Home with the Kids Blog » Home Office

7 Steps to an Organized Home Office

Stephanie — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 14:46:13 +0000

A well organized home office is a big help when you’re trying to be productive. It doesn’t matter if everything you do is on your computer and you never have to dig through the clutter on your desk – clutter is a distraction. Most people are more productive with an organized home office.

I’ll be the first to admit that my own office isn’t perfect. The kids often drop off their schoolwork on my desk. Mail gets left there. Don’t even ask me how the random toy parts got there; I probably don’t even know. But when I take the time to clean things up, I still notice that it’s easier to be productive without all the stuff all over my desk.

Step 1: Get rid of the stuff that shouldn’t be in your home office anyhow.

As I said above, my kids put their schoolwork on my desk, and the mail ends up there a lot. That’s because it’s the first flat surface you come to in my house. Makes it an easy target.

While it hasn’t completely stopped the constant flow of schoolwork, it helps that I bought each of my kids a bin to keep their school papers in. I take a look at how they’re doing, but aside from that, they get to choose when to dispose of their papers if they keep them in the bin. Anything left on my desk is fair game for me to handle as I choose. The kids are still young enough to be pretty possessive of their schoolwork, so it doesn’t take much to get them to move it.

Step 2: Consider declaring the area off limits.

If you have a home office area that is a completely separate room from the rest of the house, consider declaring it off limits. The fewer people come into your work area, they less they’ll mess it up for you.

Obviously, this won’t work for everyone. My office space doesn’t have a door, and it’s also where the kids do their homework and crafts. I have a separate desk in there for them, not that they put their papers there often. Since it’s the second largest room in the downstairs area, I can’t keep it just for me. Just wouldn’t work.

Step 3: Separate professional and personal.

It’s not at all unusual to have a lot of your personal papers in your home office, although if you’re going for the tax deduction you should be trying to keep more of a dedicated office space. But separating your personal and professional paperwork and life in general is important for more reasons than that. It helps you to keep a more professional frame of mind if you don’t have too much personal stuff in the way when you’re trying to work at home.

Step 4: Organize your papers.

My office also has the file cabinet where we keep all our important papers – that’s the other reason the mail ends up in there. Shredder is in there too, so I don’t much mind having the mail in there, so long as the “to be shredded” pile and the “needs filing” pile don’t get too out of control.

Set up a filing system so that you can immediately put new papers in their place. The closer you can get it to a “touch once” system, the better.

My system, for example, has a place for important things that need more handling, such as bills to be paid or checks to be deposited. I don’t want to lose those, so they get a special place away from other papers that may clutter up.

Step 5: Organize your computer work space.

Clutter impacts your computer too. How many downloads do you have that you just haven’t made the time to read yet? How full is your email inbox? If someone emails you, how hard is it to spot that email?

I’m a big fan of filtering my email. This makes it easier to find personal emails as well as professional ones from sources which have contacted me before. Sorting those out makes it a lot easier to scan through the rest, deciding what’s worth reading, what’s just spam and so forth.

Do the same for your work computer files. Set up a system so you can find the files you need when you need them. If you run websites, keep separate files for each site, for example. If you have clients, set up a file for each, and subfiles as necessary for individual projects.

Step 6: Make sure your home office is a pleasant place to work.

Your home office doesn’t have to be a bland, colorless space. It’s yours, after all, and you don’t have to obey any corporate rules about how your office should look. Plants, pictures, whatever you like to make your space more comfortable, just so long as they don’t make the place too cluttered to work in.

I have an orchid I’ll be adding to my home office space just as soon as I get a little more clutter off my desk, a birthday present from my husband. A little green is always nice to have, and the blooms are lovely… I hope I can get it to bloom again in future years.

Step 7: Make sure it’s working for you.

Your organization system for your home office may not work for you the first time you try it. If it isn’t, try a new system after giving yourself enough time to have really tried out your first thoughts in the area. There’s no rule saying you can’t change things up.

How Childproof Is Your Home Office?

Stephanie — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 15:09:17 +0000

One of the biggest disadvantages to working at home has to be coping with the kids. It’s one of the biggest advantages too, but that’s beside the point just now. I’m talking about the times that you just don’t want the kids underfoot.

