Written on 6/27/2008 by Abhijeet Mukherjee, of Jeet Blog. 
If you work from home, your home office is the place where you spend majority of your time during the day. If this space is a complete mess with all kinds of stuff piled up on your desk, you know that it's doing nothing more than hurting your productivity.
Do you enjoy hunting for things under piles of paper? Aren't you tired of torturing yourself when you can't find that tiny but very important thumb drive because it's buried? Most of us go crazy when we can't find things and such craziness could be an everyday routine for a person working from a messy and cluttered home office.
I know you've been thinking about cleaning it up but have been constantly overpowered by fear, laziness and of course, procrastination. So it's time to pull up your socks and get set to rejuvenate your messy home office.
- Identify your needs
The first step should be to identify what are the most essential materials for your work. For example, a USB thumb drive or a microphone could be more important to you than that bulky printer sitting on your desk. So take a pen and paper and make a note of just the "very essential" things. Those are the things that will get placement on your desk (i.e. in plain view).
- Start with an empty room
It will be wise to start by completely removing all your belongings from the room. Once you've got an empty room you can get an idea of the vacant space and then plan the placement of different objects. You've already sorted out the most essential objects so you can start by placing them first, nearest to your desk.
- Go wireless
Wires or cords are the most prominent contributor to clutter in a home office. Hence going wireless should take care of most of that mess. You should start by investing in a wireless keyboard and mouse and then plan to get rid of more cords or at least group them together in a way that they look neat. LifeHacker's Adam Pash has a nice article on setting up a cordless workspace.
- Keep the desk clean
You should try and keep the desk as clean as possible and devoid from any clutter. Organize your filing cabinet and put all the important papers and files in that. Don't let the printer or fax machine sit on your desk. Instead allocate them space below your desk . For other important stuff like thumb drives, I am hoping that your desk has a drawer attached to it and it's time to make use of it. Don't let these small things occupy space on your desk, when you already have a separate space for them.
- Go paperless
Yes, this had to be the next obvious option. If you are dealing with lots of paper everyday then your home office is bound to turn messy again. Hence it's better to go paperless and make use of the unending world of tools and apps available on the internet. What and why are you printing? Can you receive electronic bills or invoices instead of paper ones?
- Use the wall space
You could make use of the wall space beside your desk by putting things like a calendar and a small wall clock on it. Apart from making your work space look attractive, it also makes sure that you don't keep these on your desk and add to the clutter.
- Get the perfect chair
A quality chair plays an important role in the ergonomics of your home office, helps you maintain good posture, and also helps you to stay away from common health problems like back pain. Hence if you are not satisfied with your chair, you should invest some time and money and make the purchase. Read on as Jeff Atwood explains you more about workstation ergonomics.
- Improve the lighting
Make way for some more sunlight to pass into your room during the day so you can keep the other lights switched off. It's healthy, energizing and also saves electricity.
- Go green
Well, you've already gone green by allowing more sun light and saving electricity during the day time. Now add some real plants to your home office and water them every day. Your room will always have a fresh odor and hence improve the work environment.
- Keep it fresh !...always !
Okay, so we're done. We have completely removed the clutter and given a new and fresh look to our beloved home office. Now, you gotta swear that you'll never make a mess out of it again and keep it clean and fresh. Always ! :-)
Hope the above tips help you in improving your personal workspace. Do you have any more suggestions ? Do share them in comments.
Cheers,
Abhijeet
译文:
重新塑造你混乱的家庭办公室的十个步骤
Abhijeet Mukherjee写于Jeet Blog，2008年6月27号。
如果你在家里工作，你一天大部分的时间便都是在你的家庭办公室里度过的。如果这个地方很脏乱，有很多东西堆在你的桌子上，那么只会降低你的工作能力。
你是否很享受在一大堆的纸上找东西？当因为被盖住了而让你找不到一个很小但是很重要的闪盘，你不会对自己这样折磨自己感到很厌倦码？当找不到东西时，大部分人们会发狂。对于在一个肮脏和混乱的家庭办公室里工作的人们来说，这样的发狂会变成每天的例行公事。
我知道你一定一直想要把它整理好，但总是被恐惧、懒惰当然还有拖延给制服了。所以现在是时候拿起你的短袜，开始重塑你脏乱的家庭办公室。
1.确定你的需要
首先要做的是确定什么东西对你的工作来说是最基本的。例如，在桌子上放一个USB闪盘或者移动电话比起一个大的打印机可能对你来说是更重要的。所以拿起一只笔和一张纸，在纸上写下这些最基本的东西。它们将会摆放在你的桌子上的某个地方（也就是用一个清晰的视角）。
2.把房间清空再开始
先把你所有的东西搬出房间，这个做法会显得明智。一旦你把房间清空，你可以得到一个对未置空间的一个大致的想法，然后计划各种东西要放在哪里。你已经整理出最基本的东西，所以可以先开始把它们放在最接近你的桌子的地方。
3.让房间的“无线”
电线和绳索是让一个家庭办公室变得混乱的罪魁祸首。因此，变成无线的能解决大部分脏乱的问题。你可以买进一个无线的键盘和鼠标，然后计划摆脱更多的绳索，或者至少把它们整齐的绑起来。生活专家Adam Pash有一篇关于设置一个无线的工作场所的文章。
4.保持桌子整洁
你应该尽可能试着保持桌子的整洁，并且防止混乱。整理你的档案橱柜，并把所有重要的纸张和文件放在里面。不要把打印机或者传真机放在桌子上。相反，把它们放在你的桌子下面。对于其它重要的东西比如闪盘，我希望你的桌子有一个抽屉能够把它们放进去。当你已经有了一个单独的空间放置它们时，不要让这些小东西占用你桌子的空间。
5.保持桌子上无纸
是的，很明显的，这肯定是接下来的一个步骤。如果你每天都必须处理很多纸张，那你的家庭办公室肯定又会变得很脏乱。因此，不要用纸而利用文字工具和在网上可以得到的申请表会更好。你在打印是什么呢？为什么要打印呢？你可以接受一个电子账单或者发票而不是纸张的码？
6.利用墙上的空间
你可以利用在你桌子旁边的墙上的空间来放一些东西，比如一个日历和一个小挂钟。除了让你的工作空间变得更有吸引力，同时也避免了把它们放在桌子上而增加了混乱。
7.取得一张理想的椅子
桌子的质量对于你的家庭办公室的人体工效学中扮演这一个很重要的角色，它能让你取得一个良好的坐姿，同时也能让你远离一般的健康问题，如腰痛。因此，如果你对你的椅子感到不满意，你可以花一点时间和金钱去购买一张新的。阅读Jeff Atwood的文章他会给你更多关于工作环境中人体工效学中的知识。
8.提高照明条件
在白天的时候让更多的阳光进入你的房间，便可以把其他的灯关掉。这样是健康的、有活力的，同时也可以省电。
9.保持环保
在白天时通过利用更多的阳光来省电已经走出了环保的第一步。现在为你的家庭办公室增加一些植物然后每天为它们浇水。你的房间将会一直保持一个清新的气味，因此提高了工作的环境。
10.一直保持整洁
好的，我们已经做好了。我们已经完全地把混乱解决，给我们心爱的家庭办公室一个崭新的面貌。现在，你需要保证你再也不会把它变得脏乱，并一直保持干净和整洁。一直持续下去！:-)
希望上面的建议能够帮助你改进你的个人工作空间。你还有什么其他的建议码？一定要在评论中与我们分享哦。
此致敬礼
Abhijeet