6 Ways to Keep Your Work-from-home Life More Organized

Working from home is becoming the new norm for many, and with this lifestyle shift comes a variety of perks. From ditching long commute times to rocking sweatpants 24/7, there is a lot to be said for the flexibility of staying at home for work.

While work-from-home life brings many benefits, it also brings a few downsides. One of which is watching your workspace invade the rest of your home. If work-from-home life has started to overtake your day-to-day life, it’s time to take things back under control. Check out the following six easy ways you can keep your work-from-home life more organized.

One way to lose your important paperwork or to trip over your laptop’s power cord in the middle of the night is by letting your office space take over your entire home. While you might not have the luxury of dedicating an entire room to your office, you can carve out even a small space as a dedicated working area.

By choosing one location to house your work computers, files, and other items normally reserved for the office, you can prevent the clutter from taking over your house like a bad case of kudzu in a Southern garden.

When choosing a space, find a location in your home that is quiet and comfortable. If you take a lot of remote meetings, consider the lighting and the connectivity to your home’s Wi-Fi.

Once you’ve chosen a nook for your home office, it’s time to invest in the right organizational components to make the space work. Think about everything you’ll need to have handy throughout your workday. Do you need new shelves to house notebooks, files, and important manuals? Is your desk cluttered with piles of sticky notes, pens, and papers? Perhaps it’s worthwhile to purchase a few organizational bins or drawers.

Think about how you can best lay out the space so that everything has a home. This will make it easier to declutter throughout the day, rather than simply allowing items to pile up around you.

Odds are good that you spend the bulk of your day at your desk. For this reason, you want to be intentional as you create your setup. Rather than simply placing your monitor on the desk, throwing a few items around the area, and getting to work, think through what will allow you to be efficient and what will make most ergonomic sense.

Perhaps you started working from home in a rush. Uncertain of how long this period would last, you may have created a working space that is adequate but not well thought out. Remove everything from the area and start over. Consider the height of monitors, ensuring that you don’t need to crane your neck up or slump in your chair to get the right line of view. Think about how you’ll take meetings and what audio setup will be most conducive to this portion of your day.

Finally, don’t forget a few added touches to help brighten your day. Perhaps you want to invest in a motivational calendar to hang alongside your new workspace. Maybe a dedicated side table for water and snacks will help you stay focused.

Working from home often leads to blurred lines between the start of a workday and the end. However, it’s important to maintain a routine that allows you to unplug from work. Not only that, but this will also ensure you stay more organized and reduces the amount of work clutter around the home.

At the end of every workday, spend some time shutting everything down and tidying up the space. Return books to their shelves, file away paperwork, stack up notebooks, and put away your highlighters and pens.

This simple ritual will help you feel more organized both physically and mentally as it helps you finalize a day of work.

Another drawback to working from home is that it often leads to a lack of true breaks. This can result in a desk that becomes cluttered with dirty plates, utensils, and scraps of food.

To prevent your desk from becoming a catch all, take your meals away from your desk. This is healthier for you mentally and is better for the cleanliness of your home.

Finally, to ensure that your home life stays organized while you work remotely, choose one day a week that you dedicate a period of time to deep cleaning. Sanitize surfaces, throw away trash, dust everything, and make sure you reorganize items that were left out throughout the week. A deep clean will ensure that dirt, germs, and debris don’t continually build up over time. A few cleaning supplies are all you need to ensure that your home office space remains pleasant to use.

Working from home can be a wonderful experience with numerous enjoyable benefits. Ensure that your home is protected against the dreaded work-from-home clutter by staying organized each and every day. Organization is key to fighting chaos and keeping you mentally recharged.