Enterprising Moms Network Inc

If you are like me and have an office at home, then you know how hard it is sometimes to keep things neat and tidy. Let's face it - sometimes those stray toys somehow find their way in to the office space - driving every mom entrepreneur crazy!

Last Sunday, I had to declutter my home-office and was stunned by the amount of paper and clutter I had accumulated in a matter of weeks.

If you are thinking about doing some decluttering in your home-office, here is some great advice from our own EMN member and resident "organizer" Rhonda Shroker of the Clutter Calmer.

Five Tops Tips to Get Your Home-Office Organized

1. My top tip for organizing your home office would be to attack it sooner rather than later as it will only grow larger.

2. Sort into "like" categories:
Keep - anything you are currently using - files, tools, equipment and so on
Does not belong here - have a box to return to all of these items to their home after you are done
Archive files - find proper storage containers and locate else where, be sure to label the outside clearly
Garbage

At this point you will know if you require any new storage containers, remember to give yourself a minim of 20% extra space to grow in to.

3. If you keep more than one category of filing, for example , both for Office and Home, colour code and group them for easy recognition.

4. You will have created a mound of things that you need to address. Prioritize them and if you are unable to do them right away - have a date and time on your calendar to complete them.

5. And finally - Make your new system work with your priorities by creating a weekly or monthly schedule for all of your activities. This will help to keep you organized from this point forward!

Rhonda Shroker, The Clutter Calmer http://www.thecluttercalmer.ca