How to Organize Your Office: Tips for Tidying Up Your Workspace

If your office is anything like mine, it can easily become a mess. Between the stacks of papers and the little paperclips that seem to multiply overnight, it can be tough to keep things organized. But don’t worry – we’re here to help!

In this post, we’ll give you tips on how to tidy up your workspace and make it more organized. By following our advice, you’ll be able to find any document you need in seconds.

And who knows – maybe you’ll even start enjoying going to work!

Organizing Office Supplies

Organizing office supplies can sometimes feel impossible. There are tons of tiny items in your drawers and your desk space can easily get cluttered with papers and folders. This feels especially true when you have a home office space.

Since no one else sees your workspace, it’s easy to let clutter build up. Plus, in some homes, the entire family might use the room! With more people working from home than ever before, I’m sure it’s been hard to keep that home office clean. It might not be easy, but it is possible!

How do you keep all of those office supplies organized? There are plenty of ways to organize office supplies and storage space in your office. Here are some of our best tips to help you organize office supplies.

Tip 1: Get rid of everything you don’t need.

The first step to any organizing project is getting rid of the things you don’t need anymore and decluttering. This is especially helpful in a home office.

Throw out old paper clutter.

To declutter your home office supplies, start by going through everything – and we mean everything. Go through your paper clutter and see what you still need to keep and what might no longer be necessary. Shred any documents that you won’t need in the future.

Throw out old writing supplies.

You should also throw away anything that’s broken or no longer useful. If you have kids, you can enlist their help on this part. Go through all of the pens, markers, and highlighters in your office space and see if they all still work. Chances are, there are a few that have dried out. Throw those out.

Go through your pencils and make sure they have erasers. If you have any colored pencils in your office supplies, make sure they aren’t broken or unusable. Make sure any push pins work, your paper clips aren’t stretched out, etc.

Once you throw out any extra pens that don’t work, rubber bands that have snapped, and anything else you don’t need anymore, you’ll see you already have a lot less stuff and a lot more space to work with.

Tip 2: Categorize your items in your office.

Once you’ve gone through and decluttered your home office, it’s time to categorize your office supplies. This will help you know where everything is and make it easier to find what you need.

Start by getting some storage containers. These can be baskets, boxes, or anything that will help hold and organize your office supplies. You can just look around your house for some that would work or head to the container store. They don’t have to be pretty, because they won’t be your permanent solution.

Then, start putting like items together. For example, put all of your pens in one container, all of your paper in another… the size of your containers should vary because some things will take up a lot more space than others.

Be as specific as possible in the categories of office supplies that you create. This will help you to organize office supplies later on!

Tip 3: Create a filing system in your office that works for you.

Once you’ve got your categories of office supplies created, it’s time to organize them in your office space. Decide where you want everything to go. First up, let’s talk about paper clutter.

If you have file cabinets, that’s where you’ll want to put your folders, notebooks, binders, and other papers.

We would recommend putting all of your paperwork into different sets of binders. For example, put all important documents related to home maintenance into its own binder. Then, use a label maker to label it “Home Maintenance” or something along those lines. You can also make a binder or file folder for any important medical documents, car information, etc.

Once you’ve made some binders (or folders if you prefer), here are a few ways to organize your filing cabinets:

Alphabetize Your Binders

One classic way to organize your paperwork in office organization is by alphabetizing it all. If you’ve labeled all of your office materials then you can easily sort them in the file cabinet by alphabetizing the contents of the folders. This is a great way to keep track of everything and makes finding specific documents very easy.

Color-Code Your Binders

Another option for organizing home office supplies is color-coding them. This method is one of the more creative ideas and can be especially helpful if you have a lot of different types of paperwork. Assign each color to a specific topic and store office supplies according to those colors.

This can help if you have anyone in the house who might have trouble reading or just enjoys a more colorful, visual way to organize office supplies. You can definitely still label the binders, so if you forget which color means what, you can still read the label.

Tip 4: Organize your office supplies using these drawer dividers!

Another way to organize office supplies, especially in a desk, is by using desk organizers. A desk organizer can be a great way to corral all of your pens, paperclips, binder clips, and other small office supplies. They also come in many different shapes and sizes, so you can find one that fits your specific needs for your desk drawer.

One option for organizing desk supplies is by using drawer dividers. These are especially helpful if you have a lot of different types of home office supplies. Get plastic organizers like a small basket or smaller containers and put a different item in each one.

Then it will be super easy to store and find anything in your desk drawers. (You can even get desktop organizers and extend that amazing organized office space to the top of your desk.)

Tip 5: Organize office desk drawers from what you use most to least.

One great way to organize the storage in your desk drawers is by organizing each drawer from what you use the most to what you use the least. For example, think about the desk drawer that you open the most during your workday. It should be the one that’s easiest to access. The items stored there should also be the ones you use most frequently.

On the other hand, things like paperwork or office supplies that you don’t need to access on a daily basis (office supplies like extra printer paper or other extra home office supplies) can be stored in a drawer that is further away from you, maybe the lowest one on the desk or even one in a filing cabinet behind you.

Think about what home office supplies you use the most and then organize office supplies according to how often you use them and what parts of your desk or home office space are most accessible.

It will make your organized office even easier to use! Especially if you get in the habit of putting things back in the right desk drawers in the future.

Tip 6: Use vertical space in your office with a shelf.

If you have a lot of wall space, or even if it’s just a small space with limited storage space, make sure you utilize the extra space on the wall.

You can buy a corkboard to pin up important papers or reminders. You can also purchase wall organizers to keep track of your daily tasks. There are so many different types of wall organizers available, so you’re sure to find one that fits your needs.

Install top shelves! With shelves, you can get a few matching storage bins and add bigger office supplies like printer paper, extra school supplies, staplers, 3-hole punchers, or other larger things that you don’t want on your desktop.

Storage bins on shelves can really help store and organize extra supplies that might not fit on or inside your desk. Installing a shelf or two will really help organize your office.

Tip 7: Create more storage space in your office.

If you have lots of office supplies and need even more room, you can create extra storage areas in your workspace by getting furniture like a rolling cart.

If you have the room in your home office, getting an extra piece of furniture or two can be just what you need. You can make an extra gift wrap station if your home office doubles as a craft room, a charging station for devices, or anything else you need! Some carts even have a pull out shelf that could be really helpful.

With the right desk that has lots of drawers and storage space to organize, you might not need extra furniture. But if you have the space in your house and want to create more drawers or storage for home office supplies, getting more furniture might be the best idea for you.

Tips and Ideas to Organize Office Supplies

Hopefully, these tips and ideas to organize office supplies will help you organize office supplies like important documents so you can find them when you need them.

Of course, there are a lot of ideas and ways to organize an office out there, but these are the tips and tricks I love to use when it comes to organizing my office.

Moving forward, don’t waste the time you spent organizing and creating storage space. Make sure you store things properly when you’re done using them. If your children ever use the room, make sure they also know how to store everything so any shelf or drawer remains tidy and neat. You’ll know where everything is and you won’t need to do a close search of the room to find what you want!

Organize your office and live your best life at home and at work! (Or in both places at once if you have a home office!)