I thought it was high time we heard from a male guest poster and I’m delighted that James Adams is up to the challenge! James is an editor on CartridgeSave, an online specialist supplying HP laser toner cartridges to the UK market, so he knows a thing or two about the corporate office environment. Unlike the post I wrote last year, on jazzing up your workspace, James advocates more of a back-to-basics approach. Since he is based in the UK, I have left intact a couple of British expressions, which I hope Stateside cousins will decipher and enjoy.  Over to you, James…

Having a cluttered office is the bane to many people’s working lives, but they constantly keep going on this way just because they don’t have the time to think about effective solutions for remedying this problem. There are a number of simple ways though that can be used in order to turn a workspace into a clean environment, free of all clutter.

Via Houzz

Buy An Inbox
People in crowded offices know the drill. They leave their desk for a couple of minutes, only to come back to a mess of papers that has been dumped on them. Not only do these severely limit their space, but they also put a real spanner in the works when it comes to keeping everything organized.

The best way to solve this is through using an inbox, which is simply a plastic tray that can be placed on the desk. This is clearly marked so that all those delivering documents will place them there, leaving the rest of the desk untouched.
Read on for more cubicle de-cluttering tips…

You don’t have to be moving house to benefit from a good de-cluttering session.

But if you do find yourself pulling up your roots, here are 3 good reasons to start getting rid of what you don’t need:

Photo: Linda DuBose

1. Potential buyers for your home will view it as smaller and less desirable if you have too much clutter around.  Frankly, when you list your home for sale and want it to look appealing, the less stuff, the better.  Take a look at any space that’s been staged, and you’ll see why.  And unlike having friends over for a party, buyers will be looking in all your closets, the garage, and probably the kitchen cabinets, too.

2. You might fool yourself into buying, or moving to, a bigger place than you really need.  If you can get really serious about trimming back your possessions, you may surprise yourself that you don’t really need that extra room.  And this could mean you can afford to move to a nicer home in a better neighborhood.

3. And finally, the most obvious reason to have a good purge: don’t put in the time, effort and cost to shift things you don’t need.  Be honest: don’t you have boxes still sitting unpacked from the last time you moved?  Or at least, bulky, heavy items that you never use? Imagine a box falling off the moving truck and into a river on its way to your new home.  Would you replace the contents of the box?  If not, that might be an indication that it’s not worth moving.

Take this opportunity to say goodbye and travel light – you’ll make a fresher start as a result.

If you would like friendly, confidential Professional Organizing help to turn chaos into calm, contact me to take the first step toward a sorted, stylish space