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Home Organization 101 – Week 4 “The Office”

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HOME ORGANIZATION 101 
Week 4 ~ The Office

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HOW TO SIGN UP:
If you would like to join our organizing challenge, sign up (here [6]) on the event page.  Once you are signed up, join the Home Organization 101 group page on Facebook (HERE [7]). On this page, you can ask questions, post pictures, and support each other during this 14 week process.
I only have one rule for the challenge.

 

GRAB A BUTTON!

 

 If you are joining the challenge, please place the challenge button on your blog. If you don’t have a blog, please share the challenge on your Facebook page, Twitter, or Instagram.
abfolbutton


HOW THE CHALLENGE WORKS:
Home Organization 101 will continue for 14 weeks. Each Saturday, I will post a new “space” along with pictures of my finished space and share the process of how you can organize yours. You can take as long as you need, and once you are finished organizing your space, come back here to this post and link up your blog (with pictures) to share with all of us. If you do not have a blog, you can take pictures and share them on our Facebook group page (here [7]).   Questions, ask away… Our facebook page is the best place to ask them.  Have fun!  Now lets get organized.


WEEK 4 – The Office

This week, your goal is to clean & organize your office “space”.  If you do not have an office, you can clean and organize the area that you keep your paperwork & bills, etc.  Everyone has a paper pile, right?  Every paper needs to be touched, read, and dealt with.

 

THE PROCESS:
1.  Take a picture of your space before you start.
2.  Make sure you have 6 large bins or boxes, one for each of the following… 1 for papers that need shredded, 1 for things that need donated, 1 for paperwork that needs to be filed, 1 for items that belong in other rooms, 1 for items that stay in the office, and 1 for trash.
3.  Give yourself at least 2 hours to go through your paperwork… all of it!  Each paper will be placed in one of the following bins (shred, file, trash).  You are not organizing at this time. Just separating.
4.  Go through everything else.  If it doesnt belong, place it in the “other room” bin.
5.  After you have gone through everything, it should all be in bins or boxes.
6. At this time, wipe down your desk, shelves, and sweep/vacuum/mop the area. Clean it up really well.
7. Now you can organize all paperwork into a filing system.  I share the categories I use below.  Approximately 50% of the papers you have now should be tossed.
8.  Create a mail station (below).  You will need one to get control of the incoming paper clutter.
9.  Organize your books & everything else to look pleasing to the eye.
Thats it!  Now take a picture and share with us.

 

WHEN GOING THROUGH YOUR PAPERS, ASK YOURSELF:
 Is this paper necessary to keep? (Taxes, etc)
Is it needed in the future?
Do I have a place for it?
If you answered no, toss it! (Shred if it has personal information on it).

 

THE “OTHER” STUFF:
Categorize everything you can. Use boxes, bins, baskets and drawers.  Organize your books.  Organize your pens & pencils.  Organize everything that is remaining in the space.  Categorizing makes it look neat.  Good luck!  Dont forget to link up when you are finished. Ask questions on our Facebook group page.

 

 

MY OFFICE

 

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My vintage cart houses my binders. 🙂  I use these on a daily basis so they need to be accessible.  Keeping my daily schedule visible helps to keep me to stay on track!  This chalkboard does the trick well!

 

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My friend Alejandra raved about these binders… so I had to try them out. She was right. They are the perfect binder (from Staples)! The binders fit perfectly on a kitchen baking sheet organizer.

 

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Using a dish organizer for your binders to slide in and out is a great trick!!

 

Click on the picture to see the source.

 

 

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Below the binders, I have boxes & bins. These are used for misc. items.  My camera bag hangs from the side of the cart.

 

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Below, I keep extra manilla folders in a bin.

 

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I purchased an inexpensive desk, chair & shelving at Ikea.   They do the job well!

 

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The containers below hold markers, pens, sharpies, & pencils.

 

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I love my collection of vintage clocks!

 

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This cute hanging organizer is from Ikea.

 

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The ceramic egg dish is from Jo Ann Fabrics (I found it during Easter time).  Its great for small things that are used often.  I also have one in my bedroom for my “every day” jewelry.  If you dont want to wait until easter, you can also purchase them on www.amazon.com [22].

