A Dry Erase Board

Dry erase boards can come in all different sizes and shapes and can be very useful.  They are also versatile and can be done to fit your needs. For example, you could get one with a calendar on it and write upcoming events. Another idea is to separate it into categories for your to-do list. Having a large dry erase board on your wall allows you to see all of the things that you need to do. I have a dry erase board on my wall that is about 4 feet by 3 feet. Right now I have it separated into categories with my to-do list on it. Also, it is very satisfying to go to it and erase things off it. The versatility of dry erase boards it great because while now mine is separated into categories, next week I could have one big list or make a calendar on it. The only thing limiting your choices is your imagination. Another thing you could do is use different color markers. This makes it visually more appealing while being more functional. You could have green things less urgent to complete and red items more urgent. Another thing dry erase boards are useful for is figuring out problems. For example, if you are trying to design a layout for something you can try multiple options on the board and just erase them if you don’t like them. You can just keep redoing the layout until you like it.  My dry erase board is one of my favorite and most used office accessories.

image from veganstraightedge at flickr

New Year’s Resolution: Get Organized

It is almost the New Year and time to start thinking about a new year’s resolution, if you haven’t already. You could make 2009 your year to get yourself organized. As I stress a lot on this blog, organization is very important, and can make your life a little less stressful. So getting your office organized could also make 2009 better. If getting organized is going to be your New Year’s resolution you have to make sure you can keep it. There are many ways to keep organized. Start off the new year by cleaning out all of the unneccessary stuff you have in your office. Then make a new system that is easy to use, so you can finally keep that new year’s resolution. Also, check out this blog because there are new ideas and tips all the time. Happy New Year, and good luck with your resolution.

Get Organized for the Holidays

Having an organized office can make your holiday shopping less stressful. Here are a few tips to get organized this holiday season.  First of all, keep all of your receipts from shopping in a separate place so you can easily find them. That way when something is opened Christmas morning and doesn’t fit, you can easily find the reciept. This will make for less stress after the holidays have past. Another thing you can do to be organized for the holidays is make lists of who you need to buy for, who you have already bought for, your budgeting, etc. This way no one is forgotten on Christmas and there are no surprises when the credit card bill comes. Wrapping presents as soon as you buy them can also make for things easier. You won’t be up late Christmas eve wrapping if you wrap them earlier. Also, try to keep the rest of your office organized because losing anything will create stress, and the holidays can be a stressful time of year. Just remember the more organized you are the more joyous this holiday season will be.

Organizing with Baskets

Baskets can be very helpful when trying to organize your office, or any part of you home.  They come in so many different styles that they will fit almost any decor. You can find them in metal, wood, cloth, plastic, and many other types. They are can hold many different things, for example you can have a small basket on your desk so that you can put alll of the mail that you need to  take care of in it. You can also find large baskets to help keep bigger things like paper or books that you don’t use everyday. I find that having a basket for things that I need to put away helpful. Make sure that your baskets never get so full that you can’t put more stuff in them.

You should make sure that you consider what your are doing with your basket along with the material it is made out of. Cloth is good for things that are going to get the fabric dirty. Metal or plastic is good for things that may leak or spill that way you can rinse it out. If your basket is going to be visible all the time you may want to consider getting wood, or something else that looks good. Baskets are very helpful in keeping your home office organized.

Color Coding Files

Files are something that all home offices have, whether you like it or not. Files can become confusing and hard find over time. Having file folders that are different colors can be helpful when looking for a file. Colored files can make you so much more organized. For example have everything in blue folders: financial information, yellow: unfinished projects, and red: client information, or whatever you need them to be. When you want to find information on that client you helped last month you can open up the file cabinet, go to the red files, and pull the one you need. It can make finding files quick and simple.

Put Everything Away

Leaving things laying out around is going to ruin your chances of an organized home office. If you never put things away you will end up with stuff all over your office and you won’t be able to find things that you need. You will end up spending a lot of time looking for things that would take seconds to find in an organized home office. That is why putting things away is so important. Not only is it going to help keep you organized, but it can be a huge time saver in the long run. It may take time to put things away but it is less time than what you would be wasting looking for things. Everything in your home office needs to have a place to be stored, and when you aren’t using something it needs to be put away. I recommend taking a few minutes at the end of the day to put everything away.

