Welcome to Part 2! In this post, we are going to complete your office space make-over and show you some new systems and processes that will help you keep your office space tidy, organised and functioning the way it was always meant to – the way that will work for you!

If you missed Part 1, just click here to read that and get your office space ready to this point. Then jump back over here and keep going…

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At this point, you will have cleared up your old space; re-organised your furniture; placed all electronics in situ in your space; and placed all ‘organisers’ that you plan to use for your paperwork and stationery.

We are now going to deal with the piles of paperwork sitting in the middle of your floor, and boxes of stationery items that are all jumbled together in the mix.

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Firstly, I want you to sit at your desk and take a deep breath. I know that I asked you to do this a few times in the last post, but believe me, for most people who don’t love organising and sorting, this is a big task and you need as much mental fortitude as you can get. Taking a few breaths and just sitting in your space, focusing your mind on how you want this space to work for you (and for you not to be a slave to it. That is, not being stressed out and bothered every time you have to work in here), is actually an important part of the process.

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Ideally, by now, in your home office you will have the following ‘organisers’ in place: an ‘IN-TRAY‘ for all new/incoming items; a ‘CURRENT’ section for current/upcoming files; a place for current/important ‘REFERENCE’ docs; and a place for ‘FILING’ past/worth-keeping items.

For your work space, the concept remains the same. You will probably need some kind of ‘IN-TRAY‘ for all new incoming communication; a place for all your ‘CURRENT’ & upcoming projects; a place for current ‘REFERENCE’ docs or important information; and a place for ‘FILING’.

In the previous post, I touched very briefly on what type of paperwork get’s put in each of my different organisers. Here, we are going to go into a bit more depth and I will explain to you my systems and processes as I share with you what works for me. You can tweak it to whatever suits you later on, but for now, work through it with me…

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We are going to start with labeling your ‘organisers’. If you don’t want to use physical labels that are going to stick on and stay permanently, use post it notes/sticky notes for the moment. We first need to identify what we are actually going to use each ‘organiser’ for.

In my home office, I have the papers that I use the most, or refer to the most regularly, in the most accessible and handy place. I call these my ‘CURRENT’ files or my ‘forever’ files (because I will forever have these particular files at my fingertips). I have found that the types of paperwork that I use often and need to access most are: my home finances, my children’s school and activities info, upcoming event info, my to-do list, and things that I need to follow up or awaiting responses from external parties. These are organised in manilla folders (or file folders), in an upright rack or organiser that sits on my side desk and is the first item within hand reach.

In order for you to identify what kind of paperwork you need to have most accessible, I want you to think about what you used to do when you were in this space before. Why did you usually come in here and sit at your desk? What type of work required you to come away from other distractions and work in this space? What type of paperwork does there always seem to be a lot of, and what has caused you frustration in the past? What papers arrives in the mailbox most often? What are most of the papers that you have dumped in the box in the middle of your floor?

Once you have answered these questions, you will quickly figure out what your most important and most accessible files need to be. Now, start assigning labels to your files (whether permanent labels or just temporary sticky notes at this stage) and situate them in the organiser. If at this point you still aren’t sure what to name your folders, start with temporary sticky notes or write in pencil, the following broad/generic topics (in no particular order):

CURRENT FOLDERS:

• FINANCES
• UPCOMING EVENTS
• ITEMS TO DO/FOLLOW UP
• AWAITING RESPONSES FROM EXTERNAL
• CURRENT PROJECTS
• SCHOOL COMMUNICATIONS
• TO READ

You are now creating a ‘framework’ that you will use from here on out for all your physical paperwork. As I mentioned before, it can be tweaked and adjusted once you start using the system, and if you find that you aren’t using some of the folders you have created, then move them on, combine them with others or simply discard and create new ones. You won’t know what works for you until you try with the system all set up and functioning.

You may actually find that you are using less and less physical paper as you do more and more things online and via email. That’s fine. That means you will only have a few manilla folders within easy reach and they will be your most important ones that you use often.

I will share more on how to setup your emails so they work for you and are organised so you can always find things, at a later time in another post, so check back for that soon.

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Next, I have one folder (lever arch, 2 hole) where I keep all current, important ‘REFERENCE’ documents that I need to have access to but not regularly, or often. This folder contains ‘dividers’ with a section for: current contracts that I have with service providers; my rent/lease agreement and docs; family medical and dental docs; insurance docs; current projects that I am working on, but awaiting more input from external parties; and any type of reference document that I will need to refer to at a later date.

