Of all the areas in a home, none brings more challenges than how to organize your home office. Some are lucky enough to have a full room for an office. For some, their home office is a corner or desk in another room. Either way, you have probably found that the challenges of organizing information, paper, finances and family all creep into this space eventually.

Learning how to organize your home office will affect the lives of every family member. With that organization will come a sense of order and a promise of more peace. Before diving into organizing your office, take a minute for two steps: Assess and Create. Assess the current situation—what IS working; what IS NOT working. Make a list of the things that are driving you crazy! Then, create! Create a vision of what you would like for the space: how you would it to function, how you would like to feel when you are there, how you would like it to look. These are the first two steps in our ACT formula, which is a simple system for organizing any space. Now you are ready for the “T,” which is Tackle. To tackle the job, you will follow our SPARK formula to walk step-by-step to order.

(1)  Sort everything in the space. Put like things together in labeled boxes. Office supplies, books, current projects, etc., are some of the categories you may have.

(2)  Purge things you are not currently using. Taking time to make conscious decisions about what you truly need to keep in this space will help you declutter.

(3)  Assign a home for each type of item. Create a home for each item makes it easy to find and easy to put away. Having a “zone” for each activity that takes place in your office will help you keep items nearest their point of use with those items most used having the easiest access.

(4)  Round up containers to house items and keep them under control. Measure the items and the place the containers will be stored before purchasing them. Using similar containers will give a ordered, clean look. Make sure to label all containers to make it simple for anyone using the space to find what they need and return it when they are finished.

(5)  Keep it up daily. Don’t put things down; put them away. No more piles that are created because you don’t know where things belong. Creating this new habit will help you keep your tidy space neat and functional.

Make sure as you sort and purge your paper and information that you consider creating a great filing system.  One of my favorites is FreedomFILER.  With every document you touch, ask yourself, “What is the action I need to take regarding this?” Your answer will be one of four options: READ, ACT, FILE or TOSS. Create an action file for those items requiring actions such as to pay, to read, to call, to file. This should be stored on a desk-top or easy to access file to give paper a place to “live” until it is dealt with. Archival and reference information should also be filed appropriately. Shred, recycle or trash the rest.

Spending the time to work through and organize your office will pay off immediately. You will find yourself to be more efficient and more effective in managing your home, your family, your time and your life.