| You may be pleasantly surprised at what a positive | | | | around? Hang some shelves, and organize all of that |
| effect that de-cluttering your office can actually have | | | | those items and get them up and out of the way. |
| on your daily work environment. When you have to | | | | 7. Look at how your office furniture is arranged. If you |
| take time looking through various piles of clutter in | | | | constantly need to get up out of your chair and walk |
| order to find valuable information, it takes away from | | | | over to the filing cabinet, this could be why stacks of |
| time that could actually be spent doing your job or | | | | papers accumulate on your desk all the time. Perhaps |
| gathering the key pieces of information to complete an | | | | you could move the desk closer to the filing area or |
| important deadline. It certainly doesn't hurt having an | | | | vise verse. |
| organized office when you are entertaining clients | | | | 8. Decide what really needs to be actually on the desk. |
| either. Most people would prefer not to deal with | | | | The key to allowing yourself to have a desk top free |
| someone them that can't simply find basic items in their | | | | of clutter is gaining control of the paperwork. Labeling |
| office or work area, no matter how valuable you | | | | project files and making them accessible will assure |
| supposedly are. | | | | that you actually put papers away where they need |
| Below are several ideas that will help you declutter | | | | to go rather than having them scattered all over your |
| your office and help you keep you and your business | | | | desk. The standard stacking trays labeled "in box" and |
| running efficiently. | | | | "outbox" are also helpful in saving space and keeping |
| 1. Make sure that you have a clear walk way from | | | | things organized. |
| your door to your desk and to your filing cabinets | | | | 9. Once you have the top of your desk taken care of, |
| without tripping over anything on the way. | | | | move onto the drawers. Most office supply stores will |
| 2. Evaluate your desk. Does it work for you and your | | | | carry a large variety of desk caddies and even trays |
| office size? An over-sized desk may be making your | | | | that are designed specifically to fit inside desk drawers |
| office space feel very crammed but a desk that is too | | | | and keep you organized. Pens, thumb tacks, paperclips |
| small could be the reason behind those piles of paper | | | | and other office supplies can get quite out of hand |
| on your floor. | | | | without the help of proper organization tools. |
| 3. If your office has a lot of empty space, consider | | | | Taking the initial step of organizing your office is |
| adding a nice table and simple chairs to hold meetings | | | | always the hardest. However, once you get control |
| at. This provides a great meeting place and keeps | | | | over your area it's easy to keep it this way as long as |
| everyone focused on the meeting rather than | | | | you spend a few minutes either at the end of the day |
| distracted by items in an office. | | | | or throughout the day to put everything away where it |
| 4. Do you have essentials in your office to allow you | | | | belongs. A few spare moments dedicated to |
| to function properly such as an appropriate size filing | | | | organization everyday will assure that your office and |
| cabinet, a table for your printer or fax machine, etc? | | | | or desk doesn't get out of control anymore. Create an |
| 5. Place a printer stand next to your desk so that it | | | | office of convenience so that it is working for you, not |
| can free up valuable space from your actual desktop | | | | against you. Remember, you want to work smarter, |
| work area. | | | | not harder. |
| 6. Do you have piles of books and papers lying | | | | |