This post is sponsored by the Staples brand products, which helps small businesses stock up for less.
When I moved from my house after 15 years in May, I realized how much “stuff” I had that I didn’t not need and never really used. I was able to downsize from a 10 X 10 office to a small desk with one storage cart in a guest room. Here is how you can do it too:
Step 1: Purge your office area.
- Review everything you have. Most small business owners keep things out of habit because they might need it “someday.” Nothing should be stored unless there is a good reason to have it in paper format. This can include tax and personnel records. For each item, ask “why am I keeping this?” or “who am I keeping this for? and “for how long should I keep it?” When in doubt, throw it out (or store it electronically).
- Mark with a shred date. Overtime, most documents can be thrown away. Even tax receipts only need to be kept for seven years. When storing anything, begin by writing on the top of the document the date which it can be shredded. This can be color coded by year using, Staples Hype! Pen-Style Highlighters. It will make it easier in future years to discard, for example, all the green coded documents without having to read the exact date.
- Keep sentiment to a minimum. Every small business owner has keepsakes they want to retain, but these take up a lot of space. Dump all duplicates. Nostalgia is a powerful force, but immediately discard all the freebie coffee mugs or other trinkets in your office. Choose less than five items you really want to keep. Photograph the rest and throw them out.
Step 2: Implement storage as your inexpensive clutter control solution.
- The file box. Everything not used on a daily basis needs to be stored. But once they are, items should be organized so they can be quickly retrieved. Throwing things into an open box does not really help remove clutter, it only hides it. This product from Staples is translucent so items can easily be identified not only from the label on the outside, but by looking through the file box. It’s also sealed so nothing can fall out and is protected from moisture, dust and other substance contamination in your office.
- The file cart. This is critical because for storage to be effective, it is needs to be easily accessible. This four drawer integrated system from Staples neatly stacks clear plastic deep and tall drawers. They can be pulled out without having to unstack or uncover them. Its wheels make it easy to move around the office to any place that it is needed during the day and moved out of the way at night.
After this two step process, you’ll be amazed about what you do not need. Remember, getting rid of clutter should be a daily, monthly and annual routine if it’s to remain effective.
