Ep 48 - Staying Organized While You Work From Home

 


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I'm so excited to be back with a fresh episode of the Tidy Revival Podcast after our Summer Break Series. It was good to take some time off, work on other projects, and just recharge. Can you believe that the podcast's one-year anniversary is coming up next week? It's been an incredible journey, and to celebrate, my amazing Content Manager, Brittany McLean, will be joining me as a guest on the show. She's been instrumental in getting the podcast off the ground, and I can't wait for you to meet her!

In this episode, I dive into the topic of staying organized while working from home, which I know has been a challenge for many since the pandemic hit. I discuss the emotional aspect of home organization and also share practical tips to make your home office more efficient. We talk about the importance of having a well-organized workspace, especially when colleagues can peek into our homes through video calls. From storage solutions to filing systems, I provide insights on how to keep everything in order.

Thank you for your support, and I hope these tips help you create a productive and organized workspace while working from home. Remember, it's all about progress, not perfection! You can listen right here, on Apple, Amazon, Spotify or you can read the transcription below. Enjoy!

 
 
 
 

I am back.

I am super excited to jump back into bringing you fresh episodes on the podcast. I hope you enjoyed the summer break series where we brought you the top five episodes that we've had so far. 

On our end, it was really good to take a break and work on some other projects behind the scenes and just take a breather from the content schedule. We did it over the winter break too, and plan on doing that same thing again this year. It just feels good to take a little breather, you know? So I am glad to be back and I'm excited for what's in store. 

Before I dive into The work from home chat that I have planned for today, I wanted to let you know that the Tidy Revival podcast anniversary is coming up next week. I can't believe it's almost been an entire year, and I'm so excited about it. To celebrate, next week my content manager Brittany McLean will be the guest on the show. I'm excited for you to get to know her because she has been the cornerstone in getting the podcast off the ground, and we talk about that in our conversation.

Fun fact, I decided to launch the podcast just before her interview for the position at Tidy Revival. So it went from a general admin position to a specialized one. And she found that out at the interview, I knew from day one that she saw the vision for Tidy Revival for the podcast, for what we were doing, and was excited about it. We have so much fun working together. It's honestly one of the best working relationships I've ever had, and so I'm excited for you to meet her. We've already taped this episode and it was a lot of fun. So really stoked to bring you that.

And then I also have an ask for our first anniversary. If you were thinking to yourself, obviously I'm going to get you a gift. What would you like so much more than anything else in the whole world?

 Im so glad that you asked because I would love it if you could share our podcast with a friend or on your social media. And or, and question mark, if you could leave us a rating and review. This is super, super helpful for us to spread the word about the podcast. That in turn helps our numbers and we're looking to grow and to have this be a financial, financially viable aspect of my small business. So your support helps us to make that a reality. So thank you in advance. We do appreciate it so, so very much. And it does make a big difference for us. So thank you so much in advance. If you find our work helpful, we would love for you to share, rate, and review.

Okay, so let's talk about staying organized as you work from home. Many of you have gone back to the office, but there are a lot of folks who never went back to the office and it's 2023. I'm still talking to people frequently about how to be more efficient in their home offices.

Today I'm going to talk to you about some tips to get organized at home in our home offices while you're working from home, why it matters, and how I can help you. So on the podcast, we generally talk more about the emotional aspect of home organization versus the how-to as a strict how-to show. Today we're going to talk a little bit about both because the why in this scenario matters and it matters a lot to the employer and the employee. 

We're all familiar with the concept of Zoom backgrounds. In 2020, it was so novel to be able to see inside the homes of your colleagues, talk show hosts, newscasters, celebrities, and everyone. But I know, and you know, and I know that you know that the Zoom background is just a sliver of what's going on in that person's home office space. Now, for the sake of this conversation, when I talk about the home office, it doesn't have to be a whole office, but it will be the space in which you work from home consistently.

