How Organizing Your Office Closet Can Make You More Productive

Home offices that don’t use their space effectively can become cluttered and unruly.  That is why finding space for your home filing systems is so crucial.  Many times home offices are smaller rooms, this makes it important to use every inch of available space efficiently including the closet.  Closets can be a powerful help in organizing rooms.  It is important, however, that you have the right set up.

Start with a clean slate.  It’s time to purge.  The first step in organizing your office closet is purging of the unneeded STUFF!  If you’re able to use your entire closet for your home office filing systems this may mean finding other homes for any overflow things that have found their way into the office closet.  You’ll want to plan your closet design around the things you actually plan on storing there.  Take this opportunity to shred old documents that you no longer need on file.  Do you have boxes of memorabilia or old papers? Sort through these items so you can decide what to keep.  During this process set out three bags one shred, one toss, and one donate. 

Group like items together.  Put your books together, similar sized storage totes, file drawers or boxes, and other overflow office supplies.  Now that you have like things piled together you can start to have a better idea how much you are actually planning on storing in the closet. 

The next step is to plan and install a closet system.  Using an office closet effectively for your home office filing system requires much more than the standard shelf and pole.  Designing a closet system with adjustable shelves of different depths and varied drawers with vastly increase your storage space.  It may double, even triple the amount of storage space you have.  And you will be able to see and find your items faster and easier.  You have many options available to you.  You can use an inexpensive do-it-yourself systems, or have a Professional Organizer or Closet Designer.  A designer could come to your home to design a system for you, have it built and installed.  The cost of a closet system ranges widely in price, but even basic less expensive systems can work wonders.   A new well thought out closet system can have a big effect on your life.

Adding a closet system will do even more than increase your storage space.  It will make it easier to keep your office clean and clear of clutter. This could easily increase your productivity.  Closet systems also add value to your home.

Here are a few tips for your new office closet.  Consider using clear plastic containers for your miscellaneous storage. Label each of them so you can quickly see what’s in them.  Plan to get the most out of your space.  If you are having a custom closet designed for you have the containers you will be using available for your organizer to measure.  If you are going to do a do-it-yourself system with limited customization consider buying storage totes based on the shelving sizes you will be using.  For example if you have a 24” wide shelf than three eight inch boxes will fit perfectly.  Don’t waste space by only being able to fit 2 ½ boxes on a shelf!

If you’re going to include file drawers for your home filing system make certain that you plan them so that they pull open into your closet’s doorway.  Not only will you be able to see the front to back space of the drawer you will also be able to take advantage of the better light in the room when searching for a file.

Once you’ve laid out and installed the perfect system for your office closet make an effort to keep it organized.  With just a few minutes of clean up a day your closet will continue to contain your home filing systems in an efficient method and keep your office clear of clutter and easy to work in!