Go ahead now and start labelling your dividers with sticky notes (or temporary labels) to setup your lever-arch folder with broad/generic names. We can narrow the sections names down and be more specific later on, because at this stage, you won’t know exactly what this folder is going to hold. As we start sorting through your stack of papers, clearer sections will become more apparent. For now, label them as follows:

REFERENCE FOLDERS:

• CURRENT CONTRACTS
• INSURANCE
• MEDICAL
• HOUSE
• EMPLOYMENT DOCS
• REFERENCE DOCS/IMPORTANT INFO

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I also use a one drawer file cabinet where I keep all ‘FILING’ of past items and events like: keepsakes (certificates the children receive, letters from loved ones, school reports, past events info, etc. – I scrapbook most of these at a later date); manuals and warranties on the expensive appliances or electronic items I’ve purchased; all bank statements; past bills and receipts; and anything else that I deem worth keeping. I rotate these into archive boxes at the end of each year, so the only paperwork in here is from this current year.

Again, you may not know what to label these files at this stage, but start with these broad/generic names and we will narrow down as we start actually using them:

FILING FOLDERS:

• KEEPSAKES
• SCHOOL REPORTS/CERTIFICATES
• BANK STATEMENTS
• BILLS/RECEIPTS
• WARRANTIES & MANUALS
• COMPLETED PROJECTS

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We are going to take a quick pause here from our PAPERWORK ‘organisers’ and deal with our STATIONERY ‘organisers’.

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Firstly, let’s identify what stationery items we use most often. These are what I call the ‘essentials’ and they need to be most accessible – virtually at your fingertips. On my desk-top, I have one pen/pencil holder that contains all my favourite pens, highlighters, markers, pencil or pacer, white-out pen, staple remover, scissors, and letter opener and a rubber thimble.

The rest of my most used items are carefully organised in the top drawer of my desk – including my stapler, sticky tape dispenser and hole punch. I don’t have any other stationery items sitting on my desk at all.

Paperclips, bulldog clips, white out tape, erasers, pencil sharpeners, staples, elastic/rubber bands, sticky tape, batteries, extra pens, extra highlighters, sticky-notes, calculator, stamps, ‘sign here’ stickies, whiteboard markers & duster, ruler, label tapes, any other accessories or stationery items that I have, live unseen and in drawers. They don’t need to be on display unless they look super pretty and add to your overall look and feel – otherwise hidden is the way to go with these items – but organised tidily.

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I also keep all my packs of copy paper, coloured paper, card paper, envelopes, extra folders, sticky notes, laminating pouches, loose leaf paper, plastic pockets, extra dividers, labels, and any other paper stationery stocks, away in a drawer or cupboard in the office area. I have open packets sorted into ‘organiser’ drawers (like on the top shelf of the photo below) and closed packs stacked into cupboards. These are all clearly marked and tidily stacked, so that anyone can access them and pull the required item out of the cupboard the first time around.

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Jumping back to our PAPERWORK ‘organisers’ that are at our desk now…

Lastly, but most importantly, I have an ‘IN-TRAY’ on top of my desk. This is the only ‘organiser’ that I like to have on-top of my desk (both at work and in my home office). It’s where all incoming paper communications or any NEW paperwork get’s placed. At home it will contain all sorts of school notes, mail, receipts, invites, upcoming event flyers, etc. At work, it will contain incoming paperwork for things that I need to action, followup, attend to, and any paperwork that relates to my job that other people need to pass on to me.

I sort out the in-tray in my home office at least once a week (minimum) if it’s a busy week, but ideally, I like to sort through it everyday. I’ve found if I keep on top of it, it doesn’t have a chance to get out of control and I don’t miss important info or events simply because I didn’t get to the piece of paper in time.

For my work office, it stands empty most of the time, because while I am at work, if something is put in it, I deal with it straight away, file it in a folder on my desktop, or put it in my second tray – which is my current/working through pile of paperwork. This is slightly different to my home office space, it’s an extra step in the process really…

I have found at work, that if I don’t attend to all the incoming items that get put into my in-tray as soon as they arrive, I can miss something that is time critical. In order to avoid that, I like to have a ‘CURRENT’ tray that I work from, which means that out of all the incoming papers that are put in my in-tray, some can be filed away straight away, or put in one of the folders by the desk, but some need me to action something or complete some work on them.

