If you have a home office space, you know how cluttered it can get. Naturally, the busier you are, the easier it is to let clutter slide. If you’re tired of clutter, but not sure where to start, here’s how to declutter your home office space.
1. Throw Out the Trash
One of the first things to do is to drag a trash can into your office space and throw out all the trash. This immediately will help your space feel cleaner and less cluttered. This also will make sorting and organizing much easier and more efficient.
Throw out obvious trash, like food wrappers, old mail, junk mail, and empty bags or boxes. Also toss old cables you don’t use anymore, broken electronics or old furniture, and old pens. Recycle or donate what you can and throw out the rest.
2. Keep Only the Essentials
Clutter can be such a distraction and managing it well is a helpful tip for working from home. The hardest part of decluttering is knowing what to keep and what to get rid of. Sometimes, the best way to do this is by getting rid of everything and then slowly adding things back in as you need them.
This method saves you some mental time and energy right off the bat. You won’t need to make any big decisions at first. Keep things organized and close by for when you do need them. If it’s important and you know you need it consistently, find the right spot for it.
3. Pick a Focus Area to Start
Sometimes, it can be overwhelming to know where to start. Picking one area to focus on will help you feel focused. If your desk needs the most attention, start there. Maybe your closet or organizational areas require the most work. Whatever it is, start small. This will help you keep going because you will see progress in these small areas and it will help you tackle the bigger areas.
4. Digitize Notes and Papers
A practical way to cut back on clutter is to digitize papers and notes. If a majority of your clutter is paper, this is a great way to manage it. Start by figuring out what you need to keep, and then toss the rest.
For the documents you need to keep, scan them onto your devices. If you don’t have a scanner, there are numerous apps and programs that let you scan from your smartphone.
To keep more clutter at bay, look for paperless options if possible. Many documents can be emailed or shared in other electronic ways and this will help keep your office space less cluttered moving forward.
5. Organize Your Space
Once your space is cleaned out, it’s time to organize. Either just organize the way it had been before clutter got out of hand, or rethink your system. Take into account what worked and what didn’t and reorganize based on those assessments. You can identify ways to brighten up a workspace as well.
Organizing would be an ongoing process, too. Keeping after it will keep things organized and tidy without a lot of extra effort. Maybe add it into your Sunday reset routine to quickly tidy up your office and feel ready for the week.
Not having a dedicated workspace is one of the mistakes to avoid when working from home, but it also needs to be a space where you can be comfortable and focus, which often means not a lot of clutter. These are just a few suggestions on how to declutter your home office space. Feeling organized and clutter-free will help you feel more productive and relaxed!