Fixing Up a Home Office

The First Step to Success

See also:

 [ Information Binder ] [Paperwork] [Budgeting]

     The first project any serious homemaker will tackle is setting up her own home office.  This will help her to think clearly and plan extensively which are essential to any homemaker's long-term success.  The homemaker's office should have three tools:  1)  a large, flat surface that is kept clear unless there is a project at hand;  2) a small drawer for essential office tools which are meant to be kept in that drawer and NOT borrowed by anyone else in the household (because when a homemaker sits down to do paper work, she doesn't need to wonder where the stapler has disappeared to); and 3) a deep drawer or box to hold files.  In some situations this might mean simply using the kitchen table for your "desk", a kitchen drawer for your tools, and a cardboard box for your files.  Other times, your situation will be more elaborate.  

    So, look at your own situation and go to work.  Find a flat surface to call your desk, whether it be a card table you set up in the corner of the family room or your bedroom, a real desk which has in the past been covered with another's papers, books and magazines, or whether it is just clearing off the surface of your own desk.  Gather or purchase office tools to meet your home office needs.  Label them, string them to the drawer or do whatever else is necessary to make sure they stay where they belong.  

    Finally, clean out a deep drawer or box to hold file folders.  Either way, label four file folders:  TO DO, TO FILE, BILLS TO PAY, PENDING.  Put these four folders in your drawer or box.  Every piece of paper over which you have responsibility now has a place to go temporarily until you get to it.  Papers that need attention go in the TO DO file.  Papers which seem of interest to save go in the TO FILE file (to season for a month or so before they are added to your permanent files).   Bills go in the BILLS TO PAY file.  And papers which are half way done, say baby shower invitations, unanswered letters you initiated, or anything else that is not finished goes into the PENDING file.  As you do your paperwork, you may find a need to add other file folders to meet your personal needs.

    Now, the biggest challenge is keeping the desk top cleared (unless you are working at some project), keeping your tools where they belong, and using the labeled file folders to aid in your home office organization.  With time, you will find that having an home office will aid you greatly with planning each day, calendaring, planning your housework, preparing menus, dealing with the trivia of life, and bulk food purchasing.

Find more helpful ideas in the "House of Order" Handbook, Chapter 2, "Home Office".