How To Organize Your Home Office

Working from home can be taxing if you aren’t organized properly. More people are working from home now, especially due to the unfortunate Covid-19 pandemic. The good news is,  there has been a rise in the number of jobs you can do from the comfort of your home. We have seen a spike of employees working remotely and people starting businesses in their basements or guest rooms. Making your home able to function as an office too has become a significant part of our changing world.

The truth is that as you work from home, there is a lot that could go south. You’ll get interrupted by those around you, and things can start to pile up, such as: used mugs, misplaced files, old receipts, and other office supplies in your space. These things could make your work environment uncomfortable, inconvenient, and kill the morale you need to scale up the business ladder. To turn things around, you may need to think about improving your set up and organizing your home office.

Complete home workspace structuring can be an uphill task at first glance and costly for some people. But at Office Furniture Warehouse, we help you to sort out your furniture needs at pocket-friendly costs. We’ve put together some useful tips in this article to guide you to set up and organize your home office quickly.

Steps To Organizing Your Home Office

Find the Appropriate Office Location

Basements and garages come to mind for most people when they think about a home office. While these are great starting points, you have to consider several things to get into a space that you’ll love and be productive. Here are things to consider:

What type of work will you do from your home office?

Before you rush to think of how to organize a home office, take a second to understand the nature of the work you’ll be doing. Some jobs require long hours of sitting and ample space to perform duties. If your clients will be visiting, you obviously will need an attractive and spacious room. Your workspace should accommodate your tools and machinery if necessary.

Consider Air and Natural Lighting

A good office should be well ventilated and well lit regardless of the location. The best way to go about this is to leverage natural light and ventilation. Otherwise, you will have to invest in ventilation equipment and lighting which can turn out to be costly. Windows should allow in enough light to illuminate your room throughout your daytime working hours and let in fresh air for you to breathe.

Prioritize Lighting

You’ll surprise yourself how often you will work throughout the night in your workstation. So, having wide windows may not be enough to illuminate your room, particularly at night. Some areas of your office may call for more lighting to be able to see around you. Choosing LED lighting can save you on energy bills. Locate your office lamps close to your desk to avoid straining your eyes.

Assess the Noise Level

Working in a relaxed environment increases your concentration levels and consequently raises productivity. You don’t want to hear noise from your neighbors or their pets as you work. Pick the coolest place in your home where you won’t be disturbed or distracted by noise from anyone.

Be Thoughtful About Location

Your new office may not be a big challenge if you have an extra room in your house. All you need is to find ways to organize it. But if you live in a small house, you will need additional creativity. If you don’t have an extra room, organizing one corner of your house, and making it comfortable is always a good alternative. This could be some corner in your living or dining room. Buying a comfortable ergonomic chair and desk set, with a nice painting and plant can make all the difference.

After finding an appropriate place to structure your office, the next step should be setting it up. The set up should be appealing because you will probably spend most of your time there. Here is a guide to help you set up your home workspace and ways to organize it.

Pick an Appealing Paint Color

Each color has a way of speaking to our subconscious minds. And because you will be spending most of your time in this environment working, you need a color that is attractive, peaceful, and capable of making you more productive at whatever you are doing. You probably already have a favorite color that gives you tranquility and makes you creative and focused. Think about your clients as well, if they’ll be visiting. You need a color that suits both of you. Get a color psychology chart and combine colors accordingly. For example, you might want a calm color like grey to increase your focusing ability and friendly orangey colors to appeal to your clients. Having a full guide for painting will help you decorate your room in an exceptionally charming way.

Get a Comfortable Office Chair

You might be tempted to sit on your couch or your kitchen stool to cut on the costs, but investing in an ergonomic office chair could be life-changing. Office work might need you to sit all day, and the last thing you wish for is back pain. A comfortable office chair work should have adequate fabric, good cushioning, should be adjustable, and supportive. You can also reference our guide on ergonomic office chairs.

At Office Furniture Warehouse, we have a wide range of seating options that will make your workspace look well organized and offer the comfort you need. Reach out to us and inquire anything about chairs including conference chairs, desk chairs, executive chairs, lounge seats, multipurpose chairs, and side chairs. We have all the workspace chairs that will serve you and your visitors well.