These papers go in my ‘current’ tray and whenever something new is added, I constantly re-prioritise these papers into most time-critical to least important, and then attend to the highest priority paper first. I work my way through this pile until more papers are added or until I complete processing these papers, and then I go onto my other tasks.

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At this point, I must mention that as society is moving further away from physical paperwork, you may need to start keeping more things recorded electronically too. On most phone and computer devices, there are calendars, task lists and notes that can all sync together. Using these applications will make life easier for you, as you have the ability to keep record of things at your finger tips and any changes are easily made by simply over-riding the previous data, as opposed to having to use white-out in a paper calendar or diary.

I regularly use an electronic calendar, where I have all my upcoming events, my family’s upcoming events, my upcoming bills, birthdays, holidays, school events and anything else of ‘date’ importance.

I also use an electronic reminder app, where each day, my planned schedule is set by reminders that prompt me to action at the appropriate time. I sometimes use this for one-off reminders along side my calendar. My calendar is my daily/date planner and lists my appointments, whereas my reminder app is my daily routine and schedule that I work around with my calendar and booked appointments.

I use an electronic app for my tasks and ‘to-do’ list that coincides with my calendar and my reminder app. For this, I use an app called “Trello“. This one is a ‘list’ app that has the ability to expand each item and add notes to them. You can also add pictures, links or attachments, and within each item, you have the ability to create a checklist, set a calendar alert for it, label it a significant colour and add comments on it. You can also share items with others (I have our family shopping list on Trello and shared with my family, so that any of us can update it when they see something running low or if they use the last of an item). With this app a single item on your “to-do” list can have a life of its own, with every activity associated with that one item being electronically and automatically recorded. I love this particular app. Check it out for yourself here.

Lastly, I use an electronic ‘notes’ app, where I can keep all the notes that I take from meetings, ideas, recipes, podcasts, books that I’ve read, writing prompts, etc. The ‘notes’ app I use is Microsoft Office “OneNote“. I find this most useful as it syncs between my devices (ie. my phone, tablet and laptop), saves automatically, and has the ability to organise everything into ‘notebooks’ and ‘sections’ like a real paper notebook with sectioned dividers. It also gives you the ability to add photos, links and attachments. I use this one as my online ‘reference book’ if you like.

I mention all these electronic “helps” here because, the reality is, just sorting through your paper pile and filing things away is not really going to help you in the long run. We need to take a ‘wholistic’ approach here and really start putting some “helps” in your life that are going to get you seriously and wholly organised, and that means helping you with the whole job of sorting and addressing your paperwork.

There are tonnes of other apps out there, and you may already be using some, but if they are not working for you then give the ones I’ve mentioned a go, see how you like them. If you don’t, try something else that works better for you and your unique style.

If you haven’t already done so, take some time now to set up and use some of these electronic “helps”. Think about using an electronic Calendar; an electronic ‘to-do’ or tasks list app (like Trello); an electronic reminder app; and some kind of electronic ‘notes’ app (like OneNote). Once you have set them up, you are going to use them and add content to them as you start sorting through your paperwork.

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We are now going to go through each piece of paper in your pile and deal with it accordingly. I use the following simple process of sorting:

Imagine that this pile is now your ‘in-tray’ and today, you are going to have your very first successful work day (or work hour), since you started re-organising and sorting out your office space. Now, pick up the very first piece of paper on the top of your pile. Before getting distracted or attending to anything else, you are going to read this paper and figure out where it needs to be placed within the ‘framework’ that you have just set up, both in physical organisers and electronically.

