5 Top Tips for Decluttering a Home Office

With so many of us now working from our homes, it’s not unlikely that your surroundings may be starting to get a little more cluttered than usual, so here are 5 top tips for decluttering a home office.

“Keep what you need and what makes you happy” is just one piece of advice you might tend to follow when it comes to what you should store and keep around your home.

However, if you are part of the 80.6% of the UK population who are now working from home as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, then you may have had to increase the amount of equipment, documents and paperwork that you store within your home office workspace.

If your home office needs a serious clean up and tidy around, then take a look at these top tips we’ve collated and helped summarise for decluttering a home office.

5 Top Tips for Decluttering a Home Office

1. Cut Down on Storing Non-Essential Items

One of the first priorities you should make when decluttering a home office is to dispose of or relocate any equipment or items that are non-work essential that may be in the room you’re working from.

Things such as gym equipment, spare furniture and old electronics can often wind up in the spare room you’re most likely to set up an home office in, so consider putting these types of items elsewhere in the home or storing in a box to keep in your garage or conservatory for retrieval at a later date.

2. Keep the Things That Make You Happy

On the other hand, it’s important to keep and display items in your home office such as your favourite plants, artwork (providing it isn’t too distracting to the eye) and other desktop trinkets that bring you a sense of warmth and comfort.

Due to the amount of time you will spend in your home office working, you should surround yourself with the things that make you happy, as research suggests that workers who are able to design their own workspaces feel a much greater sense of job satisfaction.

3. Take Advantage of the 90/90 Rule

One great way to declutter a home office quickly and effectively is by following a mindset created by The Minimalists, which is known as the 90/90 rule.

Understanding as to what the rule involves is simple – ask yourself when it comes to some of the items in your current home office space as to if you have used it within the last 90 days or will use it within the next 90 days to come.

If the answer to this question is a resounding no, then it may not be as necessary in your workspace as you first thought, so storing it elsewhere or disposing of it may be the best option.

The amount of timing isn’t too important however, you can adjust it to a more simplified amount of time such as one week, a month etc. if you prefer.

4. Eliminate Paper Stacks with a 3 Step Sorting Plan

If you’re getting snowed under by stacks of paperwork and general paper clutter, than look at using this three-step sorting plan: Shred, File or Recycle.

You should:

Shred – Any documents that are out-of-date

File – All important pieces of paperwork and confidential documents (this included storing files digitally too)

Recycle – Anything else that doesn’t fall under the above categories.

5. Use a ‘One-In, One-Out’ Approach to Luxuries

When purchasing new furniture or what can be classed as luxury additions to your home office, try to adopt a ‘one-in, one-out’ approach.

This means that if you are planning to purchase something new, you should put the same type of item you already own into storage or get rid of it completely to avoid doubling up.

If you need a space to place older items in using this method, then you can create yourself an ‘outbox’ using any sturdy storage box which contains any items you can donate, sell or give away rather than throwing them in the bin and causing unnecessary waste.

Those are our 5 top tips for decluttering a home office, but do you have any more to add to the list?

Tweet us at @OpInfoBlog with your suggestions, we’d love to hear them!