Try a Standing Desk

A standing desk is not what most people initially choose when looking for a desk for their home office. But this desk could be what you need if you have limited room and want a well-organized work environment. There are great standing desks in our collection that come with a file cabinet and compartments you can keep your office supplies. With such a desk you not only save space but also help you work on any lingering back pain. Studies show that standing desks also lower the risks of diabetes, heart disease, and boost mood as well as make you more productive.

Check the Position of Your Computer

You may need to stare at your computer for more than 8 hours. Your computer should therefore be placed in a position that the top of the monitor is at eye level. It makes it easier for your eyes to read texts as they open and close with ease. No straining. That means that you need a good desk and an adjustable seat to make sure your computer is properly positioned.

Come Up with Work Zones

Designating “work zones” for each project makes it easier to tackle your assignments and significantly eases the workflow to save time. You might want to use a piece of paper to label and stick around work zones within your home office for better efficiency. This could be anything from understanding where specific files are located in a desk drawer, bookmarking pages on your computer, to having a special corner to do a particular activity. Coming up with work zones is a great way of organizing your home office and running stuff on schedule.

Get the Right Office Plants

In stressful environments, plants can be very soothing. The long hours you are going to spend in your office should be as much pleasing as possible. Greeneries also reduce headaches and drowsiness and increase oxygen levels in the room. Invest in plants that are easy to maintain but effective as decor. You should take into consideration the amount of natural light your new office space gets and how much time you are going to need to invest in the maintenance and care of these plants.

Mark Boundaries

Your workroom needs to be separated from the rest of your household. Create rules for this. Children, pets, spouses, and roommates should not check in any time they feel like. Remember you are on a serious mission that helps put food on the table. Lock the door when leaving your office so that no one gets in there to interfere with your organization. This will send a signal that the room is solely for your work, even without saying it aloud.

Tips to Organize Your Home Office

Setting up your home office is not the end of the road. How you choose to organize it, in the long run, will determine how you work and bolster your production over time. A scattered workspace scatters your brains as well. There is nothing as motivating as having a neatly arranged desk and knowing where to reach for specific items as you work. Here’s a quick guide to help you get your stuff in order.

Categorize Your Supplies

Organizing similar items into categories will help you easily identify where each item is. Your office things might be grouped into; tools (stapler, paper hole puncher, and paper cutter), budget (billing calendar, calculator, and checkbook), writing tools (pens, highlighters, and markers.), stickies (seal tapes, tabs, and stickers) and mails (stamps and envelopes). The grouped items should be placed in separate boxes on a specific shelf.

Categorizing your supplies makes it easier to identify whatever you need faster. It also keeps you from misplacing your supplies by placing them in their appropriate storage compartments.

Keep Your Desk Accessories Tidy and Simple

Desks take centerstage when you organize your home office. A clean and neatly arranged desk gives the impression that the entire room is organized and encourages you to put everything in order. To be at the top of the game with your home office organization, buy a number of items that can hold things in place. Consider buying a desk with a spacious top to avoid the congestion of used mugs, pens, magazines, and used papers.

Invest in Shelves

Closets are not for every office space. Perhaps, shelving might be a better choice for you. It helps make use of every inch of space available if you have a squeezed room. Mobile shelving or archive shelving can be a good solution if your home office is small.

Open shelves give your home office an organized and stylish look. The shelves should be perfectly installed to be more aesthetic. Investing in shelves also makes your home office clutter-free. A clutter-free mind enhances creativity and tranquility. Files placed on shelves are easy to locate. This saves your time and increases productivity.

Have a Personalized Wall Calendar

When working from your home office, you will need to manage your time well. A wall calendar is a perfect time manager and event tracker for the whole year. Choose one that is well designed to add glamour to your office. Remember the colors of the accessories in your office matter when you step out to buy a calendar.

Use Cubbies to Organize Your Items

A cubby can be the best organizational tool for storing complicated inventories and displaying your items for clients and guests. One advantage of using a cubby system is that it enhances natural neatness. When proportionally installed, it brings an exceptional organizational appearance. Cubbies also save you space that is ofter hard to come by in a home office . Decorative accessories can be put in cubbies to add beauty to your working facility.