There are going to be folks out there who are like, oh, but I like to switch it up. I like to be on my couch. I like to be at my kitchen table. I like to work here, there, everywhere. And I understand you may take some of these concepts and kind of apply them in a slightly different way. I'll also talk to you about how I can help you. So if you have specific questions about that you know, it's not that I can't assist with that, but for this conversation, I'm specifically going to be talking about tips, kind of with the understanding that you have a workspace that you generally work in consistently at home.

If you're a hybrid, this can also help you too. But the reason why this organization matters is all about efficiency, right? If your space is cluttered if your space is not as efficient as it could be, if you're not able to find what you need to get things done if you're stressed out about your Zoom background because you're just not feeling confident visually about the space around you, all of that can lead to you as the work from home employee silently suffering, honestly, and it's an aspect of working that a lot of people might be going through, but their workplace may not necessarily be giving them the resources that they need to be as efficient as possible. But this is something that can affect morale. It can affect your productivity, but it may not be necessarily discussed as you're going to work.

So I want to talk about it and I want, I think that there is, You know, room to have more conversations about this and to bring more resources to employees so that they have the tools they need to be as efficient and as confident and as happy as possible when they're working. So I'm going to talk about three big issues that I see all the time.

There is more than this, but these are three big issues that I see all the time and some solutions. That goes alongside it. So the issues I see and then what I help people do to create a solution around it. Okay. Issue number one is storage and thinking about what goes where. So, for instance, you are going to, you're going to need to have some things on hand while you work, right?

But you don't need to. Everything at hand, and I think that's where sometimes people can get in the weeds. So now we talk about having a place for everything and everything in its place, but maybe you don't need the back stock of your whole life in your drawer right next to you. So an example, if you have a desk.

With some drawers, you might dedicate one of those drawers for some office supply needs. I'm talking pens, pencils, paperclips, scratch paper, scissors, stapler, et cetera. But you just need a little smattering, if you will. You don't need to have everything and every backup for every item and a case of pencils, you don't need all of this right next to you.

In my office, I don't have drawers. I have a sit-stand desk. You know, I mostly sit, let's be honest, but sometimes I stand and I have a peg board to my right that's set high enough so that I don't bump into it when I have my desk at the sand stand setting. But the peg board has things that I need on hand every day, but then my back stock is in other storage in my office.

So again, when you're planning out your space, or if you're looking at things that could be the cause of clutter around you. I bring it up because it's something that I see all the time. There may be too much of everything around you, like maybe you don't need a whole ream of paper sitting on top of your printer.

Maybe visually it would just be less stressful if you had all the backup papers somewhere else. And just have what your printer needs for you to function. Maybe you have just a little bit of scratch paper versus, you know, 16 Post-it books. Maybe you just need one fidget spinner at your desk versus 15.

Maybe I'm talking from experience. Maybe I just need one thing of lotion to hydrate my hands instead of five, one stapler, one Container of Kleenex, I have some pens. I have a few pencils. I do have three tape measures. I'm sure that won't surprise any of you.

But then the backups are other places and I hope that kind of helps you take stock of what is on hand and what could be somewhere else. Just not having everything at hand. You're able to clear off your desk when you need it. Okay, now let's talk about files, because paper can be a huge pain point for folks, whether they have a system or they don't.

But many times when I'm working with folks, they have paper everywhere and it's because there's no place to put it or maybe there's a place to put it, but that system has. Not been maintained. Things are kind of out of control. Maybe things are just kind of shoved into, you know, a file cabinet or whatever the case may be, and the system is no longer working.

Paper can build up over time. We all know that it can become overwhelming pretty quickly. But it's really hard to work in a space. Logistically, when you do need something and you're not able to find it easily when finding that one piece of paper ends up being its project, it can just be frustrating, and maddening. If you're thinking about this now and you want to scream into a pillow or not about paper systems, let me tell you, you are not alone. Sometimes I can be a little bit of a pusher for a paper system. These are words that I'm just going to stutter over the whole time. It's fine.

