The most important space in an office is your primary work space (usually a desk). This should provide a large clear area for working with everything that you use for daily work close at hand. Sadly, most business owners haven't seen the top of their desk in weeks, sometimes months.

1) Clean

Pull everything off of the desk or workspace except for the electronics that have to be there (monitor, keyboard, laptop dock, 10-key machine, or other item that is used daily). Many people discover that they have a desk calendar at this point, and they can tell when the last time that the desk was cleaned off (based on the month showing on the calendar).

2) Set up Your Devices

Adjust your computer and monitor for maximum comfort and a minimum footprint. If you still have a CRT (tube) monitor, consider getting a flat-screen. You'll save space on your desk and reduce the heat in your office.

Move the computer under or beside the desk if it was on the desk. Be sure to orient it so that you can access the power button.

If there is not a USB dock on front of the computer or on your monitor or keyboard, consider adding a USB Hub. This will allow you to use Flash drives and other temporary USB connections without climbing under your desk.

If your computer speakers are not built into the monitor, then they are taking up space on your desk. Sometimes, this is inevitable, but if the desk is beside a wall, then a small shelf will let you free up space. This shelf can also be used for other devices that need to be accessible but not regularly, like a USB Hub (see previous) or network / Internet boxes.

Set up Workspace

The work space that is left is the maximum usuable for your area.

You will need at least two In boxes, one Out box and one Filing box. These should be either labeled or color coded for ease of use. In boxes should face you, with the primary In box on top and the back (facing away from you) labelled IN. Out boxes should be accessible by the people to whom the materials are being given.

Use organizers and desk drawers to keep needed supplies handy -- pens, stapler, tape dispenser, paper clips, etc. Supplies should be within reach but out of the center of the desk -- that's where you work.

For maximum time-saving, ease of use and ergonomics, you should have a minimum of two filing cabinets in your office -- a large main filing cabinet that is accessible but out of the way, and a small file cabinet or drawer in or under your workspace.

Having a filing drawer or small cabinet quickly accessible allows you to move ongoing projects off of your desk while keeping them close at hand.

The absolute minimum filing materials required are hanging folders, hanging folder tabs and labels, manila file folders, file folder labels, and paper to label the cabinet drawers. Also helpful are colored markers, different colored folders (hanging and file) to color-code the filing system, a two-hole punch and two-prong brackets to secure papers in the folder. The important thing to remember is that you want to maximize ease of use and expense ... it is very easy to over-organize and make things too complicated at this point.

In order to stay on top of the paper and materials flowing through your office, you need to control and direct it. You do this through your In/Out/Filing boxes.

The In boxes should be on your desk. The Out box(es) should be where they are convenient to you and the person(s) pulling from them. The Filing box can be on or beside the main filing cabinet if that is convenient; this will free up work space.

At this point, most people have a great-looking work space... and a huge pile of stuff. This is the fun part.

Set up space for four piles and start sorting the main pile into the following categories -- Trash, Shred, File and Ready Reference. The first three are obvious, but the last category is where it gets fun. No matter what type of work you do, everyone has materials that they reference everyday ... phone lists, vendor lists, cold call scripts, et al.

Make sure that everyone that comes into your office to add to the flow puts the paper or materials in your In box -- not on your desk, not on your keyboard, and not in your chair.

In order for this to work, you have to be diligent about checking your In box ... if you aren't, they will put the paper where they think that you'll see it, and that can cause lost paper work (and needless aggravation).

Work the system -- when you finish with a piece of paper, put it where it belongs:

If you ...	Then put the paper in ...
need to do something with the paper today,	your second In box.
aren't done with it but can't work on it today,	the appropriate folder in your work space filing cabinet.
have delegated the work or it needs to leave your office,	your Out box.
are done and will need the paper later (or aren't sure that you won't),	your Filing box.
are sure that you won't need the paper again,	the trash can.

The goal is reduce the amount of time you spend on each item and to reduce the overall paper in your system.

If you do not regularly use a planner, as a bare minimum, you should set up a Calendar and To Do list on your computer or planner and refer to it each morning.

Check the In boxes and process papers as needed to get to the "Start" position with everything in its place.

Take at least 15-30 minutes a day (or at least an hour per week) to process the Filing box.

At the end of the day, clean up your work space. This sounds simple, but it makes the next day start more smoothly.

Process your In boxes; if there are materials that you have to work on tomorrow, put that on your To Do list and put the materials in the second In Box.

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