How To Properly Organize your Workspace

In today’s society, most employers are allowing their employees to work from the comfort of their own home. The only problem with this is that clutter and the thought of being home can make less work to be done. The main focus is to make your workspace as clean and organized as possible while treating it as a workspace rather than another part of the house. Here are some tips to properly set up and organize your home workspace.

1. Find the Best Spot

Research areas within your home and determine the best spots available for your home office. Most people tend to set up shop for their home office in the best available area. This area could be the dining room table or in the kids’ rooms when they are not at home. Finding a space or room in your home and making this the designated work area is optimal in getting set up for working at home. This room or space should be furnished with a desk and a chair suitable for working as well as connections for your PC and any other electronic devices.

2. Comfort

Verify that you are working on the most suitable situation for your style. If you are going to be working a full day, you do not want to have the desk right on top of a heating vent nor do you want to spend the day sitting in a folding chair normally used for a night of indoor games. Items, such as desk height, chair comfort, and ample area, should be researched once space has been chosen so that the best comfort level for your day of work is achieved. You can choose comfortable chairs for your workstation from Urban Ladder.

3. Manage Devices

Every computer desk home will always have cables lying all over the floor underneath the desk. Optimise this situation by labeling all cords accordingly and using computer tubes or tie strings to alleviate some of the clutter from underneath. More often then not, a home employee will be right in the middle of a situation or video conference call and accidentally unplug his or her PC at the inappropriate time.

4. Remove Clutter

Toys and office materials tend to make most workspaces seem very congested and unprofessional. Once everything is settled in your new home workspace, take inventory of what is needed to get work done and what is not. A maximum of 4-6 personal items should on your desk at all times and the rest housed within the storage compartments of your desk. A well organized desk sets you up for a productive day with limited distractions.

5. Storage

Review your workspace and determine the type of storage you currently have and what you may need to invest in. Storing books on top of your desk may not be the best solution but rather investing in some shelves that you can place on your desk that can easily be reached from your seat. File cabinets are also an excellent storage option rather than having a corner of your desk as the home of all of your business files.

6. Lighting

A home workspace needs to be lit adequately to provide for the best performance. Some home professionals may choose to have lamps at their desk while other choose to stay away from the clutter on their desk and look for recess lighting in the ceiling or the walls. Whichever is preferred, lighting is essential and at no point should outdoor lighting from a window be used as the primary source throughout the day.

7. Wireless

Choosing to make your home workspace wireless is another option towards obtaining an optimal situation. Most office supply stores have quite the selection of wireless keyboard and mice available that will remove any cords hanging on or around your desk. Another option regarding wireless would be to modify your PC or laptop to have wireless access through a home router. These are very inexpensive and provide you with the opportunity to expand your areas of work to different parts of the house rather than being confined to an area around your network provider’s modem.

8. Adequate Filing

Filing cabinets, as explained above, provide for ample storage in your home workspace. The key to utilizing this storage would be to make sure that all files and folders are labeled accordingly. If not labeled, you will find yourself frantically searching for papers and folders while at the same time adding clutter to your desktop that may or may not be put back right away. Invest in a label maker and make sure that all dividers and folders are properly labeled so they can be attained without having to destroy your workspace.

9. Small Devices

Most computers offered today provide for optimal performance in smaller packages. When determining what kind of laptop or PC you are going to be using, investing in devices that are housed in smaller towers as well as packages that come with flat screen monitors should be the first choice you make. These devices take up little room upon desktops and provide the same amount of productivity as devices twice its size.

10. Clean Up

The work day is over and you are set to shut down your PC and call it a night. At this point and rather than walking away, take a look at your workspace and determine if anything can be put away or cleaned up. Put any unneeded files back into their folders, shred any documents that are no longer needed and take a once over with some cleaning materials to any screens or desktops. A clean workspace when you arrive in the morning sets the mood in your head for a seamless work day to come.