Getting organized image: sxc.hu

 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 until the taxes are done, but I can deal with those that don’t involve income and expense figures. 
• Close my eyes and throw out stuff I haven’t used for years and has no bearing on anything I’m doing now. 
• Although as a writer, some of my research comes in handy years later.  So I need to put this in our storage area where I can get at it readily. 
• Check out new organizational items that will make it easier for me to keep my desk, shelves and files in better order.
• Utilize computer storage of records more.  But I can’t rely on this entirely because the files can be lost…permanently.

How are you organizing for 2010?

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Home office image: sxc.hu

 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 available.
• Convert a garage or storage building into a studio, work area or office.  My husband uses part of the garage for his workshop.
• Build a separate small building for this use.
• Convert a large closet into an office or writing area.
• Do you have dead space at the end of a hallway that can be used for an office.
• Use an extra room in your home.
• Finish an area of the basement.
• Share an office with another family member, as I’m doing now with my husband.

What are you doing for an office or studio?

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Loft space image: sxc.hu

(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 upper half floor which contains a bedroom, bath and hallway.
• Moved and reorganized

However, this will be a delightful studio for our daughter and give her the sewing and design space she’s desired, even though it’s not huge.  This also gives Kara her place when she’s home from school.

How have you reorganized to have a studio, office or work place?

(Of course, the loft space pictured is much larger than ours!)

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Home Office Desk Image: sxc.hu

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 often have to share office space with my husband.
• Sometimes our living quarters are small enough that I use the dining table. 
• Where I have work and office space in the summer sometimes has been unusable in the winter because of the heating situation.  So I’ve had to move to a corner of the living room.

I’ve discovered that you can get your work done, even when the locations aren’t the most ideal if you’re determined.  Yes, there are some places that aren’t condusive  to certain activities.  For instance, I can’t take my painting with me, although I can take sketching and planning when I travel.  My daughter can only carry along certain types of her fabric art.

But you often need to be creative when working on your projects and products and organizing your office/work space.

How have you organized when situations aren’t the most ideal?

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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 on them, as my daughter did when she had to use part of the living room for her sewing area.

Do you utilize wall space in your office and/or work areas with shelves?  What do you find works best in organizing them?

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Image: sxc.hu

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 to get rid of it, but so far it simply sits in a storage area because it doesn’t seem practical in our office.

Has anyone else utilized an old desk for a computer and printer?

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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 geared toward homeowners, there are good points for business owners as well.

Take a look at your office. Define the purpose of the space. Everything that does not fit that space needs to go. It does not belong there. Create zones in the office to help increase your efficiency. Try to keep your horizontal spaces as clear as possible. And notice how a clean desk does wonders for making your office feel calmer and more efficient.

File regularly and get rid of paper clutter. We keep way more paper than we’ll ever need. Be ruthless. If you haven’t looked at something in a year, you probably don’t need it. (Tax returns and other important documents excluded.)

All in all, I found Walsh’s book easy to read and packed with a lot of great information. I was immediately inspired to start purging things I know I don’t need, but had been putting off getting rid of. It’s still a work in progress, but it was just the push I needed.

I still tend to keep too many books and notebooks. But I’m learning what paper to throw away and will hopefully be able to start scanning more receipts for taxes and getting rid of even more paper.

Have you read this book? What did you think of it? Did it help you?

Image: Amazon.com

(For a link to this book, please see the Author Links page.)

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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 may be some overlap, which is okay. Those zones may need to overlap, too. The main point is to get rid of everything that doesn’t belong in your office work areas. Get rid of the things that don’t help you accomplish your goals.

Do you have a lot of paperwork to file? Do you keep all of your filing items (file folders, papers to be filed, file tags, etc.) in one area? And what about your bills – are they together with everything you need to pay them?

Create work zones in your office. Even if you just have a desk, filing cabinet and chair, you can create small areas for groups of tasks. Anything that doesn’t belong to that task moves out to another section of the office.

For your bill paying area, put stamps, envelopes, address labels, and invoices together. Everything you need to pay bills goes in that zone. And that’s it. Once the bill is paid, move it to the filing area. Nothing else goes in the billing zone. By doing this, you’ll always know where your unpaid bills are. If a vendor calls asking for payment, you can put your hands on related paperwork. And if it’s not in the bill paying zone, you know you’ve paid it. And you can then move on to the filing zone to look for it.

In your filing zone, gather everything you normally need for files. Manila files, hanging folders, the to-be-filed pile all go here. Ideally, it should be close to your filing system.

Billing can be another important area. Do you bill by the hour? The project? When you work on your invoicing, it’s ideal to have what you need together. Don’t waste time figuring how much you need to invoice, when you could spend that time doing things that are billable. Keep track as you go along, putting things in the same place every time. Nothing’s worse than losing the info you need in order to get paid!

Once you find yourself in the efficiency zone, you won’t want to leave it! So get started on creating those work areas, and let us know how it’s going for you. Does it work for you? It may take a few weeks to get used to it, so give it some time. Then re-evaluate. Does it need any tweaks? Come back and share your experiences with us.

Image: Rob! (creative commons)

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(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 project close at hand.

I don’t mean a desk that’s piled high with papers, hopelessly jumbled together. I’m thinking of a desk that has lots of things, but they’re neatly arranged, categorized, and fairly easy to get to/ go through. If you can’t find anything on your desk, then it’s time to clear it off or organize it.

But what may be clutter to some is just comfortable or familiar to you. So what works for you? Do you forget about things in drawers? Does open storage space seem too cluttered to you?

I’m curious about how you keep your desk when you’re doing your best work. What type of desk tops work for you?

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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 Working Against You?

Brandie Kajino, The Home Office Organizer wrote that Organization is a State of Mind.

Coach Maggie McCauley of A New View wrote about Filing with Ease.

Happy Monday!

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