You have a limited number of drawers and desk space at easy reach so it is important to arrange your office furniture so that you can maximize your efficiency. Start by creating a list of all of the supplies, office equipment and office furniture you use on a daily basis. Survey your current layout – are the things that you use frequently in a bottom drawer or across the room? Do you use your printer occasionally and yet it is taking up valuable desk space? Do you use your printer daily and yet it is at the other side of the room and the paper for it is in the opposite corner? Open your top drawer – is it full of things you use frequently? Open your file drawer – are the files you use frequently there and the ones you use less frequently in a filing cabinet? Do files pile up on your desk because your filing cabinet isn’t accessible? Try to regroup like things together and match up supplies with equipment. For example, store spare ink cartridges and paper for the printer under the printer.

Look at rearranging your frequently used items are close at hand. Frequently used:

• office supplies are in the top drawers
• books are at chair level on book shelves
• files are in your desk filing drawer or chair level filing cabinet drawers
• equipment is within arms reach

Step 2: What office supplies, files and equipment do you use infrequently?

Some supplies and equipment are used less frequently. If you prefer files to binders then move your hole punch off your desk and keep your label maker and blank file folders close at hand if you create new files daily or at the next level away if you create files one in awhile. If you tend to read on screen and like a paperless environment then your printer and filing cabinets can be moved farther away from your desk.

Often desk surfaces are cluttered with supplies and small equipment that are used infrequently such as tape or scissors. Your desk surface is prime real estate so only house things there that you need daily. Relegate the scissors (unless you clip articles or cut hair for a living) to a drawer.

Step 3: What files and other materials are you storing?

Dead files – the ones you are keeping for tax purposes – should be moved to a storage space preferably out of the office. Well labelled cardboard file boxes stored in a storage room (or basement or attic for home offices). Label the box with the year and keep the contents arranged alphabetically for ease of archive retrieval. Start a new file box each year or every 2 years depending on file volume).