I was sitting at our kitchen table, with my computer and a small handful of files in a carry bag that were necessary for the project I was working on. Within 30 feet was my office door but I would not go in and work there. Literally, I had moved myself out of my office with all the “muck” I had accumulated over the past 8 years. I thought back to all the things that had moved in, filling up that space. Four home based businesses, two books, no less than three manuscripts that were sitting in a file untouched, the estate management files necessary for conducting business for my mother-in-law (with Alzheimer’s), one corporation, and of course, within this tidy mess were our personal files for the house and the running of it!

I was sick and saddened with the idea that I didn’t want to go in there to work. I had recently made the decision to “come out of the closet” as a full-time writer/author and I simply would not go into “my space” because “my space” had become a holding vault for my past. I was ready to move on, but my office was not on board! I knew my circumstances needed to be addressed but I simply did not know how I was going to tackle the challenge. The thought of it simply caused my body to hold its breath; literally, I felt the creative life in me being smothered by tons of paper and muck.

As the weight of doing something about it slowed me down, making my shoulders ache, I was still going forward with my intention to jump into my career. With that in mind, I attended a SCORE networking breakfast and to my relief, I heard Kathi Burns talking about getting rid of my muck. I was so inspired and ready after her lecture; I bought her book, her filing system and a few of hours of her time and went home with the pure determination to “manage my muck.” It began by reading through her book. Then, my wonderful and creative sister traveled to San Diego, and we dumped nine 45-gallon trash bags of paper into the recycle bins and gave away another truck load to a charity. We painted, redesigned and then Kathi came and sat with me and helped me create my filing system.

I am now at least 200 pounds (or more) lighter in my office and at least 1000 pounds lighter in my heart and mind. My creative juices are flowing and I am in business, doing what I have wanted to do all my life…write!! Thank you Kathi, for your ability to create space…not just in my office but in my heart too! God bless you!!!

Working from a home office can have many conveniences. Being at home means that anything you need is just a few steps away. It also means that the space which other family members need may encroach on the office. Many people have the problem of having to work in a cramped home office. Here are a few ways to help create more space in the home office.

1. Clean and Organize

Cleaning the home office is the first step towards creating more space. This will not only clear some space to work with, but will also help to get an idea of the entire space and what can and cannot be moved.

Start by organizing papers, moving them into piles or placing them where they belong. Do not worry about throwing away the papers at this point, just make sure they are manageable and in some order.

Next, take time to gather wires and other electronic clutter. Use twist ties or tape, but try and make sure that there is no large tangle of wires behind the furniture. This will help if you have to move the furniture later and also just makes the room look nicer.

2. Assess Furniture

Once the home office is clean, it is now time to look at the furniture in the room. If there is a lack of space, this is the place to start making changes. Remove furniture that is not being used. Because it is a home office, furniture from other rooms in the home may have migrated into the space.

Now look at the furniture that is actually being used. Make sure that there is not a better configuration. See if printers can be placed underneath of a desk or on a shelf. See if things that are taking up desk space can be placed somewhere else.

Finally, if no helpful changes can be made, consider purchasing new furniture. Look for modular multi-purpose furniture. This refers to desks that have special cabinets for computers or surfaces that roll out. Wheeled storage containers can also help because they can be moved around as needed.

3. Use the Walls

Above the regular furniture there is usually a large area of wall that can be utilized. There may be pictures there or other decorations, but they can easily be turned into a massive amount of useful storage space.

The most obvious way is to install long shelving units. This is especially handy if there are a lot of reference books or other bound papers. The walls can also be used for specialized shelving units like a grid of small cubbies to hold sorted materials.

There are also narrow bookshelf-like installments that can be mounted to the wall to provide a sturdy surface for equipment or electronics.

4. Throw away unwanted things

Once the space in the home office starts to clear up, it is time to look at what to get rid of. First, consider throwing away unneeded documents. If there are simply too many documents that cannot be disposed of then it may be time to try scanning documents and storing them digitally and then shredding the originals.

