You know that deer in the headlights look that people get when they’re scared? Sometimes my clients get the same look when they think about making changes to their home office. They feel overwhelmed and they don’t know where to start. It’s definitely normal and understandable.
Transforming the look and function of your home office can be a challenge and definitely intimidating. While you can’t change everything about your home office in one day, there are a few simple things you can do now to make your home office more productive.
1. Grab a box and make a clean sweep of your home office. Dump old magazines and newspapers in the box. While you’re at it, toss papers in there that you know you’ll never refer to again. If any papers have sensitive information, shred them before you recycle them.
2. Take anything off your desk that you don’t use weekly. If you have personal items that are taking up valuable space, move them to a nearby shelf or bookcase. If you don’t have enough storage space add shelves near your desk. Yes, you can do that in one day.
3. Move extra furniture out. Is your home office the place where everyone dumps furniture that doesn’t match any of the rooms in your home? Maybe you inherited an old chair your mom didn’t want or a cabinet your friend couldn’t take with her when she moved. Either donate the furniture or store it somewhere else.
4. Move things around. Put your desk against the opposite wall. If you have two bookcases, separate them and put your desk in-between them. Shake things up a bit to make your home office more interesting and a place where you want to work.
5. Gather loose supplies (the stuff rolling around in drawers) and put them in clear containers or in drawer organizers. Make sure you store similar items together.
6. Change the look of your walls and create a more inspiring place to work. Replace tired, old photos on the wall with a large bulletin board or colorful artwork. Save money by enlarging photos from your last trip and framing them. Each time you look at the photos, you’ll remember your trip.
Making changes to your home office doesn’t have to take a lot of time or work and you can accomplish more in one day than you think you can. The best part is that any changes you do make will get you that much closer to a productive home office.
