Clutter out, Color in: Make Your Office Work for You
An old non-working office desk may seem like a waste of space, but it's actually not a bad place to store some important documents. If your desk is well-organized, it's easy for you to keep up with everything. But if it's filled with papers, stacks of books and other miscellaneous junk, the clutter can become overwhelming. You'll start losing track of which document goes where and the process of searching for something becomes cumbersome. And if you have a computer on your desk, the clutter issue can become even more problematic as papers, books and other paraphernalia piles up around it. Fortunately, you can turn your cluttered desk into an easy to navigate workspace in just a few steps.
Remove the Junk
You should start by removing everything from your desk and then placing it in one large pile off to one side of your work space. This includes all of the paperwork that you currently have on hand, any books or manuals that are currently open on the desk, any magazines or catalogs that you have laying around, as well as any computer equipment and peripherals. Take everything off of your desk and put it in this pile.
You may also want to remove anything else that's on your desk, such as anything that's not related to work and that you know you won't need for the foreseeable future. You don't want to spend your time looking for a phone number or a reference book simply because it fell onto the floor.
In a small office, you can usually put away everything in one central storage area. In a larger office, however, it's often useful to break up all of this paperwork and equipment into individual cubbyholes. That way there'll be no confusion about where things are located and you'll have access to everything without having to look through your piles of papers and computer equipment.
Start Cleaning
Once you remove all of the clutter from your desk, you can start placing things into three piles: the keep pile, the discard pile, and the toss pile. For all of those items that you keep and will be using, find a clean spot on your desk and place them there. If you have any file folders or documents that contain information about different projects or clients, place all of these in labeled folder storage units rather than stacking them on your desk.
After you've placed everything that's going to remain on your desk into its appropriate spot, go through each piece of paper in your discard pile and make a quick decision about whether it needs to stay or go. If it isn't too important or you don't want to keep it, put it in the discard pile. This should be the easy part.
If the paper is important, but you're not sure whether you'll need it any time soon, place it in the "keep" pile and leave a note on top of it so that you won't forget about it. This also applies to any large notes or sheets of paper that contain information regarding a client or project. If they're important enough to keep, they probably warrant storage on your desk. Instead of getting rid of them and losing track of their importance over time, keep them because you may need to refer back to them in the future. The traceability and completeness of your records can only be achieved by keeping everything where it belongs.
Every few months, you should go through the "discard" pile again. This is the pile that includes one-page memos and ideas, driver's license copies of important clients and notes about a project that you're working on. After six months or so, these things will begin to disappear from your desk and you'll find yourself having to search for what you need as opposed to remembering where it's located.
The third stack is made up of everything else. The "toss" pile includes old magazines that you're not going to read, notes from random meetings and photocopies of articles that you already read. Anything that's in the toss pile should eventually be discarded altogether.
After less than twenty minutes, your office should now have a very clean and clear work area.
Modernize Your Desk
The first thing to do is purchase a new desk that can accommodate both your computer and all of your paperwork. As long as the desktop is large enough to handle both items, this shouldn't be an issue. There are many desks on the market today that come with built-in shelves on either side of the monitor or a large drawer underneath where you can store paper files. You could also buy a desk with wire shelves to hold stacks of file folders or even a small filing cabinet.
Another modern piece of office equipment that you'll want to invest in is a laptop stand. This is more compact than an over-the-counter desktop unit and allows you to have your laptop at eye level so that you can keep both hands free when working on projects. You'll also need an ergonomic chair that will rest comfortably on your legs and back without causing pain or discomfort. An adjustable computer keyboard tray will also help you maintain a healthy posture throughout the day.
Once you've invested in new office equipment and furniture, the rest is up to you. Now that you have the room that's available, it's time to start filing all of your paperwork into organized file folders. You'll also want to make sure that every notebook and piece of paper has a place on your desk for easy retrieval later on. Then, when you're ready to begin work again, simply pull out everything that you need in order to complete your projects.
There were two things about my desk that I just couldn't get past: the clutter and my bad posture caused by sitting uncomfortably for hours at a time. Your desk can be just the same if you let it, so dedicate yourself to creating a more organized and comfortable workspace. It'll make your job a lot easier and you'll be able to relax after hours without any stress from your home office.
Greg Zengel is a successful real estate investor who has written extensively about business management, personal finance, investing, and other topics for numerous websites. More information about him can be found at http://www.greggzengel.com/.
Source: EzineArticles Article - http://ezinearticles.
Conclusion
Before you go out and buy the desk of your dreams, stop by your local library or bookstore and check out some books on office design. This way you can get an idea of what others are doing, how they're organizing their desks and files and what things work for them. You don't want to spend a lot of money on a new desk that isn't made for business purposes.
You'll also want to make sure that you have enough room on your desktop for all of the equipment that you need.