When Your Home Office is All Over Your Home

As much as you wish that your home office was in one neat, organized spot in your home, you may find that it is simply not feasible. Whether it is due to space limitations or how you work, your office area may be divided into bits and pieces all over your house. Many people find it frustrating and time consuming to work this way, but for others it is the only way they can make a business from home work. If you find that your business is divided among the rooms in your house, but you want to make it a little more organized, try the tips below to help you get started.

A Place for Everything
The saying, “there is a place for everything and everything should be in its place,” is true even for spread out home offices. If you have no room for your filing cabinet next to your desk, but you can fit it in the basement next to the pantry, then make sure that the filing that needs to be done gets there. The easiest way to do this is to create one "home work station." This can be a computer desk, a counter in the kitchen, or even a shelf in a hall closet. Wherever the most important part of your job happens should be the "hub." In this hub, create folders for other areas of your home. A folder labeled "To Be Filed" can house all the paper that will need to go to the basement for filing. A basket with a tag that reads, "Follow Up Calls to Make", can hold notes that need to go to the kitchen where you make your calls. It is not the location of the hub that matters so much as the way that you use it to divide your paperwork and tasks among the other areas of the home.

A Brain Book
Every scattered home office space needs a brain book. This 2-inch, three-ring binder should contain your date book, family calendar, to-do lists, contact list, current projects, and time lines for when everything needs to be completed. It will be the book that consistently travels to each of the other work areas with you when you are working. Take it to the kitchen when making phone calls, to the computer desk when checking emails and to the filing cabinet when you are filing papers. No matter where you go, your brain book should go with you. Some people choose to have their brain books in electronic format and carry it around in a daily planner or on their phones. Whatever is the most effective method for you, that you will be the most consistent with, is what should be done.

In Each Space
At each different point in your home where work occurs, make the area organized and tidy. A simple basket or container can keep things neat when you are not using them, yet easily accessible when they are needed. The containers that you choose to use should coordinate, as much as possible, with the other decor in the room. This will help to keep the visual clutter to a minimum.

Article Source: http://www.wahm-articles.com

Jessica Ackerman from WallDecorandHomeAccents.com, has skills in decorating with landscape metal sculptures and asian wall decor.

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