10 Tips for Organizing Your Home Office

Working from home can be both rewarding and challenging. This is a task that is not for the faint of heart — you must be determined, motivated and ready to get to work when you head to your home office for the day.

Your home office must be organized at all times as this will increase both your efficiency and productivity while working. Make home office organization a priority, and use these tips to help you create the best workspace right in your own home.

10 Tips for Organizing Your Home Office

1. Create a space in your home for your office. While mobile devices allow people to work from nearly anywhere, your couch is not a suitable home office. You must have a proper workspace where you can go to get mentally prepared for the day's work.
2. Stock your home office with the supplies you need for work, and organize them within your space. Create a separate portion of your home office specifically for office supplies.
3. Make sure you have a clear workspace at all times. Do not allow papers, electronics, food and knick-knacks to clutter the spot where you work.
4. Organize your equipment based on how often you use it. Perhaps you have an external hard drive that you need to access once a week and a printer that you use several times a day. Keep the printer within closer proximity to your workspace and store the external hard drive in a separate location.
5. Once you figure out where things should go in your home office, create labels. This will help keep you accountable to your new organized space.
6. Clean up your power cords. All electronics require cords, plugs and chargers and these can easily become a distracting mess. Velcro strips can be used to adhere these items underneath or beside your desk.
7. Keep your day job and your personal life separate by purchasing a computer that is solely used for work. This allows you to keep all of your professional documents safe and secure, without worrying about them getting lost amongst personal photos, documents and projects.
8. Display a large calendar near your work space to help you keep track of appointments, deadlines, engagements and goals.
9. Invest in a filing cabinet and set up a system that works for you. It's easy to just start throwing files and papers into the drawers and say that you will figure it out later. Chances are you never will, so take the time to create a filing system. Make it a priority to stick to the system in the future, as it will help you increase your efficiency throughout the day.
10. If you need more privacy for your home office, purchase a folding screen. This will give you an enclosed space that gives you the privacy and tranquility you need in order to focus on your job.

Once your home office organization project is complete, you'll be able to work at home with ease. Working at home isn't always easy, but most people find that it comes with many rewards. Whether you are working at home to save money on commuting costs or you are hoping to spend more time with your children, you need to start each day in an organized home office.