5 Tips in Organizing Your Home Office

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It’s Labor Day! And while Rip finishes up building his new shop (photos and videos to come!!), I am FINALLY tackling the organization of our home office. I’ve had this space since we moved here and due to a wonderful thing – our business is growing rather quickly – I have taken off this entire week, ..well, up until Friday, to build my own shop – which is our HOME BUSINESS OFFICE / PRAYER ROOM.

Yes, it’s a multi-function room and here’s why:

II Home Office desk 1-2

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Tip #1 – Define the purpose of the room/space. In organizing your home office, the first place to start is really thinking through the purpose of the home office/space. Is it really going to be a place for “officey type stuff” – aka *bill paying, paper filing, important document storage, planning & structuring of business, business management, etc.  OR is this also going to be a “creative corner” for children’s arts & crafts, book reading, etc.  It is so important that the “PURPOSE” of any home office is defined completely. What do you really want to see happening in this room/space?  Whatever you do not want to happen, then start at the beginning by not organizing for it.  For example, I do not set up our kitchen space for cutting wood or tile! You just will not find a table saw or a band saw or a wet saw anywhere in our kitchen. Why? Because it is not the room/space for that activity. Same with our home offices….what NEEDS to happen in this space and what does NOT NEED to happen. PLAN it out, think it through … and then, Tip #2.

II Home Office desk 2-2

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Tip #2 – Set furniture placement for best space optimization. In other words, don’t worry so much about how “cute” the furniture may be placed…think functionality. You want the flow of your room to work for you, not worry you. If you are working at your desk, it is a good idea to make sure the most critical things you need will be in an arms length away. Think about seating, bookshelves, filing cabinets, storage, and what pieces do you need in this space to help YOU work.  Use what you need and don’t place anything in your home office that will overcrowd the space … and then, Tip #3.

II Home Office Desk 4-2

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Tip #3 – Place everything in your home office that you need. This will take time to sit down with pad and pen and write….write out what you need. aka 1) file folders *color-coded if you group your files by categories 2) pens, 3) copy paper 4) filing cabinet 5) place for incoming mail, 6) receipts 7) postage supplies, etc.  You get the idea. Here is a rule of thumb I live by –

Prayerful and purposeful planning produces premium and peaceful productivity.

It is always so beneficial to pray & plan with purpose, because then you will experience a productivity that is so much more peaceful and will yield premium results … and then Tip #4.

II Home Office desk 5-2

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Tip #4 – Get to work setting it all up. This is such a valuable space to any home that it needs to be set up well. So NOW is the time to do it right. If it takes 2,3, 5 days to set it up as you need it to be, then that’s ok. You want to be able to “flow and go” in your home office and not “stagger and stop” simply because you can’t find anything or you can’t maintain a system of work that is just … not working. 

Tip #5 – For me, because this room is also my prayer room, there is more planning involved. Prayer is the home of intimacy with God and it is the power of life that allows me to know Him, to be used by Him. Prayer is paramount, therefore, we pray for every client God allows us to serve, as well as for family and friends. And so this room has books, notebooks, binders, commentaries, bible study resources, inspirations materials, journals,…all on our bookshelf because it is also the room where I go to be alone with God in bible study. To write. To think with Him … about so many things. It’s the one room in our home designated for that “behind the door” time with our Father. So, it’s been planned out and set up just for that purpose. 

Whatever you do in organizing your home office, here is just one last little bit of inspiration …. be creative in making it inviting and warm. Consider a comfortable chair tucked in the corner with a table for a coffee mug or a pretty vase of flowers. Hang art on the walls that your children made at school, but hang it in beautiful frames. You can change out the art once a month so they can see how valuable their creativity is to you. Place family and friend photos about the room because as you work, it is the lives of those closest to you that so often fuels you to press on and keep going. Simply make this room YOURS and then … have fun! Have fun enjoying your created space and keeping it clean, organized and utilized!

 

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lisa rippy

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