It is said that where you work has a profound impact on how you work. Imagine having to spend an entire day in a messy, distracted environment against someone seated in a plush setting with the finest of furnishings. Sound unfair right? To make it all fair and positive, organize your office settings. Whether you run a workplace at home or run a center, the onus lies on you to keep it spic and span and include things that will contribute towards a healthy work attitude.
Organize Your Office Space
A chaotic environment is detested by all. So why offices where a large portion of the day is spent searching for documents, replying to mails and the like carry an air of disorderliness? The benefits of keeping the office arranged are many. Not only does healthy competition prevail, but better job performances and increased workflow means there’s a greater success rate than ever.
So if you have been searching for tips and tricks to de-clutter your office space and put things in order, here are a few to help see you through.
Go on a cleaning spree
It depends completely on how you have kept your office and what you wish to keep while evicting the unessential items that can determine the cleaning drive you must undertake. Plan well in advance how you wish to accomplish this tedious job but once you take the leap, do it well. Basically, the ‘purge’ or cleansing work can range anywhere between few hours to even the entire day and you must be willing to devote substantial time for the same. Just ensure you handle one thing at a time instead of creating another mess. The moment you are done with one area, move over to the next and so on.
Check that desk
That desk and desktop have taken the major brunt of what you feel like accumulating inside the workplace. As the most important physical space in the office environment, the desk deserves to be clutter-free. It might sound surprising but a number of workers have found that the urge to put in great effort at work came after they settled the desk. Exceptions do exist. Creative people love to keep things in disorder! Believe it or not but the pristine desktop is their enemy. However, this doesn’t apply for all, so sticking to a cleaner workspace is a safe option.
Create separate inboxes and drawers
Ideally, there are two zones in the office setup-one, the computer work zone where one spends most of the work hours and the other, non-computer work zone where vital work like settling documents, flipping through major presentations or the writing jobs are done. Dividing the office into certain sections actually helps in moving an inch closer to organization.
Most people can have a tough time adjusting with their fellow colleagues as regards separate inboxes, folders or drawers are concerned. Allotting them their own work areas having both the computer and non-computer zones eases the workflow. Failure to following this tip is exactly what leads to petty issues over using someone else’s sticky pads, calendars or envelopes that later culminates in unhealthy gossip.
Segregate office documents
Your work pressures and the kind of job you do determine to a large extent how you wish to handle the paperwork. In other words, offices contain several documents, few of which become unessential after sometime. But given the work pressures, it’s difficult to get rid of them completely. If you can include something like a two-tray system, the incoming papers are well sorted out. While one tray can contain new files, documents and other unopened stuffs, the old trays can contain things that need immediate dealing. The latter can only be handled by office members and not outsiders, who can throw in respective papers, invitations and the like in the new one. This is a good and methodical approach if elimination of paper clutter is there in mind.
Select proper furniture and furnishings
From multi cabinets to office chairs and desks, everything must speak sheer elegance and sophistication. Doing up the office interiors is no cakewalk. If you wish to lend a creative charm, hiring a professional interior designer is not a bad idea. In case budget concerns stop you from acting otherwise, there are wide-ranging ideas that you can enlighten yourself with and incorporate.
Work styles get reflected by how you arrange the work surroundings. There’s no need to buy flashy stuffs but only those that proves right for an office ambience. Invest on task office chairs, executive and ergonomic ones, cabinet cum work tables and so on. This way, workers will feel encouraged to be more productive.
Go for online file archives
Not that the manual files get misplaced all the time, but the chances of happening are more common. In an era where online is the place to be, most offices find it a convenient option to resort to effective software systems that help in archiving files and other vital data. Frankly, there’s nothing right or wrong in the filing systems that you wish to adopt, because a lot rests on your preference and suitability. The electronic document filing aids in sorting, filing, erasing and storing documents as per individual needs. These directories are usually safe from thefts, for strong passwords come to their rescue.
Larger trashcans are a must
This might sound a little odd, but reality said, it’s actually a ‘strategic hack’! Not many are aware that office papers can be discarded or even digitized, if needed. However, filing job takes a lot of time that is shunned by many. In case, you need to throw off excess papers or those not required anymore, the cans can overflow. Most importantly, cleaning the trashcan weekly is a better option, for most workers have found disheveled papers thrown a couple of days back providing immense help! Once the can reaches a certain capacity after a week, the larger trashcan is emptied. In that way, certain papers can be recycled and more waste is also absorbed.
Organizational methods vary and so do the policies of keeping the office space neat and clean. All the tips work effectively, as long as they are implemented well.
