The Office

In January, we worked through all of the paperwork that you have and hopefully, it is organized and easily accessible.

Any paperwork that is not current such as over one year, should go into long term storage now.  I like to keep just the current year’s paperwork where I have to deal with it daily.  Other paperwork can be stored in the attic or other long term storage options.  Maybe you’ll choose to store yours in clear plastic file boxes neatly organized in file folder and labels for easy access.  What ever you choose, make sure that it is labeled so that you can find exactly what you are looking for easily.  This reduces your frustration and that is what this process is all about.

Let’s look at the office itself.  We are going to tackle this room like all the others that we either have done, or will do.  The first thing is to clean the ceiling by sweeping with the soft bristled broom. Then clean the ceiling fan and/or light fixture.  Cleaning these after you have cleaned the room will only create dust and make the work that you have just completed dirty again.  So we will do this one first.  To clean the ceiling fan, you need to wipe the blades after they have quit spinning of course.  Wipe the tops, sides and bottom of the blades.  There will be dust here.  It is best to use a damp cloth to capture most of the dust particles.  Next, take a bottle of canned air and spray the brackets that hold the blades in place.  There is a reservoir here that captures much dust. Just spray the tops of each bracket and where the bracket attaches to the blade.  You’ll see the accumulated dust on these brackets.  Just dust them away.  If you have allergies or respiratory issues, wear a mask or scarf over your nose and mouth when doing this.  Also, insert the canned air nossle into the place where the blades turn.  Lightly spray here and get the dust out.  Now turn your attention to the light fixture if you have one.  If the globes or glass is dirty, take them down and wash them or clean them with a clean, damp cloth.  Many of these are full of decorative detail such as wavy glass or cut designs.  These capture dust and look dirty so the best way to clean them is by rinsing them is warm soapy water, rinsing and then air dry on the counter top on a clean towel.  They will dry while you are cleaning the room. If the light bulbs need changing, do this now.  Replace the glass fixture and voila! You are done with that.

If you have curtains in the room, it is time to take these down and wash or air them out. Fabric catches dust so it is best to remove these from the room and clean them. If you have blinds or shades, clean these now as well.

The next thing to do is to clean any electrical devices.  Electrical devices collect, no I mean attract dust like a magnet.  These need to be cleaned frequently.  If you have a newer computer, they are designed so that you can access the insides easily. Make sure that your computer is turned off and unplugged.  Take of the exterior panel and use the canned air to spray away the dust.  Make sure to get into all the corners.  After you are finished, replace the exterior panel.  The spray the intake vents, fan and all of the external surfaces.  Remember to spray in the drives and USB ports.  Your monitor has intake vents too so get those while you are cleaning. Don’t forget the keyboard.  I like to spray mine upside down as to eliminate any crumbs or dust inside.  Look around the room and see if there are any other electrical devices that need cleaning.  Attend to these now prior to cleaning the room so that you don’t have to dust twice. Wipe down all electrical cords located in this room. Cords to any electrical device can be wiped down with a damp cloth. As you are wiping them, check for any fraying of the cord. If you see fraying, then unplug the cord and put the device in a place to that you can repair it.

Now for the desk.    Open the drawers and take everything out.  I like to lay everything on a clean towel on the floor.  Then group your items.  Get all the tape together.  Collect all the pens and pencils.  Paper clips, staples and other small items can go into a plastic zipper back for right now.  Group like things together.  CD’s need to go into some sort of storage device to prevent scratches.  You may want to write these on your list if you don’t have any.  I like to categorize the CDs and store certain groups in different clusters.  For example, I have purchased educational CDs for my kids.  I group all of these together and put into one zippered CD case.  Office CD’s go into another.  This makes it easy for me to find just which one I am looking for without having to go through all of them.  I simply make a label and stick it on so that when I want an educational CD for my children, I know just where to look.

Before replacing any items, vacuum out the drawer to remove any dust, paper particles, hair or other debris.  Then spray the drawer lightly with air freshener or even body mist.  I like to take the drawers all of the way out once a year just to make sure that no paperwork has slipped behind the drawers.   I once found a very important piece of paper in here( my marriage certificate).  Good thing I checked!   Now, if you have furniture oil that you can spray, you may want to spray the inside of the drawer cavity.  Let me explain.  Take out all of the drawers at once.  Look inside the furniture and vacuum or remove any dust and debris.  If your wood is solid wood, you may want to give it some moisture.  The heater in your home dries out the air and your wood dries out too.  To help prevent splitting the wood, you can moisturize it by spraying it with a solution of oil soap and water.  I just spray the insides until the wood is wet and let dry while I am cleaning the drawers.  I recommend this once a year, usually about this time as the furnace has probably run a while.  Replace the drawers when you are ready.

