Pro Tips for Creating a Clutter-Free Home Office

​COVID changed the way we work. About 35% of Americans now work from home at least part of each week, according to The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. That's compared to only about 23% in 2019. 

Those who work from home might be thanking their lucky stars that they have those once-empty front rooms or offices to take work calls in, but that doesn't mean the spaces are optimized and organized.

Many of our clients work from home and we regularly see office spaces in need of TLC and tidying up. Today we're sharing our expert advice on creating easy office organization systems that last and will increase your productivity.

Tip #1: Clear the Clutter & Curate What Remains

​It's hard to concentrate on the task at hand when your desk space is filled with visual clutter and there's nowhere to put down your coffee. Your messy environment is hurting your productivity. Not to mention, it's not a good look on Zoom calls to have an unkempt room behind you (thank goodness for blurred backgrounds).

Let's tackle your office! Start by sorting items on your desk, bookshelves, floor, and anywhere else in the room that is becoming a pile. When our team organizes we make broad categories, such as items that don't belong here (sweaters, kids' toys, empty coffee cups), papers, books, office supplies, etc.. 

Declutter anything you no longer need and move anything out of the room that doesn't belong there. Put any remaining items back in a tidy way that makes sense. Just because you've always stacked your books on the floor doesn't mean that's where they should go back. Maybe now that you've parred down they'll all fit on the bookshelf (or maybe you need to utilize vertical space by adding a bookshelf).

​Add some visual calm by organizing your books by spine color, or by height. A plant, cute ceramic bowl, or framed photo can be a nice touch on a shelf among books.

If your cords are an unsightly mess, untangle them and use a cord box that hides them, and/or add the little cable clips that prevent your cord from falling off your desk when you unplug your laptop. These have saved me so many times! If you can never remember what cord goes where, take the time to label them once and you'll be thanking yourself endlessly. 

For all those loose cables, printer ink cartridges, and other unsightly office odds and ends, adding hyacinth baskets or cube shelves with bins can be a nice way to hide items out of sight.

Tip #2: Specify What to Save & Shred the Rest

​You need a simple and streamlined filing system. You can either use a filing cabinet (there are classy options now) or portable filling boxes/bins. Keep categories simple so it's easy to file papers away. An example of an easy category would be "Sarah Medical" rather than "Sarah Dentist 2025". You want to create folder names once and then be able to keep using them for years.

Once you have set filing folders, collect all papers on your desk, floor, and bookshelves. Decide what to keep and what to recycle or shred. When you organize with us, we have a handy paper clutter guide that gives you confidence on what to keep and what you can part with. For example, documents like birth certificates should be held onto forever, supporting tax documents for 7 years, and insurance policies while they remain active.

We highly encourage clients to sign up for paperless billing whenever possible. You can set up auto-pay and all statements are saved online. This cuts down on mail and paper clutter entering your home immensely. Therefore, it's less to either file or shred too.

​You can even sign up for things like annual insurance policies to be sent online. If you like to check your statements, you can log into your account and check that way. Mail is a constant task and clutter entering our home. Your goal should be to minimize this burden as much as possible. Plus, it's great for the environment to go paperless!

When sorting papers you'd like to discard, set aside anything that has your personal information on it in a shred pile. You can either shred items at home or if it's a large amount, stores like Staples will securely take shredding for you, for a per pound fee. For future items that need shredding, purchase a small shredder or use a magazine holder to put "to shred" items and batch shredding together.

Have a plan for incoming and outgoing mail/packages. Let's be honest, mail is not immediately opened when you walk in the door, so having a designated mail spot that the entire family knows is a must. Just don't let it pile up for more than a day or two. Keep it close to where you walk in, such as on the mudroom table, or a tray in the kitchen.

Outgoing mail or packages should also have a designated spot near your exit door. We can easily forget tasks, so even placing your car keys on top of the package can help ensure you don't forget it. Even better, put the package in the front seat of your car the night before (if you park in a locked garage).

We love to help clients with paperwork and creating systems. It can be timely to set up, but it will save you time and mental energy tenfold by having a plan, being able to find papers you need, and being able to keep up with mail.

Portable filing box for kids' artwork

​Tip #3: Designate & Downsize Digital Files

​It's amazing and daunting that we can store so many things digitally. This decreases paper clutter (a major win in our books), but it also breeds digital disorganization.

There are plenty of ways to store files, but I personally love Google Drive and use it as my main storage hub. I love that I can access items from multiple devices. The info I need is always at my fingertips. 

I have broad digital folders, just like a physical filing cabinet, and then store files within these folders. You can create subfolders within folders if that's helpful, but broad categories are a great start to maintain the system.

The best feature about storing digital files in Google is that you can search for items. Usually, when I'm looking for an item, I don't even click into the main folders. I just search for the name of the file or subfolder. That means that you need to name files with clear and memorable titles. If you're saving a lot of similar items, come up with a system for naming and storing them.

For my organizing business, we have a system for my team to name and save files. For client photos, for example, we always name the file with NH or NC, then the client name, and then the lead organizer's name. That client subfolder is within another subfolder for either pending, active, or past clients. All within a folder for Client Photos.

Everyone's digital storage needs are different, but the system is similar. Think of it as a digital filing cabinet and create a system that is EASY to keep up with and easy to find what you're looking for.

Once you have broad categories in place and are sorting items, take the time to downsize and delete unnecessary files. Does this sound similar to decluttering physical paper? It is! The process is the same (except you don't have to shred the unwanted items).

​Digital items may not take up physical space, but many of us pay for extra storage, and it also clutters up your search when trying to find something important. Even if you don't delete every unnecessary file, creating a system for the files you do need to access will make a huge difference. None of us are perfect, but we can make small changes for a big difference.

Learn our 3 essential phone apps for getting organized here.

Local realtor office we organized

​Tip #4: Reorganize & Reset at Week's End

​Your organizing team has left and you're feeling motivated to keep things tidy! Once systems are in place, it's so important to make it a habit and keep up the organization.

​Make it second nature to take your empty coffee mug to the sink when you get up to use the bathroom. Open your mail every night between tasks when cooking dinner. File an important paper right away when you receive it.

Every Friday spend 5-10 minutes to quick-tidy your office space, both physically and digitally. Delete any unnecessary files on your desktop and clear any clutter on your desk. It's a calming way to finish out the workweek and sets the tone for a fresh and productive start on Monday morning.

​Creating a home office you enjoy being in will transform your work week. Take the time to tidy up, add some organizing products, and create a filing system. Or, give us a call and you can keep working, while we do the organizing work for you!

Love working from home, but hate your home office? We would love to help you declutter and destress! Download our organizing guide to learn more about working with us.

Until next time,
Sandi