Summer break has ended for many school children and they are finally back to school. Do you have a specific place for the barrage of papers and schoolwork that comes home? If not, make this year your year to be more organized and less stressed.  The barrage of papers received during the first few weeks of school can be overwhelming. You will feel a lot less overwhelmed if you have a good paper management system in place to stay on top of all of the papers. Follow some of my paper organization tips to prevent from being buried under piles of paper clutter.

To begin your paper flow system, purchase some hanging file holders or manila file folders to store and organize your papers.  Using file folders will allow you to quickly file away each paper for quick reference or action.  Set up a table top or desk top file on the kitchen counter or somewhere else convenient.  Be sure to clearly label each file folder. 

desktop file organizer

 Here are some file category ideas:

1. School work & projects;

2. Papers to sign/return (check daily!);

3. Papers to file – ideally you should file right away. However, if this is not feasible, decide on a time that you can set aside 5-10 minutes a day or every other day.

4. PTA info – this would include volunteer opportunities, fundraisers etc.

5. School – This is a general file and would include the school calendar, telephone directory, teacher contact info etc. You could have more than one if you have your children in two or more schools.

You may also wish to have a folder devoted to each child, so that they have somewhere to file papers that they need to refer to from time to time.  Check out some of the variety of desk top organizers, paper trays and file organizers at Home Storage Warehouse.

 Click here for more back to school tips.

Jacquie has been writing for Home Storage USA since 2007. A member of the National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO) and President of the NAPO Baltimore Chapter, she helps homeowners to clear their household and paper clutter and organize their home or home office.  Jacquie also offers home organizing workshops to the general public and brief time management classes to businesses. Jacquie is the author of Take Control of Your Clutter Before it Takes Control of You: 101 Tips to Success.  If you want to take control of your clutter, visit CastAway the Clutter to get Jacquie’s free organizing goals worksheet when you sign up for her organizing tips at www.castawaytheclutter.com

Desktop File Letter Stand

 

Desktop File Organizer

Desk File Tray

For tax related papers that you may be receiving now, consider filing them in a desk top file organizer or letter stand, like the ones shown here.  Paper trays may also work. At the end of the day, the key is to be able to find your papers when you need them!

Jacquie Ross is a Maryland based Professional Organizer, writer, speaker and owner of CastAway the Clutter! Jacquie has been writing for Home Storage USA since 2007 and is presently the “Ask the Organizer” expert. A member of the National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO), NAPO-Baltimore Chapter, and Maryland Association of Professional Organizers, she shows homeowners how to reclaim their time and space, and offers organizing and time management workshops and group presentations. Jacquie is also the author of Take Control of Your Clutter Before it Takes Control of You: 101 Tips to Success.  Visit CastAway the Clutter to sign up for her free organizing tips at www.castawaytheclutter.com

It’s nearing the end of Get Organized Month (SM). Have you started any of your decluttering and organizing projects yet?  Feeling overwhelmed?  Break the task down into smaller chunks and work on one chunk at a time. 

Let’s assume you need to go through several weeks of mail that you’ve been procrastinating.  Normally, when the mail hasn’t been sorted in a while, it may be found in many different areas of the home.  So before you start, spend some time going through your home searching for piles of unopened mail.  When you’re sure you have it all, schedule some time to begin processing it.  Here are a few easy mail sorting and organizing tips:

1. Have the necessary tools on hand before you begin.  Examples of what you mind need include: A shredder (or a container to store paper to shred later), letter opener, files, file box or filing cabinet, recycle or trash bin, pen, sticky notes, paper clips and a stapler and staple remover. 

2. Sort the mail by type.  You can usually tell from the outside of the envelope what type of mail it is, e.g. bill, statement, catalog, junk mail, magazine subscription, etc.

3. Open the easy action items first, e.g. place your magazines either in a magazine basket or give it to the person in the household who holds the magazine subscription.  Discard the junk mail and trash.

4. Open the bills and make decisions.  Pay now or later?  Set up reminder systems in your day planner or PDA for bills that need to be paid later.  Discard trash and file statements.

5. Schedule time to do the mail daily or every other day.  If you have a particularly crazy schedule, you can do it once a week, but no less than that!

Here are some paper and mail organizing products and tools that you may find helpful from Home Storage Warehouse.

