Office Spaces that are functional and not-so functional - tips, advice

 

If this is all you have, then sure, why not buy this desk and if you don't plan on sitting for long, well not a bad chair.  However, we know better even though this makes for a great photo, there is no storage on top of the desk for something as simple as a pencil and definitely no comfy cushion for a sore rear-end.

Although this office space is quite modern, looks clean, well lit, evenly spaced and organized, there is a huge problem, it wouldn't be welcoming to most people who have endured so much due to COVID.  Nowadays companies will need to put more thought and money into physically organizing the bodies of people.  No more piling people up in a room and allowing employees to cough and breathe on one another especially when they are ill.  In this photograph, every other row of desks would need to be removed or spaced out further apart.  A partition between each desk and masks on if visiting one's neighbor.  A sanitation station nearby and a temperature check would have to be taken before any of the employees even set foot in the room!

We know who works here!  What is great about this workspace is it illustrates one's personality well.  Does yours say who you are?  I thought the wheels were interesting at the feet of the desk.  The floor plan is quite simple with useful items nearby and neatly arranged.  However, it is safe to assume that this individual doesn't spend many hours in this room, once again an uncomfortable chair is in view and the space is not set up near any sort of window view.  When you have a room that has no view, so that you don't go mad, you will need to decorate your walls and have music ready to play like this person has done.

Here we have a simple office space, but the first thing that jumped out at me was the wiring--ugh!  On this blog, I have tips about what to do with wiring.  I like the small desktop drawers for the user's convenience and the one's underneath the desk.  I assume that this person may periodically work on electronics at this desk.  The stool is another uncomfortable chair which would require frequent breaks.  This might work for some who just don't know how to take breaks.  If you are like that, you may want to replace an uncomfortable chair with a not-so comfortable one.

What you just viewed are just some examples around the web of people's office spaces.  When you think of adding some final touches to your own home space consider what you still might need to make the best use out of your work space.  Maybe it is something to organize the little things you use for the top of your desk.  You might need a better office chair.  You may be worried about getting sick at work because your company is not really doing all they could to keep you and your coworkers safe.  Whatever might be a concern, make plans to address.  

Check out other useful articles on this blog:

Organizing Around Appliances, Unsightly Equipment, and Other Things that Ruin Decor

 Apartment Moving

Hoarding Again? Do You Just Have Too Much Stuff?

Nicholl McGuire is the owner and contributor of this blog.  Check out, What Else Can I Do on the Internet? for other inspirational things to help organize your life!

How to Organize an Office

Decluttering Home Office Gadgets, Wires, Cords, & Cables (+playlist)

Need Office Supplies? Check Here First

Whenever I want to find out about something unique, new or interesting when it comes to organizing paper, a desk, media, and other office related products, I check out Office Depot.  Now I don't always get my supplies there, but I do get a good idea of what might work best for my organizing goals.  Sometimes I also catch a great sale and I always use my store discount card at check out.  You can build points and use them to lower the cost of future purchases.  I don't get anything for sharing this site.  But if you need some visual ideas for your needs, go here:

organizer - Search at Office Depot

How to Organize, Display & Treasure Your Kid's Art Work

Every mom shares the same dilemma. What to do with all the wonderful art your child creates! Without strategies for display, organizing and editing, these delightful treasures will just pile up and become a burden of clutter. Here's my top 10 neat ideas on how to keep their art from becoming clutter.