Use a Bin Organizing System

You can usually find colored bins that enhance the appearance of your home office because they match or complement your color and design scheme. Apart from enhancing beauty, bins can be labeled and used to store accessories and other important office tools. The accessories can be sorted according to the different designs of the bins. Hiding away clutter will go a long way in encouraging you to spend more time in the office space.

Use Paper Trays / Holders

Even though computers have improved the way we store information, you may still need to manage and keep track of physical documents during your working hours. If you are not careful a lot of space on your desk can be filled with scattered paper. You might also lose important documents in the process. Paper holders or trays provide a reliable way to organize and monitor your paperwork. They can be used to save space in your home office. You won’t waste time looking for documents, which ensures your productivity is optimized.

(SRM-0002) Friant Verity – 4 Person Workstation

Beautify Your Office

Have a collection of beautiful objects in your office. Nice posters, paintings and even pencil holders can make you feel more inspired when you are working from home. Having items you value around you pushes you to maintain the tidiness of your office. You can place your collections on shelves or on a corner table in your office. If you see clients in your office, you might also notice your clients and visitors impressed by your collections. And if you can provide the best first impression, you boost the confidence of clients. Consequently, you are likely to close more business and uplift your brand.

Display Your Inspiration

Stick inspiring paintings, quotes, and encouraging images or reminders on the wall or bulletin boards. Inspiration enhances your creativity throughout the working period. Some quotes encourage you to focus on the set goals. Displaying what inspires you sets up an optimal environment for work even when things seem tough.

Consider Installing a Wall of Cabinets

If your office space is big enough, why not bring in extra space? Wall cabinets can help enhance your organization. Installing cabinets can be a little costly but worthwhile. Wall units of cabinets keep items in the right place. You can use them to hide your files and supplies to leave you with enough desk space for your work.

Have a Command Center

Centralize as many work accessories and the equipment that you need for your home office . These could be printers, fax machines, files, and calendars. Placing your essential items in a centralized place makes it efficient to access whatever you need without wasting time, hence increasing your productivity. You can have a separate desk for all your accessories. This way, you don’t waste your time moving up and down to get something or do an activity.

Manage Your Files

Filing is essential for your home office because it keeps your documents safe, and you can easily find them. Filed documents are well kept and, therefore, won’t be torn or lost. Managing your files makes you organized, transparent, efficient, and systematic. Finding whatever you are looking for when you need it increases your effectiveness and productivity. File cabinets are not just perfect for keeping files but also beautifully designed to easily match the design of your home office.

Label Your Wires

Attach tiny labels at the end of the wire cords to help you easily identify them. Wires commonly found in an office can be printer cables, chargers, monitors, keyboards, or modems. You don’t have to waste time trying to trace a wire from its source. The labels should be tiny and not take away from the clean look you have been creating.

Build an Office Library

You might have a number of random reference materials scattered around that may not need to be accessible all the time. Set up a central office library to make it easier to locate the books you need. This can be done with a few shelves and label makers. The labels should be organized alphabetically or any other way that makes sense to you. An office library is important because it offers consistent information that you can access at any time. You also save money because you won’t be required to re- purchase materials because they were misplaced.

Make Use of Wheels

Installing casters on your desks and chairs will make it easier to move them during the cleaning and reorganization of your office. When you know that you can redesign your office at any time when you want to boosts your level of flexibility and encourages creativity. Some office chairs and desks come with fitted wheels. So if you are still in the purchase process think about choosing mobile furniture; it gives you more power to redesign your office in the future.

Get Affordable Furniture From Office Furniture Warehouse

At Office Furniture Warehouse, we’ve partnered with professionals to set and organize home offices. We have all types of office furniture in our inventory that will fit in all kinds of office ideas and designs. The best part about our services and products is that we are a one-stop shop for all your home office needs and our prices are pocket-friendly. When it comes to organizing your office space (whether small or big) we have the seats and desks to make this possible. You can maximize your small space and build a big business out of your basement or garage with our input. Reach out to us if you have any questions concerning office furniture.

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