For the last 8 years I have had a space in my home that I called my office. As I stepped away from my MLM business and into the world of Entrepreneurship, my office needs became changed. I needed to be more than a dining room table with a portable file cabinet stowed away in the corner.
As your business grows the need for you to have a real and official office becomes
a necessity. It can be a real challenge to find available space and resources to allow you to be in “business”. So how do you find that space?
I had to think back to when I worked in Corporate America. I had a desk, maybe a hutch and a filing cabinet that were assigned to me. There wasn’t a lot of extra space for personal belongings so, I didn’t take them to the office. I usually kept just a few pictures that I could pack up quickly…if needed. But my office didn’t include my home. Does this make sense?
When you work out of your home office the key word is home. You are still surrounded with everything that is your life. You don’t have the advantage of leaving your home every day and coming back to things exactly as you left them. Going into the kitchen is a constant reminder that you really should turn on the dishwasher or put something in to defrost for dinner. So how do you organize a home office to help you stay focused on work?
1. Choose your office hours and stick to them. Hold yourself accountable to being at work every day.
2. Next organize your calendar. Whether you choose to use your ipad, ipod or an old fashioned paper calendar, it doesn’t 
matter. The important thing to remember is to keep one calendar and only one calendar. This will keep you from overbooking your obligations to your family and business.
3. Have enough supplies on hand so that your office can function. Get the basics and build from there, i.e. stapler, post-it notes. You don’t have to spend a ton of money though, use a mug for pencils and your favorite basket to hold your miscellaneous items.
4. Organize your desk so that you don’t look out the door. Don’t be easily distracted by another family member that may walk by.
5. Set up your filing system…even if you don’t know exactly what files you need. I use a filing cart because it doesn’t require me to open and close a file drawer constantly – and they are relatively inexpensive compared to a file cabinet.
Don’t wait until you are at a critical point in your business to become organized. Being unorganized will stifle your business and actually help you to fail. Consider professional organizer services if you get stuck. Virtual organizers can help you through the process to become organized quickly and easily. The good news is that they are not there with you physically, but on the phone or skype.
Take charge of your home office by taking the necessary steps to getting it organized today.
