5 Ways to Create a Working Home Office

Everyone has a different definition of a working home office. You may consider it a place with a desk, chair, computer, printer and office supplies. Someone else who works from home may describe a home office as a space with high-quality furniture, accessories and draperies.

I describe my home office as a place where I enjoy working every day (except for those days when it’s too nice to work inside) and a space that fits my working style. There are a few things to think about whether you’re setting up a new home office or thinking about fine-tuning your current office.

  • Decide if your home office would be better off in another room. When you first started working from home, may have set up your home office in an obvious place: a spare bedroom, guest room or basement. There may be a better place. If you [Read more...]

Organizing a Home Office Can Take More Space Than Time

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. [Read more...]

Organizing Guru Peter Walsh Shares Tips and Products

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to interview best-selling Author and Organizational Guru on TLC’s Clean Sweep, Peter Walsh.  You may have seen him on Oprah a few times. He described his new collection of furniture and accessories called you.organized that he designed for Office Max.   His accent alone is worth listening too but he also shared useful tips for organizing your home office, including using vertical space for getting organized. [Read more...]

Home Office Life is Messy

Working from home means that you can set your own hours, work where you want and control your level of productivity until something gets in the way: life.  Even the best-laid plans can get sidetracked when:

  • The dog gets sick.  This time on the product samples you need to send to a client.
  • Your in-laws decide to visit the same week your biggest project of the year is due.
  • Your child is home from school and in a lame attempt to entertain him, you show him how cool your new shredder is.  Everything’s fine until you realize you’ve accidentally mixed up your “throw away” pile with your “extremely important” pile of paper. [Read more...]

Fixing Your Home Office Files

There’s nothing fun about filing (unless you use colorful or patterned file folders to make it a bit more interesting). But filing is something anyone working naked needs to know how to do.  In this exciting, new, informative video (notice the hype) I’ll show you four ways to improve your filing system. Of course the alternative is to keep your papers stacked all over your office.

Quiz: How Organized Are You?

The way your office is organized can affect your productivity.  You can take time to schedule your days, but if you can’t find what you need to accomplish tasks, you’re wasting time.  Take this test to figure out where you need help.#272-Org. quiz

1.  Do you spend time looking for lost items every day?
2.  Are your files overflowing with papers you haven’t seen since you’ve filed them?
3.  Do you use more than one calendar?
4.  Is your desk covered with little scraps of paper?
5.  Do you have stacks of magazines older than six months in your office?
6.  Do you use a to-do list?
7.  Do you keep papers and other stuff you never use?
8.  Is your workspace free of stacks of paper? [Read more...]

Home Office Supplies to Inspire You

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The Desktop Station keeps your supplies organized and in sight.

Do you remember the movie The Jerk and Steve Martin’s character yelling, “The new phonebook is here…I’m somebody now!” while dancing around?  I feel the same way about the new Container Store “Work Smart Office Sale” catalog…dancing around included. Now we can all get organized or at least have an office that looks amazing.  My three favorite products are:

Desktop Station. You Lookouts (who like to keep everything in sight) will love this product alone or paired with the Landscape Letter Tray and the Landscape Paper Drawer. Aside from holding pens, pencils, folders and other supplies, you can see clearly what’s inside.  No more hidden supplies. [Read more...]

Clearing the Way For a New Year

working from homeThere’s something about the new year that brings out the organizer in all of us. Maybe it’s the desire to start fresh, wipe away the previous year and start over.

I started the new year by moving a bookcase out of my laundry room and into my son’s bedroom.  Big deal, right?  Actually it was. I knew I was going to get rid of a few things from the bookcase but when I finished, all that was left was one shelf’s worth of stuff.  I donated everything except for the 15 games my sons are going to sell to Gamestop. [Read more...]

New Year, New Home Office

The new year is just around the corner and you know what that means: it’s time to make resolutions, evaluate your goals for the new year and more importantly, get organized.  Start your quest for an organized new year with a few tips.#231-New year

  • Consider whether your home office still  inspires you to work. Whether you’ve had a home office for many years or you’re ready to set up a home office for the first time, start by asking yourself a few questions:  Is there enough light? Are there enough outlets?  Is your home office in a high-traffic area or is it too isolated to let you accomplish anything? [Read more...]
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