But the reason why I am a little bit of a pusher is because I do care about people's systems being streamlined and some folks hate going through. Paper and I, that's not a word I use often, so now when I say that, I truly mean it. Some people hate it. I love creating paper systems, and the reason why I love it so much is because It makes people so much happier when they're done, mostly because it's done. But if it can be a system that is as easy as possible to upkeep, then the whole thing suddenly goes from very overwhelming to very manageable. And all you need is a simple system and knowing how to keep it up. So I'm going to go over all of it.

Okay? And also, I'm going to tell you how mine is set up. You don't need to do it the same way. So glean what you need and let go of the rest. And if you have questions about it, just lemme know, man.

Okay. So I also want to say that I completely understand the Ideal of having all your files digitized, but as we know, some things just come through on paper, and unless you have a lot of time to digitize your files, you're better off just dealing with the paper. Because what I see a lot is that people are like, oh, well I really want to digitize it.

But it's mostly because they feel like they should be digitizing. They feel like everybody's digitizing. I mean, I have the paper here too, and you know why? It's because I can't be bothered to digitize. Everything. And I organize for a living, guys. So if I think that it's too much, just trust me when I say that.

Unless you love it, don't worry about it. Just have a simple filing system so that you can just get rid of this excess paper. So, The other thing that I wanted to let you know is I do like to keep as little of it as possible, but legally I shouldn't be the person telling you what to keep or not. There are great resources online.

I often recommend a beautiful blog post by Bank of America. That tells you what, how long to keep different things. But legally I am not the person to answer those questions. Your CPA is also a great person to ask those questions, but again, there are great blog posts online with very reputable sources, so I would turn to them for that sort of question.

But for the things that I do keep. I have two file boxes at home. I don't have a file cabinet these days, and one of those file cabinets is for the things that I don't need day in, day out. So I'm talking about mortgages, mortgage paperwork, old taxes, and some memorabilia. I think we have some old newspapers in there.

And then there's a second file box for the things that I need all the time Also. And again, this is just how we do it, but the one that contains all the really old stuff that we don't need to access constantly is in a different room. It's not in my office because I have my work docs and some home docs in the same file box.

So it just makes sense for me to have it in my office because I need to access that frequently. But then the second one, Is in the closet in my husband's office because we don't need to get into it very often at all. So, I have just one simple file box here, and I like to have my files as simple as possible.

Again, not the right answer for everybody, but I don't, I'm not color-coding things. It's not like, okay, there's this, and then a subfolder. I have, you know, one folder per car. That's labeled. We have one per pet. Well, we've always had one pet at a time. I have a medical file and an insurance file.

It's just very streamlined. And then from there, I go through it. And I shred old documents usually once every two or so years, but it's not something that I'm like setting a reminder for. Mostly I go through it if it's feeling full, and this helps me keep track of the things that I need to keep long-term because I don't want to have all of these things just out. It gives me a place to keep them. So when I need to grab, you know, a receipt from three months ago, I can go to the April folder and there it is. And I hope I did the math on that. Right? But anyway, it doesn't matter. You get the idea. The idea is that I just want to have some simple folders so that when I need to find what I need, I can.

From there, I want to dig into how to store other things simply in your office. So what you store In your office supply section is going to vary. Some people have a home office and a craft room. Some people have a home office with really specialized equipment. You know, I have worked with Florists and photographers and folks who do handy work and have a lot of tools.

I have worked with designers. All of their supplies are going to be. Very different in my office, obviously I have a lot of organizing supplies. I have a lot of products for my clients that are in and out. So I try to keep some shelves clear just for those products that are constantly rotating.

I need to have space to return things. I have papers that we are going to be shredding. I have donations for certain organizations that can't be kept in my garage. Our food bank donations are inside so that it's more temperature controlled, that sort of thing. So there's just a lot of different supplies in here, but I'm a big fan of macro organization versus micro, and what that means is that I'll have a bin that's labeled, I like clear bins.

Not everyone does, but I'm a big fan of clear bins and I have one that says Kit refills for all the things that I keep in my organizing kit that I end up refilling. Very frequently. That is the bin for those items. I have another bin that says events and labels, and those are kind of two categories, but I didn't have a ton of either one.