Also look at getting rid of items that may be in the office because of indecision. This can include items such as computer accessories which do not really work but look too valuable to throw away. It is time to decide what to do. Either get it repaired or dispose of it.

Other items include any distracting decorations, broken furniture or storage containers that are unused and sitting empty.

5. Store things elsewhere

One advantage of a home office is that it is located in the home. This means that items which cannot be thrown away and are taking up too much space in the office can be stored somewhere else in the home. An attic or basement can be very useful for this purpose. Just make sure that the space where the items will be stored is safe from flooding, leaks or other conditions that could cause damage.

Once more space has been found in the home office the final step is to maintain the space. Do not let documents or mail build up into unmanageable piles. Keep them organized and throw away things that are not needed right away.

If after trying everything there still is not enough space, it may be time to consider buying smaller office equipment. Computers and printers have decreased dramatically in size in the last years. Monitors are also smaller and flatter than ever.

There are also instances where the scope of what is being done in a home office exceeds the capacity of the space. In a case such as this a second room in the home may need to be claimed as an office extension or, more likely, it may be time to look for a commercial office space to rent outside of the home.

Please note~ My guest author for this article is George Baker. George works with vacuum bags, so if you ever need to know anything about Numatic vacuum bags then he is the guy to ask.

Situation

This room needed to function as a laundry room, crafts and storage area as well as the production area for a home-based business. Although the home is beautiful, it is small craftsman built back when closets and all rooms were very small.

Challenge

My client has a popular line of gorgeous baby accessories including burp towels and bibs but does not have a lot of room to create and sew as the orders come in.

Solution

We divided and conquered this room by first determining which activities were most important within this space. After deciding that the home-based business needed as much space as possible, we re-contained and moved every unrelated item up and off the counter and into the side cabinets. We decided which shelves should hold which craft based on the frequency they were needed. The more frequent gift wrapping and card-making supplies were stored in the shelves at eye level.

Once the counter was clear, we were able to sort and organize all fabrics and place them within the sewing zone to the right and under the counter.

As you can see in the photo below, we still have an area for miscellaneous projects and tools in the side cabinet.

The one thing I love about craftsman cottages is that once you can organize and look beyond their small size, they often have exceptional built-in storage areas!

Situation:

A client moves but does not have the time to get everything unpacked and organized. There are too many books and not enough shelf space. Also, papers are in a jumble and supplies were not purged and organized before the move.

Solution:

Determine which books should live by the desk and which should be stored in other bookshelves. Also – organize and purge office supplies and set aside all loose papers for a future organizing day.

A client recently contacted me because she was unclear about what paperwork she needed to keep and what she could shred. She had papers spread throughout her office. With information pertaining to numerous investment properties and multiple corporations, the paperwork involved in her business was fairly complicated, She understandably felt overwhelmed by the enormity of the paperwork and needed a solid system to track all of the monthly business at hand and manage the ongoing property records. I knew immediately that Freedom Filer was the system that would get her papers in order and provide the power to get them gone when they were no longer needed.

This is what her office looked like as we began to sort her papers beginning of our project:

We were able to get rid of at least 3 large trash bags of papers to recycle and 4 boxes of documents to shred. All of the tax records from the past now live in boxes out of the office space and are ready to shred and rotate out after the required holding time. When a new year gets archived, another will go to the shredding service.

Listen to what my client says about her office and this organizing process:

Client Audio Testimonial

I feel that the biggest accomplishment of this process is that now my client has the power to know what she needs and what she doesn’t. She is also very clear about all of the corporations that she and her husband have set up and what she needs to do to keep track of the corporate records and investment property records. She is in control of the ongoing records and has the knowledge to make informed decisions! She is also not afraid to ask for more information because she feels that she has the basic knowledge to ask the right questions. Yippee!

