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 Read the rest of this entry »
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.
The filing question from yesterday reminds me of another common scenario. I frequently open client file drawers and find manila folders without hanging files. There is a reason that hanging files were invented. For those of you who are not enlisted in this practice, let me provide a few good reasons to use this tool.
1. Hanging file folders keep files from falling together and sliding down into the drawer. Read the rest of this entry »