Especially if toddlers are involved. Home offices and computers in particular need to be protected from toddlers! They may not be able to accidentally download a virus yet, but the damage they can do just by randomly pounding keys is nothing short of amazing.

A childproofed office makes it easier to be productive. You don’t have to worry as much if the kids come in while you’re working, and you may be able to keep them out entirely. The challenge is making it childproof in the first place.

Close the Door

If your home office has a door, closing it is one of the simplest steps you can take to childproofing your work area. Younger kids can’t open it and older kids can be taught not to go into your home office without permission or need.

If you don’t have a door, you’ll need to do a lot more childproofing. Realistically, even with a door you’ll probably want to take more childproofing steps for those times one of the kids gets in there.

Establish Rules About Your Working Hours

If you’re working when the kids are awake, you’re going to need some rules about when they can interrupt you. Younger kids will need simpler rules, and if you’re the only adult in the house when you’re working you need to expect some interruptions.

As kids get older they get better at entertaining themselves and can deal with stricter rules. Tell them they can only interrupt you for emergencies.

Protect Your Computer

The computer is a major asset to most home businesses. It’s not just the value of the machine. It’s all the information on it. You really don’t want the kids messing with it.

If you have toddlers around, make sure they can’t play with the buttons on the front of the computer itself. I’ve gone so far as to cover them with cardboard when I’ve had a computer in reach of a child. The power button in particular often has pretty lights on or near it that draw a toddler’s attention and makes the button irresistible.

You’ll also need to protect your mouse and keyboard. It’s amazing what a toddler can do by pounding on a keyboard, and sometimes it’s hard to undo what they’ve done.

You can also protect your computer from toddlers by setting a password so that you have to login when you’ve been away for a period of time. Choose the time wisely so it doesn’t drive you nuts when you’re using the computer.

If your kids are allowed to use your business computer, set up rules that will protect your computer. Require approval on downloads. Be in the room whenever possible when your kids are using the computer. Talk to them at age appropriate levels about the hazards of the internet.

Not just for kids, but to protect your computer from the hazards of being a computer you will need antivirus and antispyware software installed on it.

Keep Cords and Outlets Safe

Kids find cords fascinating. Outlets are pretty neat too. You don’t want them messing around with either.

Most times they won’t get hurt. I’ve had kids unplug things on me, and it’s just a distraction, not a danger. But you don’t want your kids messing with cords, wrapping them around their necks, chewing on them as they teethe, you get the idea.

Find a cord organizer that works for you. It doesn’t need to be anything fancy, just something to keep the bulk of the cords out of the reach of children.

As for outlets, simple outlet covers do a pretty good job. You can buy covers that protect outlets while still allowing items to remain plugged in.

Know Your Noise Limits

Sometimes the amount of noise your kids make while you’re working doesn’t matter. Other times it’s a big deal.

Buy a noise cancelling headset for your phone for those times that you can’t have background noise on a call. They’re affordable and a big help when you don’t want background noises to make it on the call. They may not get everything if the kids are being particularly loud, but they’re a big help.

Noise can also be a distraction that makes it harder to be productive. Talk to your family about how much noise you’re comfortable with when you’re working in your office.

Guest Post – Organizing the Work at Home Office, Kids Included

Stephanie — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 14:53:41 +0000

Working from home can be challenging for the most devoted mom, but add in kids and the potential for problems is increased a thousand fold. Spending time with your kids is of course the entire reason you want to work from home, so preparing for issues that may arise is essential. Organizing your work area, and finding ways to involve your children will help your day go smoothly.

Setting Up Your Office

Whether you are just starting the search for a work at home job, or you’ve been working from home for years now, your office space can probably be spruced up. It doesn’t matter if you have a separate office or plan on working from the dining room table, you need to be organized to make the most of your time. Make a list of the things you will need to use throughout the day, from pens and notebooks, to calculators and phones. Now think about where you need these items to be placed in order to reach them without interrupting your work. Baskets, mugs, and drawers can help you hide things while keeping them in easy reach. If you are running a business with a lot of products you’ll have to consider shelves or other systems to sort and group items easily.