So they fit together and it just works out. But the items that I need to take with me when I have a table at an event. The other part of it is all my labels. So just a lot of different kinds of labels that I've just kind of accumulated over the years. Don't judge me that I'm kind of slowly working through it.

And then I have a lot of backup label tape because I order that in bulk. So I just kind of have it macro-organized. Now that doesn't mean that if you look in the bin things aren't, you know, crazy beautifully organized and segmented and that sort of thing. But I prefer being able to just throw things in a bin.

If I get a bunch of new label tape, I want to be able to slide that bin out, throw in the label tape, slide it back in, and walk away. And know that when I need label tape, I know exactly where to go versus having a Container where I have to open a lid and slide a thing out and make sure that they're filed perfectly.

That's not me. And it could be someone. And if that's you, that's fine. But I just want to always stress to folks too, feel free to organize to the level that you want. Because at the end of the day, a system is just being able to find what you need, when you need it, and being able to put it away easily, and that's it.

If it falls under that, you've got a system from there. If you want to get more detailed, you absolutely can, but you don't have to because there's no wrong way to organize and there's not the best way to organize. The best way is something that is easy for your brain and makes you. Feel happy with the system and it can look different for people.

And that's great. So I hope these tips help you as you're creating a space, and I hope that they can help you be as productive as you want to be while working from home. But if you would like more support in this way, I can help in a couple of ways. First, The club is always available to you. This is our private online community where you know you're not alone in your decluttering and your organizing journey.

We are all about the baby steps in this group. We are not about perfection, and it is a private online group. To answer your questions anytime and give us hundreds of questions, it's fine. I'm here for it. We're going to be your cheerleader. And something magical about this group is that it's not just myself and Brittany cheering you on.

It is everyone in the group. Everyone is kind and sweet and cheering each other on, and it's just absolutely lovely and makes my heart so happy. But we will also be there as Tidy Revival, giving you weekly tips. And prompts, because we want to be your accountability partner. We want to prompt you to be thinking about things, to be getting things done.

We want to cheer you on along the way again here for all the questions. We really want to create a judgment-free zone because we've all been there. And the thing that my folks generally have in common is that they're feeling overwhelmed with too much stuff. So even though it can feel isolating, know that you are not alone.

Everyone's starting from the same place, and we're just here to help you along the way. The other way that I can help is with corporate speaking. So I speak on this subject and would love to give organization tips to your colleagues either in your workplace, in person, or virtually, especially if folks have a lot of remote employees.

It can be an easy fit to tie into your wellness program virtually. But the great thing about having me there is that I leave plenty of time for questions and answers so folks can ask those personalized questions. I've even created programs with people before, different workplaces so that we can bring some one-on-one time to Your workplace as well. So I will link our contact form in the show notes. Please feel free to reach out if you would like to know more. I would love to get you more information on those opportunities. And that is it for today. But please join me next week for our anniversary episode with Brittany McLean, our content manager, and again, could not do this podcast without her. She is amazing and I'm so fortunate to have her on the team. So I can't wait to connect with you then. 

We would love to make sure that your questions are answered for a question of the week or a future episode. So we love to hear from you. DM (on Instagram) or you can always email me, carly@tidyrevival.com. We love hearing from you. We love hearing your thoughts about the pod, and thank you so much for hanging out.

If you wanna learn more about how I can help you, feel free to head over to tidyrevival.com to learn how I work with people one-on-one or in our private community. If you enjoyed this episode, please be sure to subscribe so you'll always have access to the latest episode.

We would also love to hear your takeaways. Feel free to tag us on Instagram, Facebook, or TikTok. The Tidy Revival podcast is written and hosted by me, Carly Adams, and edited by Brittany McLean. Title Song Maverick is by Dresden The Flamingo.

and until next time, remember that…

 
 
 

Links mentioned in this episode

 
 
Tidy Revival Podcast, DeclutteringCarly AdamsTidy RevivalDecluttering, home office, TidyHacks