How To Create An Organized Office
Are you a “stack-er”?
There is no one-size-fits-all when it comes to keeping papers (or anything!) organized in your office or home. Your personal organizing system may involve vertical stacks, hanging files, folders, or some combination. No matter how it looks to an outsider, the only requirement of a good system is that it works for you. If you’re able to find what you need with ease, more power to you!
Be Clear On Your Goals For Your Organized Office
What do you want your office to do for you? What would success look like? Write down your answers so you can refer back to them. 🙂
There will likely be three steps to organizing your office: Editing, Cleaning and Organizing
Editing (or Decluttering) We have many posts on decluttering and editing but here is a good place to start. 🙂
Cleaning: Do you want for cleaning your office to be a part of your routine? If so you can find excellent tips for doing so efficiently from our friends at Redfin. I was a contributor to their well-researched article on All The Office Cleaning Tips You need to Know!
Organizing:
Here are a few considerations when it comes to organizing your office.
- Do you need others to be able to find things?
- Do you want your office to look a certain way to prospective clients?
- Do you need to move or downsize in the near future?
If you decide it’s time to declutter your office (or any space!), it’s helpful to be clear about why. What are your goals? Why have you decided to start the process now?
Mindfulness of the energy of the space can be very helpful when you are feeling stuck. When you enter your office or home, be aware of how it impacts your energy.
- Do you feel pride in how it looks and feels?
- Do you feel anxiety because you’re not sure where to find something?
- Do you feel embarrassed that someone will judge you by how it looks?
There are no wrong answers. The goal of decluttering is creating a space that supports the way you want to feel! Share on XIt doesn’t have to look like Martha Stewart, it just has to feel right! When you decide it’s time to declutter and organize your office, for whatever reason, we’re here to support you.
One memorable client called us to help organize her office during a unique transition in her career. Her organizational style was functional for her, but she had other goals for her space. Read on:
Case Study: Preparing An Executive’s Office For A Major Transition
This busy executive (let’s call her Elaine) began her career in a paper world, before PDFs, Dropbox, Evernote, or Google Drive. She followed the traditional model of having her administrative staff make multiple copies of documents for board meetings, staff meetings, and more.
In addition, she used the “stack method” of sorting her papers. Each of the stacks in the before picture below was a specific group of documents that made perfect sense to Elaine (at least when it landed there!) There was, however, much duplication in the stacks as well as in the file cabinets.
This wasn’t a problem for Elaine. Her stacking system worked for her and she knew how to find the papers she needed. However, Elaine called us because she was getting ready to leave the organization. She wanted to turn over her office, papers, and job in a state that would be understandable to a newcomer.
The Professional Home Organizers Approach
We began the decluttering and organizing process by identifying which of the papers in the stacks were the most active and therefore deserved to be within reach on her desk. We then created several upright filing systems, some organized by project and one to serve as the “action” area.
Elaine was thrilled and her staff was amazed! Now they could find papers when needed, without needing to rely on Elaine to be available in order to access a particular piece of information. If Elaine was out of the office and needed a staff member to find something for her, she was able to explain by phone or email where the information could be found.
Elaine reported feeling a sense of pride and accomplishment when she returned to her office on Monday after we worked together. As she plans for her retirement, she can feel confident that the work to which she had devoted her last 30 years would continue to be supported by the paper systems in her office. For tips on how to create a filing system that works, click here.
How do you organize papers in your office?
Do you use the “stack method,” or do you keep your papers in file cabinets or drawers? What works best for you? And if you’re considering decluttering, what are your goals? Share in the comments!
Discover more ways to mindfully organize your home or office here! >>
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