Get your office organised

Some of us are incredibly meticulous when it comes to managing our affairs at home and at work, with clearly defined places where objects live and a filing system to help you find things whenever you need them.

But plenty of us aren't like that at all and simply let clutter pile up with no logical order or sense. If this is you, have you stopped to think about how much time you're wasting as a result? Do you realise how many useful things you could be getting on with if you weren't digging around aimlessly for assorted odds and ends.

It's particularly important to ask these questions at work, as being disorganised can cost you lots of time and money and ultimately harm your ability to do your job effectively. But if you know where certain items and documents should be, you can simply crack on and complete the items on your to-do list without any unnecessary stress.

So how can this be done?

Throw out anything you don't need
How many pens that have run out, old receipts, outdated newspapers and empty crisp wrappers do you have knocking about at your desk? Go through all the items in and around your immediate working area and simply get rid of everything that's either useless or unlikely to be used in the future. If something hasn't been touched for six months and that situation isn't likely to change any time soon, why is it still there taking up precious space?

Create a filing system
Both paper and digital documents should be grouped and organised in a coherent and easily accessible way. So go through your physical items, email inbox and documents saved on your computer or in the cloud and create folders relating to what they are about. Knowing where everything can be found means they will be instantly to hand whenever you need them.

Keep your desk clean
A clean workspace can be highly conducive to work, so while you're doing your cull of unneeded and unnecessary items, pull out a cloth and give your desk a good scrub. If you're making a point of only keeping essential items on your desk from now on, keeping it clean in the long run will be much easier.

Buy a desk tidy and trays 
Desk tidies stop pens, paper clips and other items of stationery being randomly strewn around, while trays can be ideal for those memos and other bits of paper that come your way.

Keep on top of your work
Organising your office won't pay off in the long run if it doesn't help you improve your working processes in the future. With all the time freed up by having a clearly laid out and tidy work environment, you should be able to deal with issues and tasksd as soon as they arise, so you don't have to let anything pile up and get overlooked ever again!

A wholesale reorganisation of the office can admittedly take time, but if it has a genuinely positive impact on your work in the long run then it is surely time well spent. And by committing to being more organised from now on, you'll never have to spend so long throwing out unnecessary items and filing documents ever again. Who would've thought that being organised could have such a big impact on your life and work?!

For tips on how the maximise your productivity at work, have a word with out specialists here at The Maine Group!