Get More Done & Stress Less with These Simple Office Organization Ideas

What if I told you that there was something you could do today that would boost your effectiveness, reduce your daily stress, and maybe even set you up for a nice little promotion?

I know, you’re probably thinking, “That’s absolutely crazy, Jeff. Get out of here with that bag of hot nonsense. Who gave you the keys to the SnackNation blog anyway??”

A valid question. But it turns out, there is something that checks all those boxes, and happens to be entirely within your control.

It’s organizing your work environment.

Hear me out.

An organized work environment has a lot more than just visual appeal. For starters, Office organization has been shown to reduce stress.

The appearance of clutter signals to your brain that there’s extra work to do. When your brain feels overwhelmed by all this (actual and perceived) work, it triggers a stress response. Organizing your workspace reduces the frequency of that stress response, and gives you a feeling of control.

Plus being organized will help you become more efficient. Searching for files in a disorganized workstation just wastes time and renders you less effective.

If your goal is to move up the ranks, there’s evidence to suggest that clutter decreases your chances of getting that next promotion, both by boosting your effectiveness and by creating a positive impression of your work habits with higher ups.

There’s a cultural argument to be made for Office Organization too. How you organize your office affects how your team behaves in that space, so strategically organizing your office will help you create the company culture your team needs to hit their goals.

If the thought of re-orging your messy desk or moving around office furniture gives you heart palpitations, fret not my messy amigo.

We’ve assembled the best Office Organization Ideas. These are tricks, tips, and hacks that we either use here at SnackNation, or that other companies are doing that we really love.

And because both types are important, we’ve included personal organization hacks and more general office organization tips.

Hide the Wires

With all of the monitors, computer towers, mice, laptops, phones, and chargers that adorn the typical office desk, the number of wires in front of us can quickly get out of hand.

Because reducing visual clutter helps reduce stress, hiding all these messy wires is essential. If your desk doesn’t have a slot to hide them, trying using binder clips to group them together and get them out of sight.

(Via Lifehack)

Label Everything

If you want to stay organized, your label maker should be your best friend.

Simple things like labeling cabinets will not only save you time and frustration, but will limit the number of interruptions you get during the day.

People will stop asking you where the printer paper is five million times a day if you slap a “PRINTER PAPER” label on the right cabinet or drawer. (Ok, a few co-workers probably still will.)

Go Paperless

Here’s an easy way to get rid of all the random scraps of paper, messy notebooks, or errant post-it notes that litter so many of our desks – go paperless!

Apps like Evernote, Google Keep, Bear, and a ton of others make cloud-based note taking super easy.

I personally switched to Evernote about two years ago, and I can’t believe I was using a pen and paper for so long. Evernote enables me to take notes faster, sync my notes across devices, and (the best part IMO) search my notes to find the exact info I need.

Use A “Daily Docket” Style Notepad

If paperless-ness makes you uncomfortable, try switching from a boring old to-do list to a “daily docket” style pad.

The super simple, intuitive layout of the daily docket notepad helps you visualize your entire day in one fell swoop, while also separating your errands, tasks, meetings, and notes.

We recommend InkWell Press’ docket style pad.

Use Wall Space to Your Advantage

If you sit near a wall or tall cubicle, don’t let that space go to waste. Use it to free up precious real estate on your desk by storing mail, office supplies, or electronics on the wall.

This pegboard solution looks cool and keeps your office supplies right at your fingertips.

(Via Lifehack)

Honeycomb shelves are fashionable and functional, and pretty easy to make yourself. Here’s a tutorial from Boxy colonial.

We also loved this hanging storage solution that uses upcycled disinfected wipes containers. Here’s a set of instructions. (Via Make It Love It.)

Create a DIY Mail Station Using Old Books

This super sweet idea comes from Beyond the Picket Fence. A few old hardcover books, some paint, and decorative fabric is all it takes to create a mail solution that looks amazing and keeps you sane.

(Via Beyond the Picket Fence)

Clean Up Your Closet with DIY Pallet Shelves

The best way to free up closet space is to go vertical. Shelving enables you to efficiently store snacks, office supplies, or unused technology. But don’t pay top dollar. You can make your own rustic-yet-functional shelving units using used packing pallets. (Via Ana White.)

Or fashion killer shelves out of old pipes and wood for an industrial look. Here’s a tutorial from Cherished Bliss.

Automate Recurring Tasks

I’m guessing there are a ton of tasks that you do on a regular basis that take up a disportionate amount of your time.

If you’re an office manager, you might be in charge of restocking office supplies, scheduling meetings, or checking in visitors. Automating these tasks essentially takes them off your plate.