1. Set policies on how much you are going to keep. For example, you might decide you want to keep only the top 10 – 20 pieces per year.
2. Edit regularly. Keep only the very best or most meaningful. Each day or week, pick your favorite. At the end of the month, pick the best of the month. That's the one that gets put in a scrapbook or in a special memorabilia box. Involve your child in selecting his or her favorite. This helps your child learn that not everything is worth keeping, which is a very valuable organizing skill to learn early on.
3. Go digital! Take digital photos of art you really love and recycle the rest! This preserves the art much longer. Paper eventually fades and tatters.
Create an album or scrapbook for each school year and include photos of the best art along with other projects.
4. Label the work. Mark the back of artwork you decide to save with the child name, date and the reason you kept it.
5. Create a revolving gallery. Create a space on a wall or other area that becomes a revolving art gallery. Use magnetic boards, cork boards etc. Provide one spot for each child and hang their photo or a name marker above their spot. Each time to you change the art decide if the old piece is worth saving.
6. Repurpose and recycle. Find creative uses for art work you don’t want to keep.
7. Use it as:
Gift wrap
Inserts for greeting cards
Drawer/shelf liners
Decorate containers to use as organizers for arts & crafts supplies
Creative disposal placements for a meal. Or, if it’s really good, mount it to construction paper, laminate it, and use the art as place mats for a longer time.
8. Get funky with clipboards. As an inexpensive and fun alternative to frames, use colorful clipboards mounted on the wall to create an art gallery for your child’s room. Let them decide what they want to hang and when they want to change it. Clipboards allow them to easily change out art frequently.
9. Draw the line. Hang a clothesline across a wall in an area where you want to display art and hang it with clothespins. This makes it easy to change the art whenever you or your child wants to!
10. Make gifts. Create unique gifts for relatives with good pieces. You can make little books, puzzles, calendars, and more. Encourage your child to help think of ways to transform art into fun gifts.

© 2006 Ariane Benefit, M.S.Ed., Organizing Coach, Personal Organizing Solutions All rights reserved.

How To Organize Your Inbox

As we all know our inboxes have turned into modern day filing systems – and just like in the ‘old’ days they can get chaotic and out of hand in no time. Attempts are made to control the unruly inboxes, but for the most part messages are swept into folders that act as catch alls for everything (unorganized amalgamations of incoherent mess – thank goodness for advanced find!).

Think of the benefits an organized, logical filing system would mean for you: referencing to emails that you’ve received, find and view attachments again, decrease your scrolling time, and if you ever need someone to go in and look for something, you will be able to point them in the right folder, rather than having them rummage through all your emails.

Now that you’re eager to change your unorganized inboxes, here are some tips to help you on your way.

Inbox: Your Inbox should be just that – an inbox, not a permanent storage folder by any means. Even if you have a ‘misc’ file off of your inbox, keep your inbox clean and tidy. If you receive emails on a subject that you’re in process of dealing with and you’re not ready to move them into a more permanent folder, create a ‘2do’ folder off of your inbox, from there group messages into subfolders.

This is a great way to keep organized and an easy reference to see what you have to do.

How to use it: When you receive an email for an ongoing or upcoming task, create a folder in your ‘2do’ folder with a name related to that task or client. Move the email into that folder, create a reminder or appointment if necessary, and —voilà!— you now have an organized inbox. When you receive more emails related to this task they can now go straight into the subfolder that you created. Once you have completed this task you can easily move all the contents to a permanent folder of your designation. The key is to keep on top of it and once you’re done with a subfolder in your ‘2do’ folder list, delete or move it. Keeping the folders after a task is over will hinder your organization and add to your electronic clutter.

This method will allow you to have an easy visual reference for work that has to be done, and even if some tasks are ‘back-shelved’ for the moment, you can still see them and keep them fresh in your mind. Once you are able to concentrate on the emails that are just coming in, you will be able to focus more on your business and less on your clutter.

Subfolders: Don’t be afraid to use subfolders, even subfolders in subfolders. Putting items into logical groups is a key to keeping your files organized.

How to use: For example – You may have a number of clients and a couple of different companies that you do work for, and each client/company will have multiple tasks, projects, instructions, etc. Under your Inbox, create a file for each company, under the company create a folder for each client, and under each client create folders for the number of different tasks that you perform.

Having a place to put messages as they come in is a key to staying on top of your tasks and messages. Inboxes have a way of getting large and overwhelming very quickly, putting these steps in place will help to control the unsightly messes and as a bonus keep you organized in the process.

To view a diagram of this method visit www.officeassit.ca/articles_OfficeAssistants_inbox.htm. Christina, owner of Online Office Assistants, offers professional administrative solutions to businesses and individuals. You can visit her website at http://www.officeassist.ca for more info.