Home Office Decluttering

1. Keep the essentials within arm’s reach

A well set out office will increase your productivity and save precious time. Think carefully about what you allow to take up space on your desk, because your desk is prime real estate. Don’t use sticky tape? Why keep a dispenser on your desk? Use your business cards all the time? Why are they in the bottom drawer? Only read the newspaper over lunch? Why does it sit on the end of your desk all day?

Be intentional about what you keep on your desk, and you’ll find you’re more organised. When you sit down to work on a project, having everything you need at hand and still having room to spread out on your desk isn’t a luxury. It’s essential to have an organised workflow. Home office decluttering is a must for better quality work.

2. Keep the non-essentials away from your desk

Do you find that a particular file lives on your desk even though you only really access it once a week? Do you rarely use your printer but it’s sitting in prime position on your desk? Studies have shown that sitting all day is terrible for our health. So don’t keep everything you’ll ever need at your desk. Have a bookshelf or cupboard in your office, far enough away that you need to get out of your chair to access items you don’t need as regularly. Keep stationery and folders here. Keep your lunch and snacks away from your desk, so you have to get up and stretch your legs when you want to eat (We’re all guilty at one point or another of sitting for a whole workday, eating at our desks and never getting up to stretch our legs).

3. Set up and maintain clear digital files

Almost everything we do in business has either a digital or online component. Home office decluttering is not just about the tangible aspects, but also the digital ones. Keeping your emails, computer files, invoices, taxation, bills and projects organised is essential to success.

Consider the inbox on your email; instead of allowing hundreds of emails to build up, as soon as you’ve dealt with or replied to an email, file it away in folders so it’s easy to find if you need it, but it’s not clogging up your inbox. Computers have drastically reduced the amount of paperwork sitting on our desks, but the visual clutter of a full inbox can mean that emails no longer relevant sit alongside important emails requiring action. Set up filing systems and stick to using them. A well-managed inbox or desktop with only essential icons will save you time in the long run.

4. Pick your modes of communication

Do you sometimes feel that you’re contactable via so many avenues you don’t know which to monitor? I only have 4 ways that I communicate with people – in person, email, mobile phone and Facebook messenger. I don’t give out my Skype username or use the message function on LinkedIn, I don’t use Snapchat or Facetime. If you make yourself available on too many communication platforms, you’re increasing the amount of work you need to do to keep up with people. Pick the platforms that best serve you, your business and your clients and focus only on those.

5. If it takes less than 15 minutes, do it now

Procrastination is a killer for organisations regardless of the industry you’re in. Something I do in my business to avoid procrastination is to give a job I’d prefer to avoid, 15 minutes of action. If it’s finding new suppliers, following up a lead or submitting an article to a magazine, I set aside only 15 minutes and see how far I can get. After 15 minutes, I have permission to put it aside and continue with something else. Action is the best solution to procrastination. If you’re avoiding a particular office decluttering job, set the timer for 15 minutes and break the hold procrastination has over you.

6. Declutter your desk seasonally

Because you’re at your workplace and at your desk nearly every day of the week, you become used to your environment. After a few weeks, you don’t notice the empty vase on the windowsill. The clutter around you starts to blend in. Our recommendation is that 4 times a year you take everything off your desk, give it a good clean and then only put back things that are adding to your business or work experience. You’ll be surprised how much goes in the bin or gets filed away when you do this intentional declutter. Office decluttering will become easier as you keep the discipline over time.