Dear Kathi,

There is a debate in our household about the set up for a basic simple desk. How would you set it up without getting expensive furniture for a home office and also for a teenager to do homework from?
Doris, Encinitas
Doris,

The configurations for both desks will be slightly different. Most home offices will benefit from using an L pattern for the desk surface. The L works well because you can set up your computer on one end and still have a flat open space for paperwork on the other side.
Place your computer on the short end of the L on your desktop. Keep your hardrive off of the desk. Place it below the desk off to the side and possibly on rollers for easy access. The only items that should be on your desktop will be the monitor and maybe the keyboard/ mouse if you don’t have a slide out drawer.
You and your printer are best served up and out of the way on a corner shelf. Cut out a notch before you hang the shelf for the wires to drop down the back. If you don’t have a corner area (although you should with an L) hang a wide shelf 10-12 inches above the desktop to hold the printer. The same rule applies to your fax machine if you have one. Another option to keep your desktop clear is to place your printer/fax machines on your file cabinet off to the side of your desk. I only reccomend this if the file cabinet is close at hand to the desk chair.
Speaking of this, it is important that you have a file drawer under your desk or very close by. Close by means that you don’t need to get up to use it. This will be where you should store your working papers, the ones you access most frequently be it bills, current projects or other paperwork that you use daily. The closer and more convenient your file drawers are, the more likely you will not have a paper pile up on your desk. Wire stepped vertical file holders are great for keeping your active papers corralled.

Consider using categories like: Waiting for Response, Bills to Pay, Calls to Make, or Coupons. Use manilla folders for this shelf. Generally these metal stack shelves have 8 steps so you can divide your everyday papers into 8 sections if you wish.
Keep the open area on your desktop open. The front 70% of the desk should be cleared off and ready to hold work when you begin projects. With this in mind, it is easy to see that a shallow drawer to hold pens, post it notes, the stapler etc

Please submit your questions to: advice@addspacetoyourlife.com
.
San Diego Professional Organizer

(Part 2)

Doris,

This week I would like to discuss your teenage sons desk design. It is really important that your son has a larger desk area than the one you grew up with. The long and short of it is, the old hand me down desk from 15 years ago is probably not large enough.

Think about it - did you have a computer, printer, iPod etc when you were in school? The modern school study work space should be at least 5-6 feet long. Most older desks do not include a file drawer and have too many small shallow drawers. These small drawers usualy serve as nothing more than a junk holding area.

Whatever you choose, make sure to have at least 4 feet of open surface for your son to open up books and write upon.

A file drawer included with a desk is very helpful for sorting papers by subject. This is the time for your son to develop good paper habits. Work with your son to create a file system that makes sense to him. Make sure he has tabs and empty folders to make new folders when neccessary. Possible headings for folders could be: by the subject, by the project, or simply homework completed, etc. During the summer, go through this drawer and purge the old papers to make way for new files the next school year. This is an invaluable skill for you r son and worth the time and resistance that you might encounter in the beginning.

Teach your son now to save warranties and manuals for all of the electronic gadgets he will surely own. Again - a valuable skill that he can use for the rest of his adult life.

Ok - back to the desk. Keep the hard drive off of the desk surface as well as the keyboard and mouse if possible. Place the hardrive below the desk of off to the side. Use a keyboard tray. If the desk does not come with a keyboard tray, look into purchasing a single unit and installing under your existing desktop.

I often install a 12 inch wide shelf directly above and centered over the desk. Install the first shelf 8-10 inches above the desktop and add a few other shelves staggered above and to the sides of the centered shelf.

These shelves will hold binders, text books and memorabilia without cluttering up the desk surface. U-shaped shelves that have side brackets built in help keep the larger books upright without the need for wobbly book ends.

Please submit your questions to: advice@addspacetoyourlife.com
.
San Diego Professional Organizer