How to organize your home office.

Being organized is imperative for a well-run organization especially if you ARE the organization!  It's so easy to fly from one thing to the next, busy as we are creating, marketing, ordering, selling.  I often leave a mess in my wake.

However, when all of my buttons are in their bins and my ribbons color coordinated, my work flow is smoother, faster, easier and that makes my day and my work brighter and happier. 

Clutter is draining, either consciously or unconsciously.  We're either picking around for things we've lost or we're working around the mess.  Clutter is a time drain. Frankly, it exhausts me to look at a mess that I have to resolve!  So I've put together some quick tips that work for me and hopefully, will help you:  

1.  Organize your supply.  Whatever that is - bolts of fabric, buttons, shells.  A clear container marked with its contents goes a long way to finding what you need in a hurry.

2.  Have enough book shelves, shelving units, filing cabinets, containers for all of your craft needs.  This is probably the biggest problem, next to filing, that people have.  Too much stuff, nowhere to put it!  Splurge on a unit that speaks to you and use it to organize your inventory.  

2.  Keep your personal papers and your business papers separate.  Sounds like a no-brainer, but when your office is your home, these items can easily get mixed up.  I have separate files set up for my home and for my work.  I create separate filing bins for papers that need to be sorted and filed.

3.  Make it pretty and functional!  Use pastel colored file folders or get some with paisley prints on them.  Whatever makes you happy will help with the desire to keep things organized.  I use a green folder for receipts (money), pink for sales (happy!) Personalize your office to reflect your style.

4.  Keep email folders.  That's right.  Take those daily emails and put them into folders - Wholesale, Decorating ideas, etsy, etc.  Try to delete unnecessary emails as soon as you get them and file the rest.  If you're worried that you won't remember where you filed something, you can use the "search" at the top of your email by typing in keywords and all of your relevant email will pop up!

5.  Clean up your work space at the end of the day.  When I can unplug my glue gun, put all the red buttons away, store the ribbons and have a clear work space again, I am happier walking into my shop the next day.  Who wants to start work with a mess? I don't want to begin my day by cleaning.  I have found it's better to end the day with cleaning and start fresh.

6.  Organize your time.  Make a list of the most important things for that day, estimate how long each will take and set a limit for each item.  It will help avoid frittering away your day on things that are not on the list.  And who hasn't lost time on the computer?  Set a limit to how long you'll be on it and stick to it.  Back away from the computer......

Here, a website with more organizing ideas for all areas of your life:
http://www.lifeorganizers.com/

I have found this book to be inspirational in jump starting my de-cluttering:  Clear Your Clutter with Feng Shui by Karen Kingston. 

Feel free to share your organizing tips with me!

Angela
Angela's Artistic Designs! 

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