The Freedom Filer file system keeps records alphabetical and in color coded categories which makes retrieving them when you need them a snap!

Here is what one her organized file drawers look like with Freedom Filer:

This is what her office looks like now:

Isn’t it a beautiful office space? She now has file drawers organized and waiting for new business or new property investments and when one sells, it is ready to leave her file system in one fell swoop!

Situation: A very productive and active office with too many books and papers and not enough cabinets, file drawers  or shelves.

Challenge: No system was in place for all of the papers to land when they arrived into the home office. Also there was no specific place for them to live while they were in use and needed. The big issue was that there was no set strategy for them to leave when they were no longer needed.

Solution: We created a filing system that organized the papers vertically (look to the left of the monitor) as they arrived and when in use. We also created file folders for the papers that were needed for a short time and also a separate area for those that were needed permanently.

After the papers were organized, we grouped and organized the office supplies and books, getting rid of the unnecessary items. Once we saw what remained, we redesigned the office and had a wall to wall u-shaped desk built with proper file drawers, drawers, cabinets and book shelves.

Now the office has a home for everything with more space. The owner can get even more work completed in less time and with less stress.

Some of my readers feel that they don’t have the proper office set-up to become super organized and efficient. They are over their head in papers and muck and want more information to determine the best way to set up their office space. This is what I recommend for all office set-ups in an excerpt from my upcoming book How To Master Your Muck:

Office Organization
The minimum furniture requirement needed in a home-
based office is a desk, chair, file drawer and cabinet
or shelf. A computer, printer, phone, and scheduling
device are the items that will round out a well-equipped
office.

Your desk can be a large table (think dining size)
or an actual office desk. Small folding tables are too
restrictive and won’t hold your computer plus other
necessary paperwork. Check your local thrift store for
office furniture if you need to save money as you start
your business. The best desk set-up leaves 60% of the
flat area empty. This is why you need a large surface.

The ultimate desk for most businesses will have an
L-shaped configuration. With computers, phones and
printers, an L allows you to position your computer
monitor in the corner and your work to flow on either
side. If you have a hard drive tower, it should be placed
below the desk, not on the desktop. The side facing the
door should provide the most spacious surface
with the least amount of collateral items, possibly
only a phone beside the monitor. If you have frequent
visitors, position a guest chair on the opposite side of
this section of the desk. The other side of the L can
hold your papers in progress (your Action files) using
the vertical, stepped file holder described in the “Master
Your Papers!” chapter. If you do not have a shelf to hold
your printer above or below the desktop, move it to a
side table or file cabinet within arm’s reach.

An ergonomically designed desk chair is worth more
than the money you invest. Your old dining room chair
will bring quick fatigue and leave your back tweaked at
the end of the day. You might also want to elevate your
monitor and check into ergonomic wrist and foot rests
if you spend over six hours a day at your desk.

File Cabinets
File drawers will protect your desk from overflowing
paperwork. Many of my clients have tried to use “pretty”
or decorative file baskets for their paperwork. File boxes
pose several hazards: You pile things on top because
you don’t take the time to remove the lid so that you
can actually file. Sound familiar? They also tend to fall
apart and don’t have rails for hanging file folders. If you
can’t or don’t use hanging files, your folders fall down
and slip around, making it impossible to retrieve files
without a time-consuming investigation.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GbUl8M_tYCQ

Holiday Cards – Consider not sending holiday cards at all this year. There is not a law that says you have to send holiday cards every year ~ year in and year out…
If you choose to send cards, consider downsizing your list from the typical 150 to 50. There are options to the usual hand-written snail mail. If you are in the mood to shake it up, try one of these options. I guarantee, your stress level will take a dive into a feeling of calm and serene.

Consider these alternatives:
New Years cards – Save stress. Mail them out anytime between the 26th and Mid January.

eCards – Save money (example Blue Mountain.com)

Fulfillment House – Save time. Send in your photo, let them do the rest. (Snapfish.com)

Card Party – Make it fun. Grab your girlfriends and some snacks and gather around to address envelopes and holiday issues at the same time!

