This is a good time to get one’s office organized and start a new year with a clean slate…clean desk and ordered file cabinets. 
 I’ve been organizing throughout the year, but haven’t reached the ultimate solution.
I’ve resolved over the coming week, when one of my outside-the-home jobs (substitute teaching) is on vacation, to take that time and finish my clean up and organizational tasks.  Then I need to make sure I’ve developed, or am at least in the process of developing, organizational strategies that will be easy to follow throughout 2010.

Some files I won’t be able to box up for storage …read more

Before you can organize an office or studio, you must have one to organize. 
 What shall you use for an office?  There are many options. 

Use a loft area as my daughter is doing for her fabric art studio.  One corner does have a bed, dresser and bookshelves for her daughter when home from college.
Convert one corner or end of a bedroom, as I’ve often had to do.
Use one section of a living room or dining room.  I’ve had to do this, too.  My daughter had her fabric art area at one end of our living room until the loft area became …read more

In reorganizing our multigenerational home, now that granddaughter is away at college, my daughter found she could utilize the loft area for her sewing and fabric design studio. 
(One side will retain a bed and space for Kara.)  However, the sprawling sewing nook and storage in the living room will be moved to the loft.
This has become an extensive  project as the family:

Repainted the walls, which involved looking at many paint chips.
Finished the floor (there was only a subfloor before)
Built permanent railings on either side of the chimney for the portion overlooking the living room.
Decided to paint the remainder of the …read more

The organization of offices and work space will vary, depending on the person, the business, and the amount of space available.  Also, what works for one person doesn’t work so well for another.
Ideally, I like an efficient office and work space with everything at my fingertips and space just for ME.  However, that  generally hasn’t been my lot since I began writing, was sewing, painting, or working at an Internet based business. 

I’ve worked in apartments, duplex homes, a larger house with room for myself, a multigenerational home with everyone vying for space.
I’ve written in motel rooms and airports when traveling.
I …read more

Frequently shelves are a great help in our organizing.  We can use them in the office for books and supplies, for containers and shelf organizers. 
They can be utilized in a work area to make the most use of wall space.  (Sometimes, rather than building shelves on a wall, we use shelving units.)
Fabric artists like to use shelves for their fabrics, often color coding them or organizing by type of material.  They also can place jars and other containers on shelves.
If you feel your shelves are too messy or can’t be arranged attractively, you might want to get units with doors …read more

What happens when you have an old roll top desk, one that’s been in your family for years, but it isn’t too condusive for a computer and other modern office equipment?
Do you simply part with it or try to organize it for a computer, printer, fax, etc.?  Can it be converted for any of this modern equipment and still be efficient?
Because most roll tops are large and offices are relatively small, you’d have to make maximum use of the desk.  My husband has been pondering this about a roll top handed down to him from his father.  We really don’t want …read more

So many of us suffer from the clutter affliction. We have too much paper, too many gadgets, and basically just too much stuff crammed into our offices. What are we to do?
Some people live with the clutter, never quite able to find what they need. Others upgrade their space, thinking that just a little more room will help. And many of us buy more containers to better organize all that stuff.
It’s all too much! That’s precisely the point of Walsh’s book. We have too much stuff. We don’t need all of it. We’re too attached to things.
While the book is …read more

Efficiency is a must in any small business office. Limited space, time and resources demand that you operate at full capacity. And when you let things slide, it can be a nightmare to get back in order. So how do you keep on top of everything you need to do? Get in the zone by creating specific work areas in your office.
Think about the tasks you need to do regularly. What could benefit from having a designated zone? Start by making a list of all the tasks you need to do in your office. Divide them up into groups. There …read more

(myorganizedbiz.com) – So we talk a lot about the virtues of a clean or uncluttered desk. How a nice, clean desk will help you be more productive, help you find things more quickly, polish your car, and shine your shoes. Okay, maybe not the last two.
But do you really need a clean desk? Can a desk have a lot of ’stuff’ on it, neatly organized into categories?
I’m wondering what ways people work best. For some, it’s a minimalist desk: computer, phone, notepad. For others, it’s a desk with tons of pictures and knick knacks. Or maybe everything from a …read more

(www.myorganizedbiz.com) – I want to extend a big thank you to the awesome bloggers who filled in while I was on my honeymoon. They did an awesome job and if you haven’t checked out their posts, I hightly recommend you take some time to do so!
BIG thanks go to:
Ann Espo at One Bag Nation shared practical ideas to give everything a place.
Vicky White at Life Design Strategies wrote how to Position Your Desk for Power.
Karen Henderson of Get Organized & More shared Feng Shui Tips that Energize Your Office.
Coach Alison Marks of Inside Out Design Coaching asked Is Your Workspace …read more