 

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CREATE A MAIL STATION:
My mail station is used for sorting mail and kids school papers.  I have gone into detail with this station (here [25]).  It lives on my desk, here in the office.  I used to keep it in my kitchen, but I have declared my kitchen ” paper free”.  That means no mail, school work, or papers of any kind go in there. The system is working well!

 

My file folders are labeled:Abigail – School papersGavin – School papers

Alex – School papers

John

Toni

Incoming mail

Outgoing Mail

To File

To Pay

Sign & Return

Coupons

* I go through the school papers once per quarter & archive what I want to save & toss the rest.

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I keep my Erin Condren planner as well as my “budgeting” sheets [26] (on the clipboard) in the front.

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The #1 must have organizing item in every home… The LABELER [28]!  This labeler creates the 1″ labels that I use everywhere in my home & on my binders.  Using 1″ makes a HUGE difference!!

 

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Click on the picture below to get the details on my labeler of choice…

 

 

You can also purchase it at Amazon.com (here [28]).

 

Colorful note paper or sticky notes is a must on any organized desk!

 

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I purchased this drawer system at Ikea.  Its the “Alex” unit [31]. I use it to store all of my office supplies.

 

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Each drawer contains a different “category”.  My categories are:

 

1. Supplies (Binder clips, paper clips, push pins, etc)
2. Stickies (sticky notes, tabs, stickers, etc)
3. Tools (straight cutter, staple, staple remover, hole puncher)
4. Budget (check book, calculator, cash envelope system)
5. Supplies (white out, tape, command hooks, etc)
6. Markers
7. Mail (envelopes, stamps, address labels)
8. Labelers (and label tape)
9. Crafts

 

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Creating a “rainbow” effect with books is very pleasing to the eye.

 

 

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Setting up a space to read creates a cozy environment in your office.  Most of my office furniture is from Ikea, with the exception of the printer cabinet. Its from Target.  I purchased my pillow at a local boutique shop here in Charleston, SC
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A place to put magazines where they are accessible to read is a great tip!

 

 

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HOW TO ORGANIZE YOUR FILING SYSTEM

 

A good filing system is an absolute MUST to create & keep an organized office.  I purchased my filing cabinet on wheels at The Container Store.  My file folders are from Staples.

 

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Smead File Folders…

 
 

My files are organized into the following sections:

 

RED Folders
 Medical (All family members have a separate folder)

 

ORANGE Folders
1. Travel
2. Blog
3. Shaklee
4. John (personal)
5. Toni (personal)
6. YMCA
7. Pay Stubs
8. Vet receipts

 

YELLOW Folders
1. Home Owner Policy
2. Auto Policy
3. Insurance Claims
4. Health Insurance
5. Prescription Coverage
6. Warranties
7. Credit Reports
8. SSI

 

GREEN Folders
1. Bank #1
2. Bank #2
3. Retirement
4. Tax Receipts
5. Paid Off
6. My Husbands Work
7. Blog Income
8. Shaklee Income

 

BLUE Folders
1. Utilities
2. House
3. Paid Bills (6 folders – 1 for every 2 months).  I throw these papers out at the end of the year.

 

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WHAT TO DO WITH TAXES?

I wanted to mention that we keep our tax records in my husbands office (we are blessed to have 2 offices in our home).  The picture below shows his filing system and how we organize the “taxes”.  Also, (here [41]) is an older post that I shared on my filing system. It has since been updated and the files moved to my office… but the tax papers still remain in his.

 

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GET CONTROL OF THE PAPER CLUTTER:

 

JUSTORGANIZEYOURSTUFFNOW.COM [43] is one of my blog sponsors. If you have not checked out her website, she has an AWESOME system for getting the paper clutter organized.  Its wonderful.
More from Just Organize your Stuff Now…
An algorithm for organizing.  “Should you keep that paper?”from JOYS. Click on the picture for more goodies at her website!

 

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Her website goes on and on… I could be on there for day!

 

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A cabinet devoted to the printer & supplies makes it easier to find what you are looking for.  My cabinet contains:

 

1.  Printer paper (cardstock, plain, colorful, resume, etc…)
2. Printer Ink
3. Photo paper
4. Extra binder dividers & file folders
5. Silhouette SD machine, Neat Receipts, and Laminating Machine.

 

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Toni [49]