A lot of people commit to getting rid of clutter as a New years goal. I am trying to do that as well in my quest for a more minimalist lifestyle. You can’t crush some goals if you have too much clutter trapping you in the past. The home office is one place where clutter comes easily and seems like it takes forever to get rid of. It always feels nice to have a fresh start too! Here are some tips to help you Minimize and Declutter your office.
Tips to Minimize Clutter in the Office
Have trash and recycling containers visible and large enough.
Couponing gives me so much paper. At first, I had a small recycling container and realized that though it is cute and could be hidden, it was not doing me much good. I decided a storage tote would be better. Now that I have a place for all my papers, it keeps keeping up with the paper trail easier. If your trash service doesn’t offer recycling service, many churches and schools have recycling bins where the donation of your papers helps them out financially. You can also donate expired coupons to Coups for Troops. They can use coupons for 6 months after they expire.
Spend some time making sure you have a place for every paper/magazine/book you want to keep.
If you use a filing cabinet, make sure you have all the folders you need. I also use a “need to file” label for quick cleanups and then go back and file in the correct folder at a later time. Some of my folder tabs are vet records, blogging receipts, insurance, church, and recipes. I have a second file drawer just for coupon inserts.
Next, make sure you need to keep everything you have. In this digital age, a lot of records are now digitized. I now keep things like pay stubs, bank statements, and business receipts digitally. It also makes it a lot easier to find the documents you need.
Get Rid of Books & Magazines
If you see yourself reading the book again or it is a display book- keep it. If not, sell or donate it. Flip through the magazine and if you see a recipe/tip/or article you would like, save the article only. Sometimes I even scan it or see if it is available online.
Doctor’s offices love to receive magazines. If you have more books and magazines than space, then you have got to make some tough decisions. You either need to buy bigger storage solutions or scale down. I personally would scale down. Minimizing your books and magazines will keep you focused on the present.
Clean up your computer.
- Clear off your memory card. Upload your pictures to a cloud server because you never know when your computer could crash. Develop pictures (if you still have undeveloped films cans hanging around) you want to scrapbook. send to people, or use.
- Get rid of any programs you don’t use/need.
- Run a system defrag.
- Make sure your virus protection is up to date
- Go through documents and see if there are any you need to backup or delete.
- Clean up your browser bookmarks.
Make sure your mail bin is close to the garbage can.
I don’t know about you but more than half of my mail is junk mail. I try to make sure it goes directly into the recycling bin by opening my mail right near the bin.
Do a 5-minute tidy daily!
Do you notice how much stuff gets put into the wrong rooms? Once a day do a run-through of the office and grab up anything that doesn’t belong in that room. An office area should have just office items.
Do you battle with a messy office? So, what are your best tips for keeping the office free of clutter?
Looking to minimize other areas of your home?
- How to Minimize and Declutter Your Kitchen
- How to Minimize and Declutter Your Closet