While you are considering the items and space you need to create for your work area, don’t forget to design around the activities your children will be doing while you are working. A small table beside you, or in your line of vision is great for toddlers, while you may want space for a bouncer for a baby. A small shelf area with toys, crayons or craft supplies will help keep them engaged while you complete projects.

Emergency Toys

No matter how organized you are, and what type of space you’ve put together for your children, there will come a time when you really need them to be occupied and they just aren’t interested in their current toys. Keeping an emergency stash with items they’ve never seen before is a great way to redirect their attention long enough for you to finish that phone call or writing deadline. The dollar store is a great place to buy small inexpensive toys.

The Egg Timer

Children are wonderful little beings, but they don’t really have a concept of time. When you ask them to be quiet so you can finish a phone call, they don’t understand how long that will take. Introducing an egg timer will help your little one stay focused as well as yourself. Start with 1-3 minutes and work your way up to 15-20 over a couple of weeks.
If you begin the egg timer training when you don’t have anything important to do the results will be better. Once the kids understand how it works you can put it into actual practice. Start the timer by saying how long you need them to entertain themselves and be extra quiet, give them a project to do or suggest a toy, and as soon as the timer dings make sure you praise them and give them a hug so they enjoy the process.

Get the Kids Involved in Organizing

Keeping your office area organized as well as the kids play area can seem daunting. Kids want to help out, and if you make the organizing time fun they’ll be even more excited. Set aside 10-15 minutes at the end of your day and bring out the egg timer again. Tell the kids it’s a race to see who can pick up the most toys by the time the timer goes off. While the kids are taking care of their area you can put your own items away or create your to do list for the next day.

Guest Post By: ClutterGeeks.com – Philadelphia
organizer helping reduce and eliminate clutter in Philadelphia and Bucks County PA

When the Computer Virus is Winning…

Stephanie — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 15:05:36 +0000

I’ve had a pretty frustrating time recently fighting a computer virus. Not, thank goodness, on my work computer. On my husband’s computer.

We’re pretty sure this was a real nasty! Hard to tell because not a single scanner of any sort that we tried could find so much as a trace of it. We used programs such as Malwarebyte’s AntiMalware, SuperAntiSpyware, Microsoft Security Essentials, Avast and more, uninstalling programs as needed to let other ones work, and not a single one found a trace of the problem. They all reported us clean, as did every online scanner I tried.

That’s hugely frustrating when you know for a fact there’s some sort of malware on there. The redirect on Google searches alone was a dead giveaway, and the sudden failure of the sound card driver turned out to be a potential symptom of some types of rootkits.

What to Do When Nothing Works

I debated trying ComboFix. That one is considered a bit risky, as it can do other things to your system if you get it wrong.

But the decision came down to wanting to be 100% certain that the damn virus was gone. With every other scanner coming up negative, I decided that I’d rather be certain.

So I reformatted his hard drive and reinstalled XP. Bye bye virus!

Good thing we have a backup of his stuff on my external hard drive, one that hasn’t been updated in months, but that’s a good thing when you’re talking mystery virus that you aren’t sure when it got on board. Good odds the backup is clean, and the data loss is minimal.

Finding the drivers for a computer the age of my husband’s computer… miserable, just miserable! I had to take my best guess for the ethernet card driver. Got it right so far as I can tell, though. There are a number of websites out there that can help you find drivers, although the best source is often the manufacturer of your computer. Safest, too.

Even before installing most drivers must come installing a good antivirus and antispyware. I put on Microsoft Security Essentials because it’s free and is supposed to be good. I know it didn’t find the virus when it was already on the computer, but neither did any other program, so there wasn’t much to do about that.

What to Do After Reinstalling the Operating System Due to a Virus

There’s a lot to be done after the operating system is back up. Lots of programs to reinstall. Data to put back on the computer.

But all that is much less important than a step I had my husband take, and took myself just because it’s a good thing to do once in a while.

Change passwords. And user IDs on important things like bank accounts where permitted.

The trouble is quite simply that there’s no knowing how much data was taken. It might have been a lot. It might have not been any. Without so much as a name for what he had, we just don’t know.

Thank goodness the accounts all look fine so far.