Personalize Your Home Office

You want to make your home office as inviting as possible. One way to do this is by bringing in personal touches. This can be hanging pictures of the family, inspirational quotes, pictures the kids drew, plants, or anything else that will make your home office inviting. You want to make your office as cheery as possible, that way you will be in a good mood in your home office. If you are happy in your office you will be more likely to take care of it and make sure it is organized. So personalize your home office.

Computer To Do List

To do lists are very important. They can help keep time in your home office organized. But with pen and paper you can end up using lots of paper and you have to rewrite things on to other lists when you run out of room. So putting your to do list of a computer can be very helpful. This not only saves paper, but it is easy to remove things and alter things without crossing things out. If you have a project that has to be done by Thursday, you can put the date next to it. Then, if the day you need to do it by changes, you can can change it on your list very easily. Something else that you might consider is color coding item. For example you could make things that need to be done as soon as possible red, things that don’t need to be done as quickly yellow, and everything in between orange. A to do list on the computer can make your to do list very convenient.

Empty Your Trash Can

Have a trash can is a must in having an organized home office, but it is also important to empty it. When you have a trash can that is overflowing you may not throw things away that should be thrown away. An overflowing trash can is not nice to look at. So empty your trash can before it gets full and you will be on your way to haveing an organized home office.

The Paperless Office

There are many things that every home office has, like a phone book, letters, bills, and books just to name a few. But many of these things do not need to be kept on paper. For example you can find a phone book online that is much easier to use that an actual book. Also, you don’t have a huge book taking up space and you help to save trees by using less paper. Emails can also use up a lot of paper, that is if you print them out. Avoid printing out unnecessary emails and you’ll save paper. Another thing that may take up lots of your paper supply is printing documents. Try proofreading on the computer, this will also save time when you go to make corrections. Also, if someone is going to send you a document, ask them to email it instead of printing it, not only will this mean less paper for you to deal with, but no postage fees and you receive it instantly. There are many ways to reduce the amount of paper you use. And the less paper you have the less files you have to deal with. New technology is always coming out and if used properly it can make working in your home office much easier.

Finding Time to Organize

Some people say that they would like to organize, but they just don’t have the time. This is not a good excuse at all because if you take the time to organize you will end up saving so much time. This is because once you are organized you won’t end up wasting time looking for things. Being organized will make you have more free time. Organization is the thing that can give you the time to do things for yourself. So don’t use the excuse that you don’t have time to organize, because just a little bit of time at the beginning will end up saving you tons of time. The more time you invest, the more free time you will receive.

Simplify Your Filing System

Filing is probably the best way to organize your papers. This means that you really want to try and maintain and utilize your filing system. There is no specific way for you to set up your filing cabinet. You should set it up so that it works for you. The one thing that should be in common of all filing cabinets though is simplicity. If it is so complex that it takes 5 minutes to find or file something, then you won’t make the most of your filing cabinet. To simplify your filing cabinet just go through and get rid of unimportant things. Also, keep like things together. This means that bills should be together and not all throughout your filing cabinet. If your filing system works for you and it is simple for you to use, then you will be more likely to keep all of your papers organized.

Plants in the Office

Having plants in your office can be a really good thing. One thing that they do is make your home office more inviting, which will make you want to go to it more often. And once you are in your office you won’t want to leave. So you will want to go in and make sure that it is organized. Another thing that plants can do is make the air fresher, and smell better. Make sure that when you pick out plants that they are very low maintenance. This will make caring for them a lot easier. So having plants in your home office can be very relaxing and make you want to organize.

Where to Put Books

You probably have a bunch of books in your home office, and no idea of where to put them. I recommend that you have two places to put your books. The first place should be close to your desk. This is where you should put the books that you are always using. Having them within reach when siting down makes getting them much easier. That is one of the places you should put your books. The second is in a bookshelf or something that is in your home office but it doesn’t need to be near your desk. This will be where you will put books that you use but not that often. Having two places to put your books will make getting certain ones easier, and ones that you don’t use often out of the way.

Common Items Should Be Close By

When in your office the things that you are always using should be in close reach. This means that things such as pens, computer, memo pad, and other essential office supplies. If it is something that you use a lot, but not many times throughout the day, then it should go in your desk. This makes it accessible but not in your way. You should have only the most important things on your desktop. Other things you use should be in a drawer in your desk. Try to keep your desktop clear of clutter and it will make your home office easier to use so you will be more inclined to use it.