Piles of files?
Stressed with mess?
Want to see your desk again?
In general, people find it harder to be organised at home than at work.
Often, the transition from employee to self employed poses the biggest challenge.
Running an efficient, productive home office requires good organisation skills, which can be learnt at any stage of life.

1. Dedicate 10 minutes per day to de-cluttering. Use a timer!
2. Keep a bin where you open the mail. Immediately discard irrelevant paperwork
3. Know how long you need to keep each document
4. Set up a system where all things have a place – at all times
5. Keep archive or older files away from active or ‘to do’ files
6. Make friends with your home office – furnish it with things you love
7. When you feel overwhelmed or don’t know where to start – seek help

Written by Roz Howland and published in The Cairns Sun, 8 August, 2007.