Organizing a home office or creating a small "working" space can be a real challenge. But every home should have a separate area where you can pay your bills, go through the mail, help the kids with their homework and even set up the family computer. This area doesn't have to have a fortune spent on it! All you need are a few basic things to set up your home office spot and get your space working for you.
Ideally, you should have the following items to make organizing a work space a snap:
All of these things are what I consider to be basic supplies and are relatively inexpensive. A great place for some of those items can be found at Ikea, dollar stores and office supply warehouses.
Tip: Empty, clean soup cans make great pencil caddies. And your kids can have fun decorating them with cut-outs from magazines (glued on and sprayed with shellac) or paper, paints and stickers!
In my opinion, the sanity of a great workspace is that it must be functional and tidy. It will be much easier to think clearly and get your work done in an uncluttered environment. So rid yourself of clutter and get your desk area organized.
A well-organized filing system is very important. This will allow you a safe place to store your bills, receipts and statements and make them easy to access on a moment's notice. It may be a big job at first but once you have it up and running, it will make life a lot easier. Buy yourself a package of legal size file folders. Then you can write on the top of them what items it will hold (i.e. gas bill, telephone, credit card etc.). I also like to include a "Miscellaneous" file for each adult in the family. This is the spot where I place odd bills and receipts that I know I should keep but don't want to create a new folder for. Make sure all your folders are in alphabetical order for easier filing. Then at the end of the week, file the necessary items. This will keep all the paperwork in your home tidy and stored for reference.
Tip: I like to include a folder for each child and also ones for my dogs. This is the spot where I file anything pertaining to school and my son's life (i.e. report cards, activities) and also where I keep the vet receipts for my pooches.
Your desk area doesn't need to be huge to be effective. This is a great place to set up the computer and a telephone (everything is easily reachable). Your in/out box can contain the day's mail or even homework for your kids. Everything has a place and a purpose. Make sure you have a nice bright light within reach so that you can see what you're doing and not have too much eye strain. Lighting is important too!
Last but not least, add your own favorite touches to personalize your space. Maybe you might add a family photo in a special frame, a small vase of flowers, a desk clock, candle or even a special decorative ornament. Invest a little time and effort at the beginning and you will have an effective workspace that will serve you well for years to come!
