How To Declutter Your Home Office For Productivity
Remote work is becoming more popular every day. In this article, we will provide you with tips on how to declutter your home office for productivity. Decluttering your home office is a powerful tool to also declutter your mind. It is scientifically proven that working in a cluttered environment can affect your productivity. If you have only essentials in front of you, your brain will be more focused on the relevant tasks and you will achieve more. Decluttering your Home office is key for productivity.
There are many other benefits that come with a clean and organized space. Having fewer things around will provide you more free time since you will do your tasks efficiently, more finance because you won’t spend money on stuff you don’t need, and most importantly – less stress.
If you feel that you need more space around you, here are a few simple methods to declutter your home office for productivity that you can try right away!
5 Methods to Declutter Your Home Office for Productivity
1) KonMari Method To Declutter Your Home Office
KonMari method became popular not only as a cleaning technique but as a philosophy of life as well. The main idea of this method is to listen to the inner voice that will guide you not only to choose what things you want to keep but also what lifestyle you want for yourself. Reassessing and organizing your space is the gateway to your inner transformation.
Marie’s method is based on deciding what to keep, not what you want to throw away. It is important to feel the excitement and flow of energy when you hold an object in your hand so you can allow your being to decide whether it needs the object or not. To begin the process of decluttering, start by completely emptying your workspace, leaving only the essentials – computer, keyboard, and mouse. Then group similar things and take each item one by one in your hand and ask yourself do you feel the “sparkle of joy”. If you feel a flow of positive energy holding it you can return it to your workspace. But if you don’t feel the spark, thank it for its service and put it in the trash, recycle bin, or donation box.
KonMari Method Pros:
By using this method to declutter your home office you will have a clear overview of all the things you own and kept for years that you did not need. You will understand that it is unnecessary to have 10 pens and to keep papers that have not been used for years. Decluttering will ultimately help with productivity flow because you will only have things that spark joy and not distractions.
KonMari Method Cons:
A key element of Marie’s philosophy is to tidy up in one shot, rather than little by little. Of course, sometimes it is not possible to clean your space in a couple of hours. Yes, it will be difficult and exhausting, but the results will be worth it and you will not have to think about cleaning for a long time.
2) 12-12-12 Method To Declutter
The 12-12-12 Method is a simple method to declutter for increased productivity. All you need to do is to find 12 items to throw away, 12 to put away and 12 to donate. The best tactic is to start with 12 things to put away. I am sure you can find 12 things that you don’t need in your work environment. Start with the small things.
That will ease your next step – to throw and donate. Work environments are often full of unnecessary things that you haven’t used for a long time. If you haven’t used it recently, there is a high chance that you won’t need it in the future either. So throw it away! And the last step, donation, is usually related to gifts and piled-up things.
We often don’t want to offend someone by rejecting their gift so we just put it somewhere and forget about it. Also when you take promo pencils you don’t think about how many of them you end up accumulating in a pen holder. Just let it go – Someone else may love it!
12-12-12 Method Pros:
This method is great when you are in a rush, you can easily declutter your space in an hour. Also, if you don’t enjoy cleaning and organizing, making the task countable can ease things a little. Just remember, with this quick tidy-up, your work environment will be released from 36 items!
12-12-12 Method Cons:
Even though it can be done quickly, sometimes those 12 items aren’t enough for the space to feel decluttered. It all depends on how often you clean your space and how quickly you pile it up again.
3) Packing Party Method for Decluttering Your Home Office
This method was developed by two friends who are successful but only ostensibly happy businessmen.
They were miserable with their jobs and everyday life so they began to fall deeper into depression and anxiety. Not knowing how to get out of their situation they tried to fill that void with consumerism. It was clear that the results were the opposite. Then, one day they discovered minimalism! They wanted to change their life completely by throwing a packing party because everything is easier at the party, right? One of them was pretending that he was moving, and they packed all his stuff into the boxes. All of it. He decided to open the box only if he really needs something from it for the next 3 weeks. And guess what, 80% of stuff stayed in boxes because he didn’t need them at all.
Packing Party Pros:
The Packing Party decluttering method can be great to help gain awareness of which items are absolutely necessary for your daily activities and which aren’t. If you pack all your office stuff in one big box, you will only extract essentials in the first few days. But after a month you won’t even open that box… I’m sure that you won’t even know what is inside. Because if you don’t need something for one month there is a really small chance you will need it in the future as well.
Packing Party Cons:
Working from home can bring a lot of documents and papers to our home office. And most of them we don’t need, but they have to be stored “just in case”. So, looking for that one piece of paper in the box filled with stuff can be challenging. Also, this method can work only for those who are ready for radical changes in their life, since a “packing party” requires money, time, and courage.
4) 4 Box Method Of Decluttering Your Home Office
The idea behind the 4 Box Method method is to find 4 boxes and label them: Trash, Give away, Storage, Put Away. The exercise here is to bucket each item to help you declutter. Just start by taking an item one by one and putting it in the right box. Your home office would be decluttered in no time.
Trash: In this box, you should put all the broken items, along with any items you don’t need or don’t use.
Give Away: Feel free to donate or sell the items you don’t need. For you, they may be just clutter but they can be precious for someone else. Also, if you can earn some money by selling a valuable item you can take advantage of it and invest money in something you really need.
Storage: You should store items that you don’t use on a regular basis but you know you will need. Try to be organized and sort out similar items into the same box, so you can find them quickly when you need them. Labeling the boxes with what items you grouped together into them will make it easier to locate as well.
Put Away: These are items that you really need on regular basis. Try to find a “home” for these items on your desk and remember to put them back after each use. The point of this decluttering is to rely on less, so try to keep just essentials.
4 Box Method Pros:
The 4 Box Method is a very transparent way to declutter your home office. You have more options to choose from on where to place each item rather than having to pick between keeping and getting rid of.
4 Box Method Cons:
Sometimes it is hard to be objective and decide in which box you should put the item especially if you don’t use it but feel an emotional bond. It is important to get rid of the boxes as soon as we fill them. Don’t give yourself time to change your mind, if you put an item in the trash once, it should remain in the trash!
5) 90 90 Rule To Declutter Your Home Office
This decluttering rule is intended for people who have problems with deciding and overthinking the items while decluttering. It seems rough but it can also be so liberating. All you need to do when you have a dilemma is to ask yourself 2 questions:
1) Did I use this thing in the past 90 days?
2) If not, will I use it in the next 90 days?
If your answer to both questions is no, stop thinking and just get rid of it. If you answer yes to one of the questions, just keep it! The decluttered home office will certainly help with productivity.
Pros of 90 90 Rule:
Using this method can do wonders to your workspace if you know you are indecisive. You don’t have the opportunity to think and procrastinate since all you need is to answer these questions for a choice to be made.
Cons of 90 90 Rule:
Of course, there are things you don’t use for the current project which can last for months, but maybe you will need them for the next one. In these situations, it’s okay to extend the rule but you have to be honest and not try to trick your mind to keep clutter.
Recommended Books on How To Declutter Your Home Office For Productivity
The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo
This international bestseller has been a revolutionary book in the decluttering world. Marie shares her secret and ultimate guide on how to achieve internal happiness simply by organizing and decluttering your space.
The Minimalist Home by Joshua Becker
The author brings us closer to all benefits and magic of a minimalist home. He provides practical step-by-step tactics and strategies to achieve a comfortable and warm home for your whole family.
Let It Go by Peter Walsh
Sorting through accumulated possessions is a stressful process that most people have to confront at some point in life. Those situations often follow momentous life changes so Peter gives us tips on how to understand emotional challenges that accompany downsizing and how to use it as a positive experience.