How to Declutter Your Home Office and Be More Productive

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If you have a cluttered home office (even if it’s tidy!), getting anything done is harder than it has to be.  Our focus is compromised when we’re surrounded by too many objects.  From putting together a weekly shopping list to preparing the year’s taxes, it’s all more of a challenge.  Let’s change that.

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Step-by-Step

We’re going to use the 5 Steps to Declutter to clear the clutter from your office.  They’re easy to follow and they work.  Having action steps to take in order will also reduce any overwhelm that you’re feeling, which is very common when you’re facing a room full of clutter..

1. Take 5 minutes.

It pays to take a few minutes before you first start to declutter and think about your goals for the space.   A home office can play many roles and may even need to accommodate more than one person.  Ask yourself the following questions to gain some clarity about what you want and need from this room.

  • Who all will use the office regularly?
  • What functions does (or will) your home office need to fulfill?
  • What currently works well in your office?
  • What is currently inconvenient or difficult to do in your office?

2. Pick your target.

Whether you declutter your office in a day or over several weeks, you’re going to want to take it section by section and sometimes item-by-item. 

Be methodical in finishing one target before moving on to another.  This will get you results more quickly and help prevent a bigger mess.

You can focus on a space.  This is probably the method you’ll use most often.  For example:

  • Desktop
  • Shelf
  • Drawer
  • Under desk
  • Table
  • Floor

Or focus on a particular type of item.  Sometimes you may want to gather all of a certain object together, then make decisions.  For example:

  • Knick Knacks
  • Cords and Cables
  • Notes to yourself on post-its, scrap paper, envelopes, etc.

Remember to select a target you can complete in the time you have available.  

3. Gather your supplies.

Always round up your supplies before you start.  Once you’re into “decluttering mode” you won’t want to stop and go hunt something down. You’ll have a good idea what you need based on what area or type of item you plan to focus on.

  • Always have a few trash bags.
  • Cardboard boxes or laundry baskets work great for sorting and containing items.
  • Ziploc bags of all sizes are ideal for keeping smaller objects contained and/or protected.
  • Post-it notes and a bold marker almost always come in handy.
  • Simple cleaning supplies to wipe down shelves, drawers and other spaces after you empty them.

4. Empty and sort.

Gathering all the items to be decluttered before sorting has multiple benefits, from allowing you to refresh the space with a quick clean to helping you make better decisions.

  • If you’re focusing on a space, empty all the items from that space.
  • If you’re focusing on a type of item, gather all of them together.

Sort your items into the following categories:

  • Toss (trash and recycling)
  • Donate/Give
  • Sell
  • Relocate (belong somewhere else in your house)
  • Keep

When you’re sorting through the clutter in your office, there will be lots of information you want to hold on to even if you don’t want to hold on to the object that contains it … like a Post-It Note with a telephone number on it.  These will still go in the “Keep” category.

5. Replace, remove and relocate.

When you’re planning what to declutter, be sure to leave enough time for this last step.  Otherwise it’s easy to end up creating a bigger mess and more confusion. 

Now that your items are sorted, they need to get to where they’re going.

  • Replace the Keep items neatly in your office.
  • Dispose of Trash and Recycling properly.
  • Separate Donate and Give items by destination, and pack them up ready to be delivered.
  • Put all Sell items together in an out-of-the-way area to be processed for sale.
  • Relocate items that didn’t belong in the office to appropriate places in the house.

You’ll want to get everything you’ve decluttered out of your house as soon as possible.  Ideally this would be the same day.  Realistically, at least move them to a staging area away from your living space until they can be taken to their new destination.

15 Things to Declutter

Here are some of the most common types of clutter found in home offices. You may not have all of these, and you may have others not mentioned here, but you can use this list of suggestions as a starting point.  

  • Outdated equipment is a big source of clutter in many home offices.  Phones, computers, printers, and any other electronic items you can think of are becoming obsolete faster than ever. One caveat though.  If it’s still working well for you, an outdated item isn’t always clutter.  
  • Manuals are usually now available electronically.  They may come with your purchase or be accessible online.  So be sure to check if you’re holding on to more of the paper versions than you need.
  • Paperwork of all kinds is a clutter issue for most people.  Many documents are important to keep, but many can be safely and happily disposed of.  Common categories include junk mail, bills, invoices, receipts, insurance policies, tax documents, real estate documents, business documents, etc.
  • Office products can collect over the years until our office could be a small supply store.  Of course you want to have extras of the things you use.  Even some items that you just don’t want to throw away.  But you probably don’t need to hold on to empty pens, almost empty notebooks, notepads and pens with logo advertising on them, old business cards and stationery, etc.
  • Reminders and notes to self take many forms and tend to live all over an office.  From post-it notes on a monitor to messages tacked to a bulletin board to scribbles on the back of envelopes and various to-do lists laying around.  Collect them all, transfer the information to where it belongs, and get rid of the random pieces.
  • “To Read” printouts of articles.  There are so many things we want to read, intend to read, but never get around to giving our attention.  It’s going to happen.  If you’re in the habit of printing these out so you don’t forget about them, you may have collected a pile (or a binder) of them.  No more.  If you really feel the need to keep any, use a good bookmarking app.
  • Planners and calendars can be irresistable.  If one layout doesn’t work, we try another, and so on.  Or we use multiples for different purposes.  These can pile up for years, both used and unused, and are prime items to declutter.
  • File folders filling cabinets, drawers and other storage need a good decluttering.  You find items you can just get rid of and some you can store in a digital format by scanning.  
  • Completed projects that aren’t relevant any longer shouldn’t be taking up limited office space.
  • Items to shred can go in their own pile to be shredded by you or by a service if you have enough volume to warrant it.  If in doubt whether to shred or not, go ahead and be on the safe side.
  • Cords and cables seem to appear out of nowhere.  And who knows what they’re all for or what they originally belonged to?  It’s worth the time to sort them out, discard damaged and excess ones, and only keep what you need.
  • Software discs are probably lurking somewhere in your office.  Maybe a lot of them.  Decide what is outdated, what is available online now for download, and what you need to keep.  
  • Books are wonderful, but you can only store so many.  Make them ones you need and/or enjoy.  Think about getting digital versions of books you want to keep but rarely use.
  • Things that belong somewhere else have a way of ending up here and getting stuck.  Make it a point to gather items that just need to be put back in their appropriate place in your home.
  • Decor can have sentimental and/or aesthetic appeal.  But the knick knacks, pictures, plants, accessories, and other items often qualify as clutter.  Re-evaluate every decor item in your office and edit down to a select handful of favorites.

Tips for Success

Decluttering a home office can be a big job, but you’re smart so you’re going to use these great tips. 

  • Adjust your target to your time, no matter how small.  If you only have 10 minutes, use it!   Maybe set a goal to declutter 10 papers or throw away 10 items.
  • Be aware when you’re being sentimental.  You may be surprised that you can have emotional attachment to office clutter like outdated equipment (back in the day!), old projects, old software and all sorts of things that bring back memories.
  • Don’t decide “I’m going to sell this” just because it’s possible that it could be sold.  Unless it’s an object that will be easy to sell and make enough profit to be worth your time and energy, it’s better to donate, give, or toss.

Wrap Up

A decluttered home office helps you be more focused and productive.  That’s well worth a little time spent.  Following the basic steps, you have an easy way to go through the prcoess.  Dealing with common clutter culprits will get you well on your way to a space that feels and functions well!