With COVID-19 many of us are working from home, and tax season is upon us. The first obstacle for many as we tackle organizing our tax related forms, papers and receipts is the home office desk. While you are there, consider an overhaul of those piles and papers.
Did you know that a messy environment is stressful?
Even if you can’t yet admit to it, not having an organized work area can be detrimental to you – both mentally and physically. There are many roadblocks to organizing your space, whether it be lack of time or just not knowing where to start.
There’s never an ideal time to get started. It basically comes down to knowing what to do and where to start.
Think of organizing your office as a project – it consists of small chunks, and at the end you have a beautiful, tidy office! Don’t try to re-organize in one time frame. You will likely become frustrated and give up before significant progress is made. If you make incremental progress, you will feel like you accomplished something, leaving you motivated to do more!
Where to Start
- Start on the outer edge of your office – the items here are more likely to contain things that can be easily weeded out.
- Eliminate any duplicates, outdated information or documents which you can obtain via other methods – be sure to recycle!
- Is there a magazine you just can’t bear to part with? Remove any interesting articles and discard the rest.
- If you have a lot of loose papers, decide whether you can discard something or if it needs to be saved. When saving something, figure out the best place: 1) hole punch and start a binder, 2) create a new file folder or 3) scan the documents into PDFs and save on your computer
- Discard whenever possible!
- Ask yourself: “what would happen if I didn’t have this document – would there be any consequences?” If the answer is unclear or you feel comfortable that nothing bad would happen, get rid of it!
Filing cabinets
- Go through each individual file folder and purge unnecessary papers.
- Scan any documents into PDF’s that you don’t need to have in a paper form.
- If there are any loose documents from when you cleared out the shelves earlier, create file folders for them.
- From now on, post a note on your calendar for 1-2 times a year in order to purge your files.
- Be sure to save important documents including: tax returns, receipts, retirement documents and any other pertinent information – do a quick Google Search to find out the recommended retention strategy for specific items.
- Shred any documents which contain sensitive or confidential information.
Immediate Work Area
- Look around your immediate workspace – the top of your desk, where your phone and computer are typically located. Is it cluttered?
- Your work surfaces are very important. Unless it is an item you need on a frequent basis, consider moving it elsewhere – to a desk drawer or up on a higher shelf.
- If you have a lot of loose documents, go through them.
- Is it something that requires another person’s response? If so, send it to them so that you can move it off of your desk.
- Is it something that can be filed away? If so, do it – and create a new file folder if one doesn’t already exist.
- Is it related to a project you’re working on? If so, create a “project folder” so that you can keep related documents together.
- Do you have office supplies or equipment which have taken over your desk? Scissors, staplers, abundant supply of paper clips…..unless you use these items several times a day, consider placing them in a nearby desk drawer.
Keeping it Clean
Ahhhh, your desk and office are clean and much better organized. It’s a great feeling, isn’t it? Here’s how to keep it that way!
- Straighten your desk every day – it takes just a few minutes to do this. If you can’t spare that much time, make an “appointment” on your calendar to regularly straighten up.
- Utilize “To Do” lists to help keep yourself organized. Use an electronic calendar, an online task management application, or even just a paper “To Do” list. Figure out what works best for you and stick to it.
- If you fall off the wagon, don’t beat yourself up. It happens to everyone at some point. The most important thing is how you respond – be diligent and start decluttering right away. You’ll be glad you did.
Submitted by Springfield Moms writer Kari Thevenot.
