Organizing Your Office Again – Okay, Mine, Not Yours

Okay, so I’m organizing MY office again. Actually, I’m done (cept for putting a few certificates on the wall.) But I’m sure you are going to be organizing your office again at one point. After all, it’s what we do.

Organizing Your Office

I write often about organizing your office and desk because it’s a huge challenge for many. I’ve moved so many times into so many different sized office areas, that I’ve become somewhat of a pro. In the next six weeks, I’ll be writing about clutter, minimalism, and stress-free living. Since I’ve finally finished my office, I thought I’d start with the office and desk area and then move onto decluttering and being a minimalist.

There are 3 key things that create a healthy office environment: a few personal things that make you happy, enough room to work, and knowing where items are located.

A few personal things

When you surround yourself with items that create a happy, warm, or joyful memory, it creates a healthy office environment and makes it’s easier to get things done. How you feel each day factors into how well you do.

If you saw my office photos in one of my first blog posts since moving, you’d see that there was hardly anything on my desk. That didn’t last long. My desk ended up cluttered and I got overwhelmed. (This image was taken after organizing my files and removing a lot of other things off of the desk.)

In the photo of my finished office at the end of this post, I have things that make me happy sprinkled around. At first, everything was on my desk taking up valuable real estate. I thought it was working…until it wasn’t.

Enough room to work

There just wasn’t enough room on my desk to spread out projects and my line-up of tasks for the day. In fact, there wasn’t even enough room on my desk for my planner. I knew I had to get items I didn’t use up and off of the desk. Bulky shelving would dwarf such a small area, so I looked for glass, but I found those were too heavy.

Finally, I found the Clear Acrylic Wall Shelves I ended up purchasing. There are two types: single tier or double tier. Though, only the single tier comes in two widths. In a small space, clear shelves do not make the room feel crowded.

Next, I had to decide what I actually needed on my desk. Tissues are a must, so I went from a large tissue box to a small square tissue box. It made a huge difference. Here is a list of the items that had to stay on the desk: the lamp, journal books, files that are in constant use, a basket of pens and pencils, iPod, and my coffee.

What to do with all the rest was daunting even though I know what I’m doing.

It was time to purchase a new file cabinet. I prayed there was something that would match the other furniture.

Knowing where items are located

Happily, I found a file cabinet that matches the bookcase. It was an all day affair to go through everything my husband and I had in 3 different file boxes. By the way, I also got a new shredder. Can you say exciting?!

Once we had everything sorted into piles, I took over. Using the standard Pendaflex file folders and Pendaflex hanging file folders I had on hand, I took my sorted piles and got to work. Between the hanging file folders are one, two, or three standard file folders. (I feel the Pendaflex brand holds up better.)

As I laid out each pile that should go into a file folder, I was able to see what was needed. Remember, everything was already sorted and categorized. It was then easy to put everything in its rightful place.

In the end, I feel really great while working in my tiny office. Enjoy the images below and share any tips you have that help you enjoy working in your office.

To your SUCCESS!