A good friend of mine who could be the poster mom for organization, called me last week to tell me that she couldn’t get her office under control.
I couldn’t believe it. She’s always been organized to the point of making a few of her friends mad because they can’t keep up with her.
This is someone who’s always on time, never misses a deadline and doesn’t do projects halfway. She’s even a borderline perfectionist.
After talking with her, I figured out why her home office had gone from straightened out to stressed out and gave her a few suggestions.
Problem: Not enough space in her office to store files.
Solution: Move her husband’s files out of one desk drawer and a credenza drawer — he rents an office with plenty of file storage — and fill the drawers with her business files.
Problem: Not enough storage space for office supplies and reference notebooks.
Solution: Clear out the small, walk-in closet in her office and add shelves.
Problem: Her printer and fax are taking up too much room.
Solution: Replace her two machines with an all-in-one (printer, scanner, fax and copier).
Problem: Lack of a place to hang information she needs to refer to quickly.
Solution: Replace large, old photos with a large, decorative bulletin board.
Problem: Lack of a place for her young daughter to “work” with her in her office.
Solution: Set up a desk in the corner of the office for her daughter, with an old laptop and her own supplies.
Knowing my Type A friend, she’ll have her home office back in shape soon. In her case, it wasn’t a matter of not having enough time to organize everything…it was a matter of thinking she didn’t have enough space.
What are you doing to organize your home office? What’s working for you?