It should be pretty self explanatory, but if you are struggling to figure it out, think about the different options you have:

• Is it an upcoming event? then you need to immediately add the details into your calendar, RSVP if that is requested, and file the paper in ‘Upcoming Events’ folder on your desktop (alternatively, at home, I have a magnetic bulldog clip on my fridge where I place all upcoming events in the correct date order, with the closest date on top). If there are things you need to bring or do to prepare for the event, you may want to take a photo of the flyer and add the picture to your calendar, or set it up as an item in your ‘to-do’ list app;
• Is it something that has been dealt with and you want to keep for future reference? then the physical paper goes in your drawer of files and nothing more needs to be done electronically;
• Is it a recipe or an article that piqued your interest and you wanted to keep it for future reference? then you can create a new folder/divider for recipes or articles and stick it in there, or you can deal with it in your electronic system by taking a picture of it, or scanning it, or hand type & copying it over to your ‘notes’ app and then file the physical paperwork away or throw it out;
• Is it some incoming mail? open it, date stamp it with today’s date (or the day the you receive it, from here on out), then read it and place it where it needs to go within your ‘framework’ or ‘system’. If you need to record any of the details electronically onto your ‘to-do’ list, your calendar, or ‘notes’ app, then do so now;
• Is it a bank statement or a bill that you have paid? place it in your ‘bank statement’ or ‘paid bills and receipts’ folder in your filing drawer and update your ‘to-do’ list to mark that you have paid it (I usually have my calendar and my ‘to-do’ list open as I pay my weekly bills – when my reminder app tells me that it’s time to do so, so I can make notes on payment details/receipt number, or close it off if its completed);
• Is it an update on your monthly insurance payments or your Family Assistance or your superannuation? these are all papers that need to be filed under their respective divider within your ‘REFERENCE’ documents lever arch folder for future reference. Also, remember to change/update the details on your relevant electronic calendar/list or organising system that the letter refers to (ie. if your monthly insurance payments are changing, you might want to adjust your budget, and the amount that you have written on your monthly bill payments list, or your calendar reminders where you keep a record of which payments are due when);
• Is it a picture or little note from your child or a friend that you can’t part with? then file it in your filing drawer under ‘keepsakes’;
• Is it a notice from your child’s school for an event that has past or that they didn’t participate in and you don’t need to keep any longer? then throw it away.

Are you getting the idea? Every single piece of paperwork in your pile has a purpose and use, and it needs to be dealt with according to what it is. (Don’t be afraid to throw useless papers away though.) If you keep your electronic ‘helps’ open as you sort through the physical paperwork and you are adding/updating things electronically as the same time as you are dealing with the paperwork, you will find that things are starting to take shape and make sense again. Systems and processes are becoming evident. You are finally getting organised and you can start gaining control over your life again.

Persist with sorting through your paperwork until every single paper is dealt with. If you come across a few that need you to spend a bit of time reading or a bit longer on actioning than you have right now, then file them away in your desktop ‘current’ files under ‘to-do’ or ‘to read’ or ‘current projects – to action’. Figure out what makes most sense to you and how you would normally approach these items and run with it.

If you find that there is a file that remains empty after you have sorted through the paperwork, then remove it. You can also create new ones if you think you need them and it makes sense to you. Try and see what works for you.

The idea is, if you just seem to file papers away into the ‘current‘ folders on your desktop, but when you sit down next week or next month and you haven’t touched those folders, then they don’t belong there. Move those folders into your ‘reference‘ organiser or your ‘filing‘ section or even get rid of it.

This whole process and system needs to be flexible and work for you. If you find that it’s not working and you are still stressed out and disorganised, you need to revisit all of the different files and sections you have created and make them/rename them something that you relate to and use them so they work for you.

Once you have sorted through all your back-log of papers, you will become familiar with how to use your new ‘framework’ and you will have gotten into the rhythm of using the new systems and processes. Now, you will have a good feel for what your folders, files and sections need to be named. If you haven’t done so already, replace all your ‘temporary’ sticky labels with permanent ones on all your files, folders and dividers, so that you can continue to use this newly set-up framework for a long time into the future.

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You have now officially completed the process of organising your office space and along with that you will have learnt some new systems and processes to help you maintain your newly organised space.

We would love to know how your new Office Space looks and if it’s working for you. If you have a ‘before’ and ‘after’ shot of your space, please share in the comments below, along with your story; or post on Social Media with #thewholelivinghub and we will pop over and send you a ‘hello’.

We will cover ‘Organising Your Emails’ and ‘How to Use Electronic Organising ‘Helps” in our next few ‘Organising’ posts. These will be posted in a few weeks time, so please check back in with us soon.

If you have any questions, if you don’t understand something, or if you want more explanation on anything covered above, please leave a comment below and we will answer your questions there – your question and our respective answer may be just the thing that someone else needs to hear too.

If you are still having trouble, after following all of the above instructions, then please contact us here at The Whole Living Hub and we will endeavour to assist you further.