The 10 Tips You Need to Keep Your Office Organized!

It has been proven that individuals are much more productive when working in a clean and organised office. Some of the reasons behind this are owed to the fact that a disorganised office can be very distracting while also disrupting your mental state of mind. When you walk into a messy office, your stress levels are instantly triggered which makes it increasingly tough to focus and be productive. On top of this, the build-up of dust and dirt creates a rather unsanitary office space where working individuals spend most of their weekdays.

These are just a few of the drawbacks that you can avoid by simply cleaning and organising your office. If you’re wondering how and why it seems so difficult to do this, here are 10 easy tips you can use to keep your office organised. Read on.

1. Create More Storage Space

It’s near impossible to keep a small office organised when you don’t have enough storage space to keep even your desk clutter-free. This is not much different when dealing with larger office spaces because the first rule of organising is to have a designated place/space for everything. With that in mind, we encourage you to purge existing storage spaces such as drawers and cabinets and re-evaluate what stays and what goes. When you’ve created more space to store or organise office items, you’re already one, major step closer to your goal of keeping an organised office!

2. Tackle Clutter Immediately

Before you know it, your clutter-free office is cluttered again. This is because most people do not act quickly when it comes to taking care of even the smallest form of clutter; instead, it is allowed to accumulate and become a bigger mess to tackle, one that you probably don’t have time for. By paying close attention to what constitutes to clutter in your office, you will be more aware of it when it happens and, in turn, be prepared to act accordingly. Remember, we're now in the digital filing age, so paper clutter is not a necessity.

3. Adopt an Efficient Filing System

Although we live in a digital age where there is less paperwork that requires filing, it still needs to be done in an efficient and organised manner. Here are some tips on how to do that:

• Unless the originals are required, scan papers that can be stored digitally (upload them to a cloud-based file storage account or send them to an email folder) and shred/discard them thereafter
• Categorise papers efficiently in order to organise them
• Use separate folders for papers that are: 1) required in meetings; 2) waiting on responses, and 3) require immediate attention
• For papers that are to be archived, organise and store them in storage boxes so that they aren’t collecting dust on a shelf
• Use sticky notes on your desks for effective hard-copy reminders.
• File papers every 2-3 days to avoid an overwhelming pile-up

4. Keep Cables Tamed!

With so many electronics/gadgets, the number of cables on and around a work desk can be chaotic. They don’t just make your office look untidy, but are also a hindrance when you try to work because they tend to get in the way or get entangled with other things. To solve this problem, there are various types of cable organisers that help to hold them together in a neat and uniform manner. Here's how to best organise your cables.

• Use a surge protector powerboard
• Make sure to unplug everything from your powerboard
• If you can mount your powerboard to your office desk
• Use cable/zip ties to tie loose cables together
• Be sure to label each cable to the hardware it corresponds to

5. Get Rid of Useless Items

If there is something or multiple things in your office that don’t belong there, aren’t being used, or require fixing, get rid of them. Not only do useless items contribute to clutter, but they also make cleaning a lot harder and time-consuming than it should be. Particularly in home offices where you tend to bring in things from other rooms of your house, it is important to round up items that aren’t needed there and get rid of them on a daily basis.

6. Keep Desk Essentials Within Reach

When the things you need to use on a daily basis are within your reach, you are more likely to put them back in place. On the other hand, getting out of your seat to fetch an item is likely to end up on your desk after use. With that said, it’s favourable to make use of desk drawers and cabinets to store work essentials while a few select items can be organised on your desk itself.

Home office and office desk essentials should be limited to

• A computer (preferably a laptop).
• An ergonomic workstation.
• Sticky notes.
• A water bottle.
• Printer.
• Work essentials tray
• Stationary and other office supplies

7. Create Work Zones

Depending on the amount of space you have in your office, it helps to establish work zones so that you aren’t trying to do everything at your desk. For example, if you have a single sofa with a coffee table next to your filing cabinet, this is where you can look over paperwork or do some reading. Another side/corner of the office will be your supplies area with a closet or shelving to help you stay organised. Creating different work zones will simplify the task of organising by ensuring that you are not doing everything work-related in one spot where things will get mixed up.

8. Incorporate Organising Aids!

You don’t realise how helpful organising tools are until you start using them in your office or home. They are practical and space-saving aids that help to keep papers and miscellaneous items in an orderly manner. From storage bins and baskets to drawer dividers and box folders; take a look around your office and envision what type of storage aids would be handy to organise different groups of items in your office.

9. Clean Your Office

A clean office is a necessity for sanitary reasons; however, you should also know that regular office cleaning and deep cleaning of your office will motivate you to keep it organised. If you don’t have the time to do this, there are plenty of office cleaning companies that you can hire to do the needful. Most commercial office cleaning services offer daily, monthly, weekly, and fortnightly cleaning, as well as one-time office cleaning services.

10. Organise Daily

Keeping an office space organised isn’t difficult unless you let the task get away from you. In fact, all it takes is a couple of minutes every day to quickly organise your desk and different work zones before you leave the office. This is especially easy when you’ve created enough storage space, gotten rid of useless items, and incorporated organising tools.

So, whenever you feel like your organised office is going astray, come back here and start checking off these 10 easy tips for thorough office organization!