Clean Your Home Office Once & For All With These 4 Fast Steps. So this is probably a headache for many of you. I know that this drives me crazy … you get the kids to sleep and you just sit down at your computer to check your email or get a little work done and you can’t find anything is the clutter and mess that your desktop screen has become. Yikes!  This is just so simple to fix and I have a fun and free way of doing it. Desktop Organization Tutorial. I myself have made several of these for my office and it really makes the office time smoother.

As for your physical office space, here are some quick tips to tackle. 

1) Divide – and – Conquer …

Organize your space into sections. Think of your office in grids. Chances are your office is a square room; make each corner have a purpose. Our home office is designed into grids and it makes working with things, storing things and locating things so much easier. 

4 sections: 1. Computer & Equipment | 2. School & Work Materials | 3. Filing | 4. Storage 

1. Computer & Equipment: this is your desk and everything that needs to be with your desk. We have my computer, printer/scanner combo, lamination machine, camera equipment. 

2. School & Work Materials:

In our office we put markers, pens, folders etc. in this area. We typically keep a closet dedicated to only kid crafts, activities, games, school supplies and other kid stuff. My actually office supplies remain in my own home office. If you are short on space, try to compartmentalize supplies so no one uses items they shouldn’t.

3. Filing:

We have narrowed down our fine system to a single, two drawer cabinet. Literally everything else has been thorough our shredder. I’m a big advocate in going paperless and it has saved us a ton of space. 

TIP: Start small. Think of your office as an extension of your command center. You will want to make sure everything is accessible so that you don’t have to manage the task of ‘finding’ things for anyone else in the family. If you love labels, use them or if you like clear boxes then use those. Just find a system that you love and stick with it to create continuity.  

4. Storage:

This is my worst nightmare. There are definitely things I have to have on hand like reams of paper for our printer and glue sticks for art projects, but I really don’t like storing everything. Too many things become cluttered and difficult to manage. So while you may find a great deal on pens, try to refrain from getting several packages (unless your family goes thought a ton of pens). It’s great to get everything organized in a shelving system, but do you really want a full row of shelves? Take an assessment of everything you use in a single month. If you never touch it, donate it or throw it away. 

TIP: Think minimalist. What can I live without? What do I actually need? What do I really use daily? 

5.MAKE IT A HABIT:

Make tidying up and organizing a habit. To create or set a new habit stack it on something you already do naturally. For example, while your morning coffee is brewing or your tea is steeping take those few minutes to clean up your desktop and set a daily intention on a sticky note. Get my free habit tracker below.

Let me know what you do that helps keep your office clean in the comments below.