How to Declutter Your Home Office in an Afternoon

Is your home office no longer a sanctuary? That palace of creativity you had imagined it would be when you first started out? Is clutter the cause? If so, you don’t need to feel alone. Clutter affects most of us.  Want to turn a new page? We hear you. In fact, professionals in the cleaning industry say that cutting down on clutter would get rid of 40 percent of the work you do to keep your house clean.

Here’s where to start if you want a better working environment and only have one afternoon to make it happen.

Step 1. Start with the purge. 

Stepping into an office that is overflowing with papers and knick-knacks,plus the odd cooking utensil, can be enough to make you want to run away. So start small. Don’t look at the entire room yet. Pick one spot and start there. Put everything that doesn’t belong in your office into a basket to be thrown away or dispersed elsewhere. Right now is not the time for focusing on the items that don’t belong. Your focus should be on clearing out your office of clutter. Once your desk is clear, finish off all the shelves, and the floor, too. Take those baskets out of your office, and firmly shut your office door. Feel better?

Step 2. Organise what remains.

What remains should be only whatyou need in your office environment. The main reason clutter happens can be broken down like this:

1. You don’t have a place for everything.
2. A random item appears.
3. You don’t know where it goes.
4. You leave it on an available surface to take care of later.
5. You never take care of it.
6. Clutter happens.

Fight clutter by having a place for everything. Shelves are vital in creating a well-ordered office space. Shelf Additions, a company that provides wire shelf supplies, is a good place to start in your fight against clutter. Everything that belongs in your office should have a designated spot. You might need labels to help you remember where you put things, and there’s no shame in that. After a while, you’ll have locations memorized, and you can remove the labels if you want. If you object to labels for aesthetic reasons, keep in mind that clutter is uglier than labels. Have a place for incoming mail, outgoing mail, wires and cords, and gadget paraphernalia.

Step 3. Make it inviting.

Once you have the basics taken care of, the last step is about making your space one where you feel free from distractions and can focus on work. Arrange your cords so they are hidden from view, or go wireless if possible via Bluetooth electronics. Make sure your desk only contains the things you need for a work session and nothing else.

Is your desk at the right height? What about your chair and your computer screen? When any of these elements are not tailored to you, this can result in tense neck and shoulder muscles and other pain complications. Not to mention, you’ll come to resent sitting at your desk. Take the time now to make sure your seating logistics are perfectly proportioned. Feet should be flat on the floor. Your arms at a 90 degree angle resting on your keyboard or desk. Your computer screen should be at eye level without the need to tilt your head.

Another way a home office can fall short is in poor lighting and/or ventilation. Put this on your list to check out. When either of these are lacking, your body will feel it in terms of sleepiness and lack of mental sharpness.

Finally, consider placing plants or art in your office space. The presence of plants and greenery can have a soothing and calming effect, and artwork can spark the creativity that you desire. Having a work sanctuary is achievableand worth the effort invested. Make your office shine once again by enacting these three simple steps today.

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