Once you have all of your items grouped, begin to put them back in the drawer.  If you need something to keep small things in, now is the time to search your house for something you already have.  I had a small, glass and mirrored box that I didn’t know what to do with.  I was just ready to donate when I discovered that I needed something to house all of the highlighters and gel pens that I had.  I rescued this mirrored box and neatly put in the highlighters.  It turned out to be beautiful and I keep it in a drawer in the office.  Every time I open that drawer, I feel a certain degree of happiness that I used something to beautify and enhance my office.   It makes me feel special and successful to have such a beautiful box for my everyday office items.  You have something too.  I know that there is something that you have that is hidden in a cabinet that you can use to beautify your office space too.

Rules for office drawers.  You cannot have too much stuff in here.  It makes it very stressful to get something out if you have having to move too many things.  You also forget what you have because you cannot see things when they are piled up on one another. Therefore, you end up purchasing them again and now you have too many things.  Streamline your items.  Keep only that which you will need immediately in the desk.  Other things can go into an office storage container like a basket or fabric box for use later.  Organize all the things in the drawer so that it is roomy and stress free when you open it.  Many items may need to go to the stationary center that we set up in January or into other areas to keep the drawers roomy.  Now close all the drawers and drink your healthy beverage.

After a break, return to the drawers and open them one by one.  If they feel cluttered and stressful, you will not be able to keep these areas clean.  You will begin to avoid them and then just toss stuff in because it is too stressful to deal with them. That is how you got where you were when you began this process.  So develop the skill to maintain these spaces by identifying what contributes to your success.  You need to keep these areas streamlined and avoid dumping.  Everything needs a dedicated place.  Put everything in it’s own space and avoid crowding.  Now you will be able to reach in and access all of your supplies while being able to put things back in an orderly manner.  This will keep things organized and available as well as facilitate your paperwork management.

When you have finished the drawers, clean the outside of the desk with a suitable cleaner.  If you have glass surfaces, clean with glass cleaner and a clean cloth.  If your desk is wood, you can wash it with wood soap, dry and then use a furniture polish or furniture oil to really clean to a shine.  If you are able, pull the desk away from the wall.  Vacuum behind the desk and wipe down the back.  This will remove even more dust and you may find something important back there.  This needs to only be done once a year.  Now when you do your routine cleaning, your desk will be a cinch to clean and keep organized.

The top of your desk needs to be clutter free.  Keep only a couple of decorative items on your desk.  A picture, lamp and a plant make this a pleasant workspace.  You avoid clutter so keep it simple.  All paperwork should be somewhere not visible but easily accessed.  Perhaps a letter organizer in the closet or on the wall.  I do not suggest a horizontal storage device such as a box, as it takes too long to go through everything.  Vertical devices work much better for paperwork you will need in the next week or so.

Step back and take a look.  Wow!! You have tackled another important area of your life. Remember to celebrate. Since you have been cooped up organizing, you need some balance.  Take your dog for a walk or just go outside and walk around the block. Take some time to find something beautiful while you are out.  Look at the trees, or squirrels or whatever makes you happy.  You deserve it.

Other ideas for your desk.  I have an older desk with drawers that look dingy with age.  A suggestion for brightening up your desk on the inside of the drawers is to line the drawers with pretty paper or fabric.  If you have some fabric that coordinates with the room, go get it.  Also, you will need some trim for fabric to finish off the look.  Take the drawer out of the desk and remove all the items.  Spray the inside bottom panel of the drawer with adhesive spray.  Lay the fabric on the top and smooth down to remove any wrinkles.  Next, cut along the bottom of the drawer where the sides meet the bottom with an exacto knife.  When you have the bottom panel covered, use a hot glue gun to adhere trim to the outline of the fabric.  Wait for a half hour to dry and replace the drawer.  Then replace the items in the drawer. This makes your drawers even more appealing and you will avoid crowding so that you can see the fabric or paper at the bottom.   Everytime you open the drawer, you are going to feel positive and enthusiastic about your transformational organizational time.

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