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Many people want to know how to be organized fast . But workers think they are too busy to spend work time decluttering and cleaning their office. What they don’t realize is that working in a cluttered office space might be costing you more work than what it would take to organize their home office .

Businesses lose a lot of productive work when offices consist of a stack of unfiled papers and reports covering the work area in heaps, heaps of books strewn across floor.  But it’s not just companies who are hurt when employees are hampered by messy work areas. If you work in a unorganized work area, you are limiting your productivity. Your limited output is preventing you from getting the bonuses you could be in line for if you were working in an efficient and organized work area. It’s vital to begin this task right away.

First, figure out if you have any unnecessary office items you can eliminate. Only hang on to what is vital. Oftentimes extra tables are too convenient to pile more clutter onto – so you’ll want to take away the enticement. One more positive aspect is that removing clutter creates a roomier look to your work section which gives you a less cluttered look. Be especially conscious of clearing hallways and getting rid of  any containers stored along walls.   There is a psychological (advantage | benefit} to having more room. It provides a feeling that is less busy and more well-organized.

The next area to declutter is your desk.   Your desktop should only contain those things that you are working on at the moment. A good way to start is to remove every pile off your desktop and see how much room you have. After that, sort through the items you removed and place like items on the floor or a nearby table.   Put items to be filed with other folders to be filed. Arrange miscellaneous documents to be stored together, and place all pencils and pens into storage containers.   If you don’t have a pencil or pen holder, purchase one. Shred any reports or papers that are no longer important for work you are doing or have done. Copy any phone numbers scribbled on sticky notes to your daytimer (or into a different container to be entered into your phone or laptop ). Arrange other miscellaneous notes and throw out any that have notes about completed tasks and rank any that still need finishing.  If possible, enter such notes into a computer app on your desktop computer, digital organizer or PDA.

Now you must place all your paper clutter into files. Purchase hanging file folders for your file container. Place items into already started file folders or establish new file folders if needed. Lots of generic filing strategies exist. If you don’t already have a system, adopt one that matches your needs. Each business model has its own set of unique filing situations, but a system can always be engineered. You can organize by date, or by category. If you can’t decide there are many resources you can get at the library. You can even ask for help from someone who is experienced with filing systems. The crucial thing is to accomplish something. Don’t delay just because your system isn’t polished. You can always tweak it later. You need to just make progress.

Next you will want to buy desktop organizers and drawer dividers for office supplies you use on a regular basis ( pencils, staplers, tacks, sticky notes, markers, highlighters, etc.).  Find a contaner for everything and if you need some kind of storage organizer, find it online or at an office supply store and buy it. 

The final step is to label everything. Put labels on your bins, your filing cabinets, your file folders, shelves, etc. Putting labels on everything not only helps keep you efficient and productive, but it is a bonus for anyone who has to cover for you to be able to find what they need to do the job.

An organized work area creates a productive work environment. When your desk is uncluttered and organized, you’ll be pleased to find out that you yourself become more contented, more efficient and more capable in your work tasks. Your boss will take notice too, and you should start benefitting soon. The most difficult thing about organizing your work area is getting started – so don’t put it off. Get organized today!