Is Your Home Office Organized?
Is Your Home Office Functional?
We would all like to find just a little more time in each day to enjoy what we Really like to do. The dream of working from a home office can quickly be exciting. Take away the commute, the need to be “dressed” every day and the stress of the daily office routine.
Be honest. What was this space being used before it became your home office? Was it a storage area, workspace or a guest bedroom? Turning it into a functional and operational home office can be difficult. This is a common challenge for many solopreneurs and entrepreneurs. Your designated space needs to function solely as a home office and nothing else! It is not a bedroom, workout room or family room. It is Your Office! So how do you get it organized?
1. Turn your room into an office. Remove what doesn’t belong. Throw out the trash and broken things. Place things that you don’t use very often into a donate bin. Put things back where they belong – find them a home somewhere besides your home office. Keep your vision in mind.
2. Setting up your home office. You will need a place for files. Even if you are a brand new business, you will need to have a filing system to make sure that you keep everything that you need handy. The floor is not a filing cabinet! I like the lateral file cabinets the best, are easier to work with and hold more files than the traditional file cabinets.
3. Designate a space for mail. Do Not allow your mail to pile up. Open it every day! Trash (or shred) what you don’t need, file what has a home and place bills in your Hot File. Don’t give yourself the opportunity to be late paying bills.
4. Keep only items on your desktop that are important to your daily work. Everything you own should not be found on your desktop. All other paperwork should be kept in a convenient file cabinet close to you – so that you don’t have to physically get up from your chair to reach it. Other paperwork should, however, be kept in a file cabinet that isn’t within your reach.
5. Manage your schedule. If you are just starting your business, you may have to spend more time “in” your office. Just as you would get up and dressed to drive to the office, spend time preparing to travel to your home office. Eat your breakfast in the kitchen – and not in the office. Schedule a.m. and p.m. breaks into your calendar to keep your mind clear and focused. Act as if you are in an office – that is not in your home.
Keeping your focus on what you need to do every day is an important part of your success. Your daily schedule should include client work, planning and development, marketing, follow-ups and research. Schedule every aspect of your business on your calendar to make sure that nothing gets left out. Be willing to adjust as needed.
1 comments