Changing your passwords and making them challenging is a good idea anyhow. I explained to my husband what is considered to be a more secure password these days, which he wasn’t aware of. His original choices weren’t dreadful, but not especially strong either. They should be better now.

I did the same on many of my accounts too. So many of the passwords I have are the same as they were years ago. It was time for a change. And now they’re much stronger.

Most systems now will let you use not only alphanumeric characters, but certain special characters as well. The greater the range you use and the longer the character string, the stronger your password is. That doesn’t mean it can’t be beaten by brute force, but it means that someone else’s password will be easier to crack.

We’re still feeling a bit paranoid about whether or not any information was stolen. It’s hard to not worry when there’s a reasonable chance of it. But at least now we’re aware of it and have taken steps to take care of the situation.

Where’s All This Paper Coming From?

Stephanie — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 11:45:57 +0000

One nice thing about moving was getting all the stuff off my desk. Finally a reason to just throw all the stuff that somehow ended up on my desk into a box.

Most of it’s still there, so why is my desk cluttered again?

Mostly it’s paper, and I know who’s to blame. There’s a second grader in this house, and guess where all her school work ends up when she gets it back?

Ok, ok, I could give it back to her after I look at it. Blame it on me. Really. Just go ahead.

A little of the clutter has to do with bills received as I work toward making all our bills go on auto pay. Once all that’s settled I won’t have to worry about keeping track of who’s been paid.

And I suppose I can throw out the catalogs for the school fundraiser now that it’s over. No point in being tortured by those pictures of cookies anymore. The cookie dough will get here when it gets here, in late October.

I know I’m not the greatest at keeping paper clutter under control, but I do still have a few tips for managing it.

1. Have a safe place for bills that need to get paid.

Don’t let these get buried in the clutter. Put them someplace where you’ll find them in time to pay them. Get on auto pay if you like… I love it. Even pay them as soon as the bills come in if that’s what it takes. Just don’t lose track of any of your bills.

2. Have a safe place for checks that need to be cashed.

Motivation to get these taken care of quickly should be even greater than that for paying bills. But sometimes checks sit a little until I can make it to the bank. Giving them a safe place to sit ensures that I don’t lose any and need to ask for them to be reissued.

3. Give it back.

I’m not so good at this one, as I noted above. I really need to give my daughter the chance right away to decide if her school work is kept or recycled.

We don’t have it up yet, but we have enough wall space here that we’re planning on putting up a board for each kid to put up their favorite artwork and school work. Gives them a place to show off rather than leaving it buried for all time. At least until the boards fill up, as they will.

4. Make friends with the recycle bin.

I just need to get faster about this one. Papers need to go more quickly into the recycle bin than I tend to send them. My desk wouldn’t be half so cluttered if I would make a quick decision as papers come along.

5. Get it filed.

I put this last because really, there aren’t that many papers coming in that I need to keep in a file. Doing that means it will probably stick around FOREVER. Move after move after move. There aren’t that many papers that really need to be kept.

Business records, financial records, important school papers, yes. Every little message from the school, no. You know the stuff you want to keep.

Maybe eventually I’ll be better about keeping the paper to a minimum on my desk. For now all I can do is keep on trying.

At least my habits in this area can’t get much worse. Well, they could, but that would be quite the disaster.

Claim Your Work at Home Space

Stephanie — Sun, 05 Aug 2007 23:56:46 +0000

Many people who work at home don’t really have a good space for it. Not all homes have enough room for a separate home office, but having a dedicated work space makes a big difference.

If your business is primarily or entirely online, the main thing you need is your computer and desk. If this can be separate from what the rest of the family uses, that’s a big step. There are few things more frustrating than having to sort out conflicting priorities that keep you entirely from working. But the kids need the computer for their homework and what do you do but give it up?

That’s why you need your own if at all possible.

A space to work on your business also makes it easier for you to set rules about when you are working. Even if you aren’t in a separate room you can set rules about what the kids can and cannot bother you with while you work.

The biggest challenge comes in when you can’t claim a separate space directly and you have to set up your home office in a shared area, maybe even a shared computer. You have to be able to do something.

My own office is somewhat shared. My own computer, desk shared (big desk). Much of my work time is with either one of the kids or my husband on the other computer. It makes for a bit more a challenge when working.