Desktop organizer

Newspaper and Magazine Rack

File/Letter Desk Organizer

Jacquie Ross is a Maryland based Professional Organizer, writer, speaker and owner of CastAway the Clutter! Jacquie has been writing for Home Storage USA since 2007 and is presently the “Ask the Organizer” expert. A member of the National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO), NAPO-Baltimore Chapter, and Maryland Association of Professional Organizers, she shows homeowners how to reclaim their time and space, and offers organizing and time management workshops and group presentations. Jacquie also writes a column at the Baltimore Examiner, called Organized Families and is the author of Take Control of Your Clutter Before it Takes Control of You: 101 Tips to Success.  Click here to learn more. Contact Jacquie by clicking here. Visit CastAway the Clutter to sign up for her free organizing tips and learn more about her presentations at www.castawaytheclutter.com

The home office, often a clutter filled extra room in the house, is now more frequently used as a home office for a small business owner or telecommuting worker.   This is especially true today because many home owners are using wireless mobile laptops as their household computer, instead of a desktop computer, so are not really using their home offices as before.  

Working from home is convenient.  There’s usually no dress code, unless you use it for meetings, no office gossip and most work at home professionals have a flexible schedule.  However, even if you work from home only 2 or 3 days a week, having a dedicated home office space is important. If you don’t have an extra room, you can create a space within a room that is used only for business. Your office needs to be comfortable and functional.  A comfortable ergonomic chair and aesthetically pleasing environment will add comfort.  Good quality office equipment, file storage, desk accessories and lighting will add function.

When decorating and organizing your home office space, you have a lot more flexibility to decorate and organize it to reflect your personality, than you would in a typical work environment.  Have some fun with your home office accessories.  Choose colors you respond to and designs you love.  You’ll want it to be free of clutter so that you are able to stay focused.  Staying focused and motivated can be especially difficult when you’re working without a boss hovering over you! 

When choosing desk organizers, avoid purchasing several desk accessory items.  That alone can create clutter.   Also, avoid excessive décor items, like plants, family pictures and ornaments.  Pick one or two favorites and avoid clutter accumulation.  Try to keep your office space organized by imagining someone dropping in at a moment’s notice!  The thought of an unexpected visitor will keep you motivated to file away papers, shred what you don’t need and minimize paper clutter!

Check out some office organization products at Home Storage Warehouse.

Jacquie Ross is a Maryland based Professional Organizer, writer, speaker and owner of CastAway the Clutter! Jacquie has been writing for Home Storage USA since 2007 and is presently the “Ask the Organizer” expert. A member of the National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO), NAPO-Baltimore Chapter, and Maryland Association of Professional Organizers, she shows homeowners how to reclaim their time and space, and offers organizing and time management workshops and group presentations. Contact Jacquie here. Visit CastAway the Clutter to sign up for her free organizing tips and learn more about her presentations at www.castawaytheclutter.com 

Keeping a desk organized is challenging at best, but can feel almost impossible when working on a small desk with a limited work surface.

Trying to find storage solutions for your small desk can be equally challenging.  Large desk hutches can overwhelm a small desk or office and a variety of pen holders, post-it pads and random small desk accessories can themselves result in clutter!

One way to maximize the desk top surface is to use a Desk Top Riser.  This unique desk organizer is a shelf that sits on your desk (like a desk hutch, but much smaller) with storage space below.  This one pictured below includes shelf dividers, so that you can store books or reference materials without fear of them falling off and knocking over your hot cup of coffee!

The Desk Top Riser is only about 12” deep, which is deep enough to hold your miscellaneous office items, but not too deep to overpower your desk.

For even smaller desks, try the Desktop Accessory Shelf.  Although, smaller than the Desk Top Riser, pictured below, includes a built-in pull out drawer below for small office supplies.

If your desktop or laptop computer takes up most of the desk surface, you could try the Desk Monitor Stand.  The Desk Monitor Stand includes a pull out drawer beneath with storage for office supplies, plus two side compartments to hold files, CDs or important documents.

Desk organizers are designed only to organize your everyday office supplies, so schedule time everyday to file away papers and tidy up the clutter!

Jacquie Ross is a Maryland based Professional Organizer, writer, speaker and owner of CastAway the Clutter! Jacquie has been writing for Home Storage USA since 2007 and is presently the “Ask the Organizer” expert. A member of the National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO), NAPO-Baltimore Chapter, and Maryland Association of Professional Organizers, she shows homeowners how to reclaim their time and space, and offers organizing and time management workshops and group presentations. Contact Jacquie here. Visit CastAway the Clutter to sign up for her free organizing tips and learn more about her presentations at www.castawaytheclutter.com

With the vast amount of paper that comes across the average desk today, controlling paper clutter has become more and more difficult.

