Office Organizing: Tricks Of The Trade

No workspace can operate at peak performance levels without being well organized. Good organization starts with a good plan and great habits. In today's post we'll share the tips, tricks, and product suggestions you'll need to achieve both. Enjoy!

Start With A Deep Cleaning

It always helps to start fresh! Take the time to give your office a thorough cleaning. Take out the trash, organize your file cabinet and desk top. Vacuum underneath your desk to get rid of all those old candy wrappers and crumbs. In the long run, it will be much easier to form new habits if you start your organizing mission with a clean space.

Create A Plan

Your office organizing will be much more effective if you have a plan. Once your space has been thoroughly cleaned, write down a list of areas that will need tending to both daily and weekly. Prioritize your list and tackle them one by one as the day goes on. Check out the sample list below to get you started.

• Take out trash
• Vacuum floor
• Organize files
• Organize desk top

Form Good Habits

Sure a plan of attack will help, but you've got to be wiling to form the habits necessary to stay well organized. The weekly organizing routine you create should be one you can realisticly stick too. Get in the habit of putting files back in their place when your done using them. This well help you avoid spending too much time at the end of the day putting them back in their place. Commit to never leaving your office in a messy state. This will ensure you arrive back to work the following day with a clean work environment that's ready to roll. Good habits like this will set you on the path to organizational success.

Use The Right Storage Solutions

Perhaps your office space is poorly organized because your simply out of room. If this is the case, there's definitely some great ways to tackle the problem. Ditch the potted plants and room aesthetics that provide little value in an overly crowded space. Replace them with versatile storage solutions. A wall storage cabinet or bookcase will provide the same appeal while keeping your stationary and important literature well organized.

If you're limited on floor space, take to the walls! Hutch units are a great way to maximize organizing space. These handy tools mount directly to the wall or sit on top of desk surfaces. It's likely that a hutch to match your current office furniture collection is available. Adding a wall mount hutch will increase visual appeal while rewarding you with the additional space needed to keep your office functioning properly.

If you're still in need of organizing space, consider the addition of a mobile file pedestal. These space saving storage solutions can be situated directly underneath desk and credenza surfaces or along perimeter walls. Pencil Box File and File File pedestal options are widely available from top rated manufactures like Global Total Office, Mayline, and Cherryman Indsutries.

Follow Through

Once your office space is well organized, you've got to follow through. Don't slip back into old habits and let important tasks go unattended to for months at a time. It's never fun to spend hours looking for a document that's out of place or buried under a sea of paperwork. Hold yourself accountable and your work day will be all the better for it.

Additional Tips

• Keep track of file cabinet keys to ensure you can always get to your important documents when you need them.
• Lock or password protect all physical and digital files for security purposes. 
• Be sure to keep your digital files properly organized as well. Create thumbnails on your home screen to help.
• Purge old files and documents to ensure your drawers do not become overly crowded.
• Establish task areas that are defined by the type of activity that happens in each zone of your office space. For example, your main workspace would be the desk while your reference area would be where your file cabinets are located.
• Keep the items most commonly used throughout the day the closest to your desk to avoid unnecessary trips across the office. 
• Make a list of daily work goals you hope to accomplish by certain times.