With this little space I keep a part of the desk and a file cabinet to my work. As I do work entirely online, my needs in terms of space are relatively few.

But the real hardship is having other people underfoot when I’d like to work in peace. Sharing my space means that I have to claim my space mentally as much as physically. I can’t let what the others are doing on the computer distract me overmuch.

You should also make your workspace comfortable. Throw in a water bottle and for the most part I’m good to go for working most days. But other people need more.

No matter whether you share your workspace or have a quiet home office separate from everything else, you have certain needs in order to work productively. This can include a calendar, reference materials, telephone, writing materials and so forth. Your computer needs the software that you use in your business.

Some people do like some background noise as they work. I always suggest a radio rather than a television, simply because a radio set to a music station is much easier to ignore.

Puzzling out how you can set up your home office space takes a little time, but it’s much worth the effort. You can increase your productivity and your contentment with your work if you aren’t frustrated with your working conditions.

[tags]home office setup,setting up home office,working at home,wahm,work from home[/tags]

Decluttering Your Home Office

Stephanie — Wed, 09 May 2007 22:28:09 +0000

The trouble with home offices is that they are often a mess. In my experience it is easy to feel like it is more important to work than to straighten up my office. There are just so many more things I could be doing and they seem more profitable than handling the inevitable clutter.

But the time always comes when the job must be done. I have to clean my home office. And so I will share my tips for it with you.

Papers are one of the worst items for cluttering an office. It doesn’t matter if you do your business 100% online, somehow paper appears anyhow. Check stubs, random stuff you’ve printed, mail someone else dropped in your office for some unknown reason. And it just tends to sit, unfiled or not in the trash can.

As you can guess, the first step is to sort through all those papers sitting on your desk or elsewhere in your office. If you don’t have a good filing system set up, make one! There will come a time when you will need one or another piece of paperwork, and if it is filed you will have a much easier time finding it.

Now look at everything else in your office. What really belongs in there? Is it in the most sensible location for it?

Having kids, toys often end up on my desk. Just random stuff, generally small, but they do get in the way of working. Then there are the random computer accessories that are rarely used and really don’t belong on my desk.

You may have things like printer cartridges sitting about. Think about the right place to keep them; easily accessible for when you need them, but not where they’re taking up space on your desktop.

Look at your work setup, especially those areas where you do most of your work. Are they comfortable? Reasonably ergonomically set up? If you’re having to stretch to reach things all the time or if you’re having concerns about carpal tunnel or similar problems, you probably need to work on the way you have your office set up. The better you can manage this the more productive you will probably be during your work hours.

Check your office for any other problems. A cluttered home office can feel comfortable but it can also limit your effectiveness as you work. You may be surprised at how quickly you can fix clutter issues, especially once you have a good filing system. A little bit of time invested can help you to be more productive overall.

[tags]decluttering,clutter,organization,organize home office[/tags]

Separating Work from Home When you Work at Home

Stephanie — Mon, 25 Sep 2006 23:27:14 +0000

Keeping your home life and your professional life separate when you work at home can be a real challenge. If you fail to set enough boundaries, your work life can run right over your home life, leaving you feeling pressured to keep working and unable to enjoy the time with your family you would like to have.

Depending on the age of your children, there are many things you can do to make working at home a little easier to keep apart from the rest of your life. If you can spare the space and equipment to set things up separately you can make things much easier to keep apart.

A dedicated work space is perhaps the most important item. You need somewhere that you can get work done with minimal interference. Ideally, this means a room you can close off to use as your home office, but not everyone has a room available for a home office.

You’ll need rules about your office. Can the kids interrupt you freely? Can you have younger ones bring in toys to play quietly so you can work while still supervising them?

A separate work computer once again is ideal but not achievable for everyone. A work computer allows you to have a machine that you don’t have to compete with anyone else to use. If you need to keep files confidential it is much easier to do so on a private machine than one shared with your family.

Your home office will also need to be able to store anything you need to get your work done. Think about filing cabinets, storage for supplies, room to meet clients if relevant.

A separate telephone line or cell phone is vital if you receive business phone calls. You don’t want to have to worry about your children answering your business calls and you don’t want to have to worry about keeping your home line free for important business calls.

