If you work at home like me, one of your biggest challenges is to create a workspace that makes you as efficient as possible.

How your workspace is organized has a powerful effect on your mind and this affects your productivity. I will tell you that there are many days I need who I call “The Desk Fairy” to come to my office. And realistically that’s a few times a year.

I know better organization helps me think and work better yet remaining organized is one of my biggest personal challenges.

There’s a common objection to staying clutter free. It goes something like this: ‘My workspace is cluttered and disorganized but I like it that way. It works for me!’ People who say this usually have never tried to tidy up their workspace for any length of time. When you eventually get organized on a consistent basis, you’ll quickly see what a difference it makes. I’ve done it in fits and spurts and then it comes back to my clutter. Don’t be attached to your clutter! I’m learning this one as I go and figured I’d share some things I learned while researching how to be more organized.. Here are some common small things that can help with efficiency and organization.

The Chair

You need a swivel chair with wheels. Wheels let you slide around from one area of your workspace to another and the swivel gives you maximum mobility. Make sure that the chair is comfortable because you’re probably going to spend long hours here. All aspects of your workspace should be comfy so that you want to be here. I have two chairs in my office and both allow me to roll around.

Lighting

Get bright, adjustable lighting that’s suitable for any time of day or night and illuminates your workspace completely. What works best is to have a nice window nearby so that you can use your artificial lighting together with natural light from outside. I love working with lots of light, maybe my eyes are getting old but it works better for me to have more light and it seems to boost my energy.

Your Schedule and Priorities

Place a calendar and/or whiteboard above your desk where you can see it easily. Your most important tasks should be written here along with motivational quotes and anything else you want to see daily. This board or calendar will become the focus of your working area. I have three cork boards above my desk on the wall in front of me and I use them not as a reminder of important things to come on a bigger scale, like monthly projects, then my Google Calendar handles my daily tasks.

Kill the Clutter

You should only have things you use daily out on your desk. Everything else should be put away somewhere. Where you put it should depend on how often you need it. Lots of people use their desk drawers to do this. The top drawer is for the stuff you need most, the second drawer less, and the third drawer the least. Don’t keep things that you might use on your desk. Whenever you finish using something, put it straight away immediately and don’t tell yourself you’ll do it later. If only this one were so easy for me 😉

Clean-Up Time

Schedule clean-up time every day. No one can stay clutter-free all the time. Make it part of your daily schedule to do a quick tidying up of your work area. You should also schedule a big cleaning once a week to dust surfaces, remove trash and vacuum.

Don’t Eat at Your Desk

There are two reasons why you should never eat at your desk. One is that food and drink are deadly for computers. A huge percentage of computer problems are caused by spills or food-related accidents. Another reason is that you need a strong division between work-time and break-time. When you’re taking lunch, get away from your work area. This one I found interesting because I am always eating while working and it reminded me we all need a break. And no, I will never not have my coffee at my desk!

Ironically, you don’t want to spend too much time organizing. Some people organize and shuffle things around in order to procrastinate and put off doing other tasks they need to do. Your aim in organizing your workplace should be to create good habits along with a system that runs by itself. The whole idea is that if you do a good job organizing, keeping your workspace clean and clutter-free should be easy.

Let me know how it goes for you! I’d love to hear what tips work for you…maybe I’ll learn a thing or two!