, keyboard, printer, etc.) or just tucking away that equipment that you rarely use.
• Look to the cloud: Everything’s stored in the cloud these days, so you don’t need access to your computer ports. Drop that computer tower down to the floor under your desk. You don’t need it eating up the most valuable real estate in your office. 
• Ditch the desk lamp: Are you really wasting valuable desk space on a table lamp? Here’s a bright idea: invest in a standing floor lamp instead.

If you’re a work-from-home professional, do yourself a favor and bring some serenity into your small home office. Unlike a regular work setting outside the home, you have almost total control over the space around you. Take advantage of that freedom.

Make this the year you tame the clutter and get organized. You’ll not only perform better, you’ll feel better.