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The Home-Office: Declutter Your Desk

March 16, 2015 by XOXOblog in Office, Self Organization

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/

[ TIP ] Donate to a Charity Close to Your Heart

February 23, 2015 by XOXOblog in General Organizing, Tips

We are feeling the love this month, download our XOXO Donations Record PDF to keep track of what you’ve donated throughout the year.

Thanks for the Love!

February 16, 2015 by XOXOblog in Testimonials, Thank You

In honor of February, the month of love, we’d like to thank you for sharing the XOXO love on Yelp!

Trash or Treasure? 3 Steps to Help You Decide What to Keep and What to Toss

January 26, 2015 by XOXOblog in General Organizing

Blog Graphics - Trash or Treasure

“How do I know if I don’t need it anymore?” might be one of the questions I get asked most often.

In other words, how do you know when to say “goodbye” to an item(s)? If one or all of the following are true:

1. You have a better substitute(s) for said item(s).

EXAMPLE: CRAFT SUPPLIES- You have old supplies in addition to the brand new supplies you recently purchased. The likelihood of using the old stuff is slim-to-none, yet it’s taking up precious space in your craft cabinet.

2. The space you allotted for a certain item is completely full (assuming there’s no better place to keep said items).

EXAMPLE: PENS- You have 300 pens in your desk drawer. You have your 5 favorites and the others are really just taking up space.

3. You have never used all of the items at any given time.

EXAMPLE: PLASTIC GROCERY BAGS- you have a container under your sink (P.S. I highly recommend this) to hold your grocery bags. Your container is currently filled to the brim and you don’t even use this many plastic bags.

Moral of the story: Just because you have it, doesn’t mean you need to store it.

P.S. The most accessible spaces need to be saved for the items you USE and LOVE on a regular basis.

XOXO!

Organizing – It’s About the BIG Picture

January 19, 2015 by XOXOblog in General Organizing

I had to write a professional letter a couple days ago and had to look up a word in the Thesaurus. My word search came across the word “organize”. That’s what inspired this blog post.

or·gan·ize

[awr-guh-nahyz] verb, or·gan·ized,or·gan·iz·ing

1. to form as or into a whole consisting of interdependent or coordinated parts, especially for united action.
2. to systematize: to organize the files of an office.

My favorite part of this definition is “united action”.

Organizing is about the BIG picture. Having one organized drawer is an accomplishment, yes, of course! However, what about the rest of your home? Your home is a “union”. It’s an entity. Every drawer, every cabinet, every shelf, every closet and every room (even the garage) has to work together so you and your family can be organized and not run around frantic when someone is looking for something-or worse, have certain rooms become a clutter magnet.

Here’s a funny example: Let’s say you haven’t had a haircut in years and you feel under gorgeous, but ready for a change. You can’t ask your hair stylist to trim a little on the front, left side and expect great results. In this story, you’ve surpassed a “little trim” here or there. It’s time for a whole new haircut. A new shape. Your hair can’t be one way in the front and another way in the back (although the mullet may try to argue). Your hair needs to work together as one style.

If you’re feeling distracted on a daily basis and would like to get organized, it’s best to look at your entire home as a unit. This may be a good time to clear some clutter, get a system that will work for you and your family and then maintain your new organized space.

If you’re interested in a free in-home consultation, contact me so we can chat!