How to Maximize Space in Your Home Office

Your dream has become a reality and you’ve started your own home business.  Working at home full or part-time in a home business is becoming the way of life for many and will continue to grow as technology advances.    In the meantime, your business is booming but you’re having a time getting organized.  Until you can afford to rent or lease a separate office, here are five simple ways to start letting go of clutter and disarray in order to make space for your home office.

Start labeling.  Paperwork, files, folders and anywhere that important documents are kept.  This holds even truer for electronic documents as it is easy to delete something that cannot be identified without opening. Sometimes we hit the ‘Delete’ button in haste, thinking were saving hard drive space but sometimes find ourselves wasting time by having to retrieve it later on.

Go green.  You may be tired of hearing this but it makes sense.  Many of us do not need every single sheet of paper we run across, especially when a home business is established.  So get acquainted with your scanner and start saving to your hard drive or decide how much you really need it.  If you find that the scanned items, take too much storage space on your computer, invest in a large (1 gigbyte or greater) flash or external drive.

Start a storage system.  Nowadays, mass discount stores sell office supplies that have security options, are color-coded and most any preference that will work for almost any home business.  If you have a garage, heavy-duty containers will protect papers and other items from moisture and other elements that can destroy them.  Also, this is an inexpensive option for those home businesses getting started and trying to watch every penny.

Use empty space.  Many of us tend to go horizontal when it comes to furnishings but don’t be afraid to build up when it comes to a home office.  Using file cabinets and shelving taller than 3 feet vertically make a huge difference.  If you’re afraid of something toppling over, place heavy items, such as files, at the bottom and use discretion when it comes to placing heavy items on units made of plastic or lightweight metal.

Let go of the old stuff.  Some items hold sentimental value and are hard to let go.  However, books and reference materials related to computer or internet technology that is more than five years old is probably not relevant.  Same goes for items that no longer work like printers or other office equipment.