Office Item Quick Tricks

Clutter and disorganization do not just lead to wasted time; they can also send the wrong message to clients, vendors, and new hires as to the values held by you and your team are all about.

Thanks to the Internet, there are a ton of office organization techniques that really anyone can take advantage of – on just about any budget. And while it’s certainly true that you can achieve office organization by simply purchasing the kind of office furniture that’s designed for the modern business, it’s safe to say that not everyone has the resources to do so. With that in mind, we thought it’d be a good idea to compile a list of a few office efficiency tips that’ll help your work environment be more productive than ever.

1. Let’s Start With the Furniture
Before we get to the rest of the list, we wanted to make sure we didn’t exclude those that do have the budget and are in the market for efficient modular office furniture.
If your office uses desks and other equipment that was designed and built before some of your employees were even born, it might be time for an upgrade. Coming to this conclusion is never easy; especially if the argument can be made that the furniture is still useful.

Before you rush out to your local office furniture depot, take a moment to assess the needs of your employees. Specifically, do they have the space they need to do their job and does the furniture contribute or detract to the health of your employees? These are both important considerations when investing in new office furniture. 
Now that we’ve addressed office furniture, let’s get to some solutions that won’t require such a large expenditure.

2. Cable Management 101
Nothing makes a workspace look more cluttered and unruly than a mess of cables. For many, unwieldy cables are just a way of office life – but it doesn’t have to be thanks to the most common of office accessories: the binder clip. Simply clip it to the edge of your desk and feed the cable through the wider end of the silver prong. This is ideal for power cords, phone chargers, USB cables, and more.

3. Clip-On Desk Organizers
If your employees’ workstations provide about the same square footage as a card table, chances are that even the addition of a cup to hold a few pens can reduce the functionality of the space. Clip-on organizers clip to the edge of the desk, conveniently keeping writing utensils close to hand without reducing the size of workable space. Also available are clip-on planters for the office botanists.

4. Floating Shelves Make Excellent, Minimalist Standing Desks
Every office has that space that just seems wasted; it’s too small for someone’s desk yet too big to simply leave bare. Installing floating shelves (18” wide and 24” long) to serve as standing desks, you’re not only making use of this space, you’re also adding value for your employees by providing them with an alternative workstation. In a perfect world, each employee would have an adjustable height workstation, but if funds are tight, floating shelves are a simple to implement alternative.

5. Keeping Supplies Neat and Organized in the Absence of Drawers
If your office is minimalist in design, your desk may not have a single drawer for you to store things like paper clips, tacks, erasers, etc. and having a container for each piece of bric a brac can easily clutter your desk’s surface. To fix this, simply take some used jelly jars, adhere the lids to the underside of your desk using a couple of screws and voila! Your supplies are easy to access and remain completely out of sight.

6. Build Your Own Function Desk Using Repurposed Materials
Repurposing materials is cheap and a great way to keep otherwise useful items out of landfills. Using an old door and a couple of bookshelves and you’ve got yourself an easy to dismantle, storage rich workspace. Best of all, this approach to office organization can be a really customizable experience for the one destined to sit behind it.