Heck, it’s a big part of the reason why we designed the SnackNation membership model the way we did – to save you the time and hassle of finding and ordering great tasting snacks every month.

Envoy takes a ton of the legwork out of signing in visitors, Calend.ly practically does the scheduling for you, and you can automate office supply deliveries.

Task Management software like Trello also makes it easy to automate a ton of other recurring functions.

Use On Demand Self Storage

Sometimes you have a ton of stuff that you aren’t using just taking up space, but hauling out all those old desks and that office hammock (seemed like a cool idea at the time) just isn’t feasible. Plus you have no place to put them!

Uber-convenient on-demand self storage solutions like Clutter take care of all that for you. They pick up your stuff, store it for you offsite, and then bring it back whenever you need it.

Organize Your Inbox

It’s crazy how much time we spend in email. Even if your physical desk is spic and span, a messy inbox can leave you feeling just as overwhelmed.

Complicated labeling systems really aren’t the way to go – they usually just create more work for you. If you use Gmail, switch your inbox to Priority mode, unsubscribe instead of deleting newsletter emails that aren’t providing any value anymore, and create filters for certain types of emails (like ones with tons of recipients).

A Mailchimp employee also shared a fantastic email processing system that limits time spent in your inbox. Instead of spending tons of time labeling everything, this person marks any email requiring action unread – everything else gets archived.

Check out the full system here.

And of course, you can also reduce email traffic by using Slack for internal communications.

Use a Ticketing System to Manage Inbound Requests

This is a great tip for Office Managers, IT pros, Administrative Assistants, or anyone else whose job requires them to field a ton of inbound requests.

ZenDesk is a great ticketing solution that not only helps you track all these incoming requests, but also helps you respond to them in a way that doesn’t interrupt your workflow or completely hijack your schedule.

If a paid system like ZenDesk isn’t an option, here’s a DIY solution from Office Manager Megan.

“I have [an Excel spreadsheet] that I keep on a network that I update.

Whenever somebody sends me an email asking me for something to be done, I’ll put it on that list. I have it set up as the tasks I have.

At the top I have tasks that are on hold. I have recurring tasks, what the status of them are, what the task is, what the status of them are, when the due dates are, who’s responsible, who it needs to be submitted to, and then I have tasks that are in process. Everything is all dated.

Every week I make a new sheet so I can go back through old ones.

It’s just a matter of being diligent and updating it. What I also do is I’ll print out the email request with an email and I’ll keep that pile of paper of things to do. Then I’ll compare it to my list to make sure it’s on there and it’s done.”

Download Megan’s template here (thanks Megan!).

Make Drawer Dividers with Cereal Boxes

Create the perfect place for scissors and tape by shortening cereal boxes and covering them in felt or contact paper. This easy-to-make project looks great and will keep the clutter away from your desk.

Build an Office Library

If you’re like us, you might have a ton of random reference books lying around in random conference rooms that no one really looks at – mostly because they don’t know they’re there!

Organize them in a centrally located office library to encourage people to actually crack them open.

All it takes is a few shelves, your trust label maker (aka best friend), and you’re in business. Organize by topic, then alphabetical by author.

Put Your Desks on Wheels

Here’s a cool a trick from the startup world. Install casters on the bottom of your desks to make it easy to reorg your office in minutes.

What’s the advantage? The ability to reconfigure gives your team (or company) a degree of flexibility that encourages collaboration and inspires creativity.

Store Receipts in a Mason Jar

How many times have you had to return something, process an expense, or register for a warranty – if only you could find the receipt!

Paper receipts are still a reality for a lot of businesses. Keep them safe and secure but putting them in a mason jar.

If that’s a little too analog, go digital. Use expense tracking apps like Concur and never worry about losing a receipt again.

Use This Magnetic to Avoid Dishes in the Sink

How frustrating is it when dishes pile up in the office sink … despite the presence of an office dishwasher! Unsightly dishes in the sink gives visitors the impression that your business just IS NOT SERIOUS.

Luckily there’s an easy fix. Most often, the dish pileup happens because people don’t realize that the dishwasher is either dirty and hasn’t been run yet, or clean and needs to be emptied. This magnetic sign from Dish Nanny tells your office what action to take.

On a side note, WHERE DO ALL THE FORKS GO??? Seriously, are people taking them home? Are they throwing them away by accident? Is there a black market for silverware that I don’t know about? Are there cutlery gnomes that steal forks from unsuspecting offices?

WHERE. ARE. THE. FORKS. PEOPLE.

Are you a master of office organization? What’s missing from our list? Let us know in the comments! (But keep it organized.)

The post Get More Done & Stress Less with These Simple Office Organization Ideas appeared first on SnackNation.