All of these have the advantage that you may be able to take tax deductions on them as business expenses. Consult with your accountant to find out how best to handle this.

There are more ways to keep your home and home business life separate. One of the best ways is to keep regular working hours. Scheduling yourself can help you to feel more professional, and to know when you need to work on your job or business or things with your family or around the house.

Working at home isn’t the picnic some imagine it is. The more seriously you take it, the more likely you are to succeed. The more carefully you think about what you need to keep your home and work life separate, the better chance you have of doing so.

Some people also find it helpful to dress professionally. This is much a matter of personal preference. Some people finds that it makes a big difference in how well they work while others don’t care.

Search Amazon for Home Office Products

[tags]working at home,family,home office setup[/tags]

Kids in the Home Office

Stephanie — Thu, 17 Aug 2006 17:43:49 +0000

A home office of one sort or another is a vital part of working at home. Some people manage to have an entirely separate room for their home office. Mine is a more or less dedicated room… unless you count all the kids’ toys right behind my chair, on my desk, under my feet…

It’s hard to keep kids out of the home office, especially when it doesn’t have a door. I’m not really sure what to call the room my office is in. It’s just off the dining area, but there’s no doorway as such; the spaces are open to each other aside from a wall less than two feet long.

Life has definitely become easier in many ways since we got a second computer. My son is too young to understand computers, but he sure likes to scroll around Google Earth. My daughter loves to play games on Noggin and similar sites. Letting the kids use the other computer gives me more time to work.

At their best, however, they’re still a major distraction. That’s the way I like it, though, since I am well aware that I am working at home so that I can be with them. When my son is on the computer he regularly wants me to cuddle him (toddlers are so sweet). My daughter often wants help with the games she plays, and I have to decide when to help and when to make her try to do it herself.

For some work at home jobs, of course, you need much more peace and quiet than I have. I don’t have to worry about background noise. If you have to worry about background noise, you really don’t want to be in a room that cannot be closed off from the rest of the house.

If you need peace and quiet, set up rules for when the kids are allowed to interrupt you. How strict these rules are depends on exactly how quiet you need things to be. If it’s a case of no background noise on a call or you lose your job, you’d better keep that rule pretty strict. On the other hand, if you can pause your work easily, but really need it quiet to get things done (as is the case in medical transcription), you can give instances where interruptions are allowed.

One of the best ways to get the kids out of the home office is to have something to distract them. If it’s just you and the kids, nothing will work for very long, but if you can have your spouse help, you can get long stretches of work done in relative peace.

On those days when I really want to get things done and my husband is off work, I have him take them out of the house. There’s no better way to get a quiet office than to have a quiet house.

Alternatively, I send the kids to play in the back yard. They’re young enough to still need some supervision, but my office window overlooks the back yard. If my husband is around, that’s his job.

You’ll never have a quiet home office if you don’t insist upon it. Figure out a way to get quiet work time and you’ll come to appreciate how much more you can do without interruptions.

Organizing Your Home Office

Stephanie — Sun, 09 Jul 2006 22:00:05 +0000

Clutter happens. For most people it’s a constant battle to keep their lives from getting too cluttered, and when you work at home you have all too much time to create clutter and what seems like too little time to take care of it.

Planning ahead can be a big help. If you have a place for everything that belongs in your home office, it is only a matter of building good habits to decrease your clutter. Putting things where they belong immediately is a good first step.

But first you have to break free of clutter. This means setting aside the time to take care of it. Don’t do a halfway job – you’ll just have to repeat it later. Take the time to plan things out first. Figure out where your problem areas are and how you can solve the problems.

Try organizing things by the task they belong to. If everything for a particular task is in one place, you’ll have a much easier time taking care of things. You want everything to be easy to get at later, not just easy to put away.

Be logical when you’re filing your papers. Certainly you can go the old route of filing things alphabetically, but might it be easier to file by category? Financial, family, insurance, taxes and so forth?

You don’t have to finish organizing your home office in a single day. You should, however, try to do it fairly quickly so that you don’t get frustrated and quit using the system you’ve already developed.

[tags]organizing,filing,clutter,home office organization[/tags]