Working from home has its perks (goodbye rush hour traffic and hello pajamas!) as well as its challenges. Maintaining efficiency and focus can be tricky. However, when your home-office has turned into a barrage of paperwork, office supplies and electronic equipment, it’s necessary to establish a well-organized system that makes finding important documents and projects a breeze. Here are some simple steps you can take to maintain a clutter-free and organized home-office:
- Recycle or shred all the documents you know you don’t need anymore. You may want to have your local Office Depot shred documents for you while you wait (not all office supply stores offer this service) or call a shredding service if you have too much all at once.
- Store bulk office supplies. Only keep one of each necessary item in your desk area and keep the remaining office supplies in a nearby cabinet or closet.
- File all documents in a file cabinet. Be sure to label each tab clearly to make finding files easier. If you feel distracted by filing documents in between daily operations, it might be best to keep a letter tray on your desk for papers to file at the end of each day. If you have lots of paperwork and need two file cabinets, I recommend using one for “current” documents and the other for “information only” documents. Your “current” file cabinet should ideally only have documents from the current year and include companies you do business with on a regular basis. Your “information only” file cabinet should have documents that you hardly ever need to access. Analyze all file cabinets each tax season to determine which documents can be recycled or shredded and which ones need to be saved for your tax records.
- Label and keep product manuals and electronics in a nearby cabinet or closet instead of in your desk area. These are items you may not need on a regular basis. Be sure not to give them the best seat in your home-office.
- Use a daily calendar to record deadlines, meetings and reminders. Treat it like your personal assistant. Tell him/her everything you want to remember, including when to pick up the kids, when to call a friend and things to buy next time you’re at the grocery store. If you think it, write it down. Your to-dos are valuable and need to be scheduled if they have a good chance of being completed.
Your desk is an extension of your mind. If your desk is cluttered and out of sorts, it’s likely that your brain is feeling scattered as well. You’ll be amazed by the improvement in your workflow and mood when your workspace is in order!
Now that you’ve sorted and filed your documents, make sure you have everything you need to file your taxes. Download our 30-Day Tax Challenge to make sure you have everything in order before you file: https://xoxorganizing.com/challenge-30-day-tax-challenge/
