Tips To Organize Your Office To Maximize Productivity

Clutter and disorganization can influence how productive you are when you sit down in your office.  Which is why I wanted to provide you with a few tips to help you organize your office and increase your productivity.  If you are unorganized, it can be hard to focus on your work.  Plus, not being organized has a significant influence on how I feel about myself as a professional.  When my desk is free of clutter and organized it helps me feel better, more professional and I get more work done.This year is the year I am going to organize my life starting with my office.

Tips To Organize Your Office To Maximize Productivity

This year is the year I am going to organize my life starting with my office.

1.) I hope you are ready to get organized, it’s time to de-clutter – First you’ll want to de-clutter and get rid of anything you don’t need in your office.  For some reason, everyone always puts everything in my office, so I end up with kids shoes, medicine, and everything else.  All you need in your office is things that help make you more productive – Boise Paper, Pens, Highlighters, Folders, etc.

2.) Love your labeler – OMG, grab your labeler and have fun!  Label everything – shelves, your muffin tin, drawers, files, bins, etc.  It will help you remember where everything goes and motivate you to put things up where it belongs.

3.) Create a place for your mail – I have a basket on hanging on my wall for all my mail and another one for my bills.  I put all my bills in one basket and when it’s time to pay bills I have everything together and my other mail is safe and sound until I sort everything.

4.) Get a planner – You’ll want to get yourself a planner or use something online such as Google Calendar.  I prefer to have mine sitting in front of me so I can cross everything off for the day, but some prefer it online.  Whatever works for you, it’s better than those darn sticky notes.

5.) Mason Jars are amazing – I love Mason Jars, grab a can of spray paint and a Mason Jar and you can have an excellent place for your pens, scissors, highlighters, and more and since you colored them, it can even match your décor.

6.) Do you ever need to focus – OMG, this is one of my new favorite ways to increase my productivity, Stay Focused is AWESOME!  Just download the Stay Focused browser add-on to help keep you focused so you can get ahead rather than fall behind.

7.) Use your Rolodex for everything but contacts – If you’re like me, you don’t have a lot of use for an old school Rolodex taking up space on your desk.  All your numbers and contact are on your phone or saved as an email contact.  The good news is your Rolodex can get rid of all those darn Post-It notes stuck everyone.  Yes, the ones that have passwords, recipes, websites, and other little notes stuck all over your computer screen, wall, and desk try using your Rolodex.  It looks nicer and is much more organized than sticky notes stuck everywhere.

8.) Muffin pans are not just for cooking – My sister-n-law uses a muffin pan in her desk door, and it works perfectly for holding her paperclips, tacks, clips, rubber bands and more.  Use each muffin cup for each item – rubber bands in one muffin cup, paper clips in another, tacks, and so on.

9.) Get rid of that bag filled with tangled cords – Trade in that bag for a box and toilet paper rolls.  Just fill the box with toilet paper rolls and inside each roll use you fold up a cord and place it inside one of the toilet paper rolls.  It’s a great way to keep them untangled and save you major time when you need one of the cords.

10.) Tape does amazing things – Tape is awesome, even just scotch tape can get this job done.  You know all that junk in your keyboard?  Well, why not clean it with a piece of the clear scotch page.  All you need to do is place a piece of tape between the keys on your keyboard.

11.) Need to get a little extra exercise but don’t have the time – Toss out that office chair and either grab yourself an exercise ball or turn your desk into a standing desk station.  I recently turned my desk into a standing desk and not only am I doing a little extra while I work I am more productive.  It’s a win-win, and I am more willing to put everything where it goes rather than being lazy and setting it down until later.

12.) Keep your passwords organized – If you don’t like the Rolodex idea be sure to keep all your passwords organized with apps like Last Pass, which is also a Google extension.

13.) Print, print, and print – Before jumping on a call or attending a meeting be sure and print out all the notes you’ll need.  It’s easier to have them right in front of you on paper so you can jot down a few notes if needed.  Make sure you have everything you need to plan for your next meeting and pick up Boise Paper POLARIS^® Multipurpose Paper – it’s excellent paper for presentations and even for color printing.  For more information about Biose, Paper products be sure to visit their website at BoisePaper.com, like them on Facebook and Twitter.

14.) Consider wireless – Consider going wireless and cordless wherever possible.  It will save you space and make things look much nicer and more spacious.

15.) Keep up with your email – It can be difficult, but it’s essential to keep up with your email.  Falling behind not only makes things more difficult for you but your clients might get a little upset they are not getting a response from you promptly.

16.) Store printer paper – If you are like me you do your best to keep plenty of printer paper in your office.  Make yourself a DIY Printer Paper Box with a regular cardboard box.  I’m planning on sharing my DIY Printer Paper Box in a few weeks.  It’s easy, cheap, does its job and even looks good doing it.

17.) Save yourself some time & shop online – I order all my office supplies, including my Boise Paper online.  Office Depot is a great place to buy office supplies and they even have the Boise Paper you need to stock up on and you can grab it online.  If you’d rather not shop online but still want Boise Paper, just ask for it whenever you buy your office supplies.

So what do you think, will you use any of these tips to organize your office and do you think they will help you maximize productivity?  They do for me, but I realize we are all different.  If you have something that works better for you be sure to leave us a comment below.

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