21 Tips to Decorate your Home Office   

Balancing your professional and personal life isn’t an easy task to deal with given that stress is a primary factor in the development of various health problems. Luckily, this can be effectively eliminated through correct workspace organization.

For a fact, it does not need to take days to organize your home office. You can actually do it in less time. Of course, to do so, you’ve got to consider some useful guides on how to rearrange things and transform your office into a very comfortable and efficient workspace.

Earlier I posted on office cubicle decoration ideas, now it’s time to think about decorating the place in your home which you call home office.

Here is a list of helpful tips on how to decorate your home office

• Carefully check if everything in your work area is ergonomically appropriate for you. You can assess this through researching online about how to organize an ergonomically suitable work area or, you may consult a professional to visit your place and execute the necessary arrangement in your workspace.
• Clear off your desk. To do this, it is necessary to remove everything, clean the desk thoroughly and only put back the things that you use on a daily basis.
• Empty, de-clutter, shred and remove items that you no longer want and need. Try to look around and observe which items that you haven’t used for a long time. For you not to feel overly tired, you can take one area at a time. You may have the equipment, furniture, and other supplies fixed if they need some repairs. Get rid of shabby decorations too.
• Clear your piles. For your home office to be organized; it is crucial to sort through old piles and place them in appropriate area or if they’re no longer in use, you can dump them.
• Close proximity. Observe the supplies and equipment that you use often. Put them near you. Items that you only use at a time may be put away or stored.
• Form a meeting folder. It will aid you to be ready for meetings if you consider putting all the items to be tackled, the reports that need to be submitted and the documents that need to be given in the meeting folder you created so to ensure that you don’t miss anything.
• Designate discard dates. It is not necessary to continuously keep every piece of paper. Consider marking on documents or files when they can be shredded or tossed. There are some financial or legal documents that are necessary to be kept for stated period of time. See to it that you know what those requirements are.
• Straighten your desk. It is essential to do a quick straighten. This is for you to have a clean start the next morning.
• Arrange your drawers accordingly. Place items that are used together in the same drawer space like sticky pads with notepads and envelopes. Meanwhile, use a separate drawer for otter personal items and space for little items like pens and pencils etc.
• Pick a label maker that is easy to use. Label the drawers, bins, shelves and baskets. This way, it is easier to find the items you need to use.
• Collect and redistribute. Collect every item that is not where it belongs and place it where it does.
• Form a “Waiting on Response” folder. For you to respond on the necessary actions or follow-ups, check this folder every now and then.
• Magazine binders or boxes. These are used to store catalogs and magazines you definitely want to keep. Keep only those which can be used as helpful references.
• Revise your filing system. Remove some of the folders and files that you have used before. Be certain that you do regular back-ups when storing files on digital devices like a computer.
• Reading folder. It is advised to designate a file for print documents as well as articles you prefer to go over that are not urgent.
• Invest in adequate furniture. See to it that your office furniture provides enough space for storage and work. There must be a clear work area where all the equipment and supplies necessary for work are organized accordingly.
• Establish your work zones. Put the appropriate supplies and equipment in proper spots in your home office. Separate your main workspace, your supply area, and your reference area.
• File weekly. It is never good to allow your file to pile up. Always make sure to place your papers in a “To File” folder and see to it to file everything on a weekly basis.
• Storage boxes. Buy cheap storage boxes where you can store archived files and remove them from your current file space.
• Color-code your filing system. To make your home office even more functional, organize your filing system using color-coded categories. For instance, green for medical, blue for insurance, red for financial, yellow for personal and orange for the house.
• Use your wall space. You can use the space in your wall for hanging whiteboards, hanging filing systems, for shelving and for putting a calendar.

Readers, most of us have a home office setup, where we get our work done. You can set up your home office right on your bed, but that’s not the ideal place to sit around. You need to enjoy the ambience of your home office to work efficiently.

Whether you work from home or work at home occasionally, these simple tips to create your home office might help you boost your productivity. Waiting to read your feedbacks and suggestions, till we meet again!