Before / After Case Study:

Challenge:

Too many supplies, duplicates and who knows what else? The client was unable to find any supply that she needed without pulling everything out of the closet first. The space was not used to it’s fullest potential and items were jammed inside. Does this look like one of your closets?

Solution:

We sorted the office supplies into containers and created a working storage closet for extra supplies. This saved money by eliminating the purchase of duplicate supplies. This also helped my client to quickly create custom portfolios for upcoming client meetings and keep on top of client follow-up with note cards.

Now everything has a home and is stored “like with like”. Items are easily identifiable because they are stored in clear boxes with marked with labels.

What Our Clients Say:

“Now I do not buy duplicate supplies and I know where to find the ones that I already own. No more hide and seek games, I can get down to business.”

D Severn

Before / After Case Study:

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Challenge Phase One:

This client was overwhelmed by papers that had overtaken her home office. Paperwork was overflowing into the dining. living and bedroom. There was no method or strategy for paper flow within her home before I arrived.

Her industry is extremely paper intensive so I devised a strategy to traffic paper in and out of her office. She and her husband share a home office and papers were mixed up between both work areas with no real separation of workspaces.

Solution Phase One:

We implemented and built a new file system using Freedom Filer.

Challenge Phase Two:

Work flow was not defined and file system was not completed. Notes were loose and piling up from numerous meetings and phone discussions.

Solution Phase Two:

I redesigned the office space and recommended a new L shape desk set-up and five additional file drawers. I also recommended separate spiral note books for each regular meeting and another notebook for client phone calls. After the papers were contained into drawers and action files were put into place on the desktop, we had a clear space for productive work.!

What Our Clients Say:

“Your enthusiasm and energy made this project very enjoyable. You were
really good with creating systems and finding the space for all of my
clothes. I love my new closets.”

Ruth Rinek, La Jolla

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Situation:
A room where no one could enter. Life happened and this extra room became a haven for spare furniture, crafts projects, gifts, bags and warehouse food overflow.

This client wanted to continue to renovate her home and also pursue her hobbies to unwind after work. She loved to make crafts and matte pictures but her ‘supposed crafts’ room had lost it’s purpose.

Challenge:

This busy client could barely walk into this room. The rest of the house had been repainted and renovated but this room stopped progress dead in it’s tracks. It was so overrun with items that she was at a loss as to where to begin. It also seemed overwhelming to do it on her own. Her successful business took all of her spare energy while at the same time, made it very important that she had an area in which to get creative and unwind.

Solution:

We began digging into the contents of the room and found that most of the items could be either moved to another area in the home or donated. We donated extra furniture and moved some to the garage. We created a gift center and storage for extra home decor in another bedroom closet.

The remaining crafts, books and office supplies that needed to stay in this room were categorized, containerized and labeled. We installed two bookshelves inside the closet to work as a storage haven for supplies, books and photo albums.

Another client was getting rid of a great crafts table that she no longer had the space for but didn’t want to give it to a stranger because it was such a nice piece of furniture. When I suggested that we re purpose it for one of my new clients, it was a win-win. Now this client has a beautiful and inspiring place to pursue her hobbies.

Now this room has everything! A library, home office, crafts studio and even a treadmill for exercise.

*Note: These photos do not represent the actual finished project. After the room became completely functional, my client decided to donate her old desk and install a custom L desk to add more horizontal work area and file drawers. It turned out quite well and this room is now optimized to it’s fullest potential!

What Our Client Said:

“Clutter has prevented me from getting my home improvements done. I was stopped from redecorating and painting because I couldn’t get into the rooms and the workers couldn’t either until the piles were gone. Now I can walk around without falling over things and it is much more peaceful. I am also really motivated to get started on the projects that until now have been on hold.”

M. Stewart San Marcos