If you’re a piler and not a filer, you most likely have deep piles of papers or files lined up along your desk.  I suspect too, that you feel quite organized because you have a pretty good idea of where to find a particular paper or file. However, the downside is that there’s an easier chance of important papers getting mixed up into unrelated piles.  Imagine this. You’ve stepped away from your desk and a colleague passes by and accidently knocks a pile on the floor and then returns the papers to your desk in no particular order!  How frustrating is that?  What if, instead of six separate piles on your desk, you had six separate piles inside an organized paper sorter?

Pilers like to see their paper, so file cabinets or file drawers don’t always work.  However, I recommend that pilers still use a file cabinet for rarely needed reference material and store the action paper piles or files in a paper sorter on or near their desk. 

Paper sorters, also called desk sorters or literature sorters, are perfect for busy workers who need quick access to their papers and projects.  Most sorters have letter sized compartments that are adjustable to fit the paper piles you need to organize.  Paper sorters are also perfect for long-term projects that are worked on periodically throughout the life of the project. Filing is also a breeze because there’s no drawer to open and no worries about where you’ve filed something.  Paper sorters can help you to be more organized with your day to day work and projects.

There are a few different sizes and styles to choose from.  Check out the selection at Home Storage Warehouse.

Click here to shop for more desk top organizers.

Jacquie Ross is a Maryland based Professional Organizer, writer, speaker and owner of CastAway the Clutter! Jacquie has been writing for Home Storage USA since 2007 and is presently the “Ask the Organizer” expert. A member of the National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO), NAPO-Baltimore Chapter, and Maryland Association of Professional Organizers, she shows homeowners how to reclaim their time and space, and offers organizing and time management workshops and group presentations. Contact Jacquie here. Visit CastAway the Clutter to sign up for her free organizing tips and learn more about her presentations at www.castawaytheclutter.com

Today is National Clean Off Your Desk Day!  Is your desk covered in a cluttered mess of papers and miscellaneous items?  Paper can be a challenge to organize, so it’s important to set up systems for your current action files, pending files, future projects and reference materials. A desktop file is perfect for your current and pending files.

For reference papers that are referred to on a daily or weekly basis, consider a Reference Office Organizer. These organizers stand up on your desk and take up minimal space.  There are a couple of different designs to choose from. Click on the picture to learn more.

If you are setting up a brand new home office or home based business, start your year off right with this beautiful 9 piece desk organizer set. This set includes stacking drawers, 3 stacking letter trays, 1 vertical filing system, 1 step up file system, and a hanging file system with files! It also comes in your color choices of black, medium oak, cherry, and mahogany.  This system may be all you need to keep your office organized!

Jacquie Ross is a Maryland based Professional Organizer, writer and owner of CastAway the Clutter! Jacquie has been writing for Home Storage USA since 2007. A member of the National Association of Professional Organizers and Maryland Association of Professional Organizers, she teaches homeowners how to reclaim their time and space, and offers Time Management workshops to businesses to maximize productivity.  Jacquie can be reached at jacquie@castawaytheclutter.com. Visit CastAway the Clutter to sign up for her free organizing tips at www.castawaytheclutter.com.

As if we didn’t have enough paper!  When school is back in session, we’re bombarded with flyers, notices, permission slips, artwork and more. What’s a parent to do? For schedules and other reference material there are some great products available like the Fridgemate magnetic office or kitchen kit. This wonderful item comes complete with 10 clear pockets that will hold schedules, phone lists, to do notes, and more, plus it’s magnetic, so can be stored on the fridge. Bonus items include a pencil and memo holder. Find this and more at Home Storage Warehouse. Enjoy your first week in school!

Jacquie Ross is a Maryland based Professional Organizer, writer and owner of CastAway the Clutter!  Jacquie has been writing for Home Storage USA since 2007. A member of the National Association of Professional Organizers, she teaches homeowners and businesses how to reclaim their time and space. Jacquie can be reached at jacquie@castawaytheclutter.com. Visit CastAway the Clutter to sign up for her free organizing tips at www.castawaytheclutter.com.