Home : Blogs : Celeste "SALLY" Cheeseman HAWAII Relocations & Real Estate : ALOHA! Hawaii Real Estate and Relocations Blog

Is Your Office Organized?

When was the last time you got your office organized? Oh, yeah. It's been awhile since I cleaned out my filing cabinets and supply cabinet. Yesterday we spent morning to evening shredding old bills and unnecessary documents in client files, throwing out the manila files (that once held bills), recycling old files and file fasteners and throwing away useless paper material that silverfish got into. What a mess.

(Picture Left: My office)

By the time we finished there were 40 manila folders (still usable) and countless fasteners, two empty drawers of a filing cabinet, transferred closed files to plastic bins and situated in a storage closet for easy access, burned client files to disks and then we ..... cleaned our desks!

(Picture to right is husband's side office)

And the results?

The Dumpster was A Quarter Full By Time We Finished! (We live in a townhouse complex and we have those huge dumpsters...not a trash can....a huge one)
Clean and organized Office! (we have just so much room to work with for our office so cleaning and organizing periodically is a must!)
More Space! (closet in my bedroom had more room for shoes! Hehehe. Oh and two empty filing cabinets....woohoo!!!)

Weird how I felt a sense of accomplishment for being organized and getting rid of ONE FOURTH of a dumpster of shredded paper and unneeded clutter. (and have a happy husband who hates clutter. He couldn't thank me enough :)

Now that I'm all organized.... Okay, ready for that next client!

Posted by Celeste "SALLY" Cheeseman HAWAII Relocations & Real Estate on 05/05/2008 09:03 PM

Comments (72)

positive

Originally posted at: Hawaii Real Estate & Relocations : Is Your Office Organized?

Post is included in group: Realtors®
Post is included in group: e-PRO Internet Technology
Post is included in group: Inspiration !!
Post is included in group: POSITIVE ATTITUDE for the Weary Soul
Post is included in group: Crap

72 Comments on Is Your Office Organized?

MAY

2008

Wowzies girl! You are really open for business! My office is, once again, a total mess. Yikes! Maybe you'll inspire me!

Sally you would not want to see my office. You see I follow the theory of one of my friends who use to have a sign on the side of his desk that said "a clean desk is a sign of a sick mind" .............. LOL

Hi Sally,

I just did this a couple of weeks ago, I shredded everything! But I did feel the same sense of accomplishment when I finished. Now keeping on top of it will be the challenge. :)

Sally, I am drowning in paper. I am so overwhelmed by it that when I go into my office with the intention of just getting down and dirty, or just started, I look at my piles, turn around and go do something else. I get what must get done finished but can't seem to make a dent in the piles.

Aloha Sally,

Looks great. Mine is never as organized as I would like and at it's worst I waste too much time just looking for things. We're pretty good at systems here, but we could always use improvement. Thanks for the reminder!

I have tried to go paperless with a tablet computer and keeping electronic file but the paper keeps coming from others. Trees are falling all around me HELP.

I keep meaning to scan everything and move it all into my computer... but I keep NOT doing it. I hate paper. Maybe soon I'll hate it enough.

Woo-Hoo: It's always a good feeling to get our office (or any room) organized. I have to get mine done...soon.

P.S. Love your office furniture!

I always get myself organized at the end of every year, it makes it easier to start the new year.

OH, you just make me sick! :)

Sally, ya know I once saw a video about how a messy office is better...I believe it was on Chris Elizabeth Griffiths blog here on activerain...Personally, I reach my boiling point where something has gotta go and then I break down and clean it all out!

My office at the office looks great. It's my home office where you find everything out of place.

Hey there....great looking office....I will just look at your picture and pretend mine is as neat... LOL :)

My wife pruged my files a year ago when she realized I still had files going back nearly 30 years. She literally burned up one shredder.

Thank you Randy, now I don't feel so bad.....:)

Patty: I went through cleaning before the new year...but not to the extent of buying another shredder because the old model started to overheat! We have over 500 dollars worth of shredders in the house now....geez. So, does this inspire you? It's inevitable that years of paper crap will cause trouble...if not clutter. Get er done!

George: And so the reason I clean mine lol! I have no shame...I have a sick mind...haha!

Suzanne; I vowed last night to keep up with it. That was ridiculous!

Susan: And so the reason we get the husband involved :) Mine just hates clutter so when I started he was so estatic that he jumped in 'willing' to help lol!

Lynda: I changed the location of my shredder and under the desk drawers so I'm all confused today lol...but at least I can see things now :)

Terry: I too...felt so bad for the waste of paper...all the stuff I shredded was boxes of reams of paper. What a waste! I vow to stay on top of my burning ..

It feels great to purge! We remodeled our office a few years ago. Basically about 70 agents had to work out of their homes for a month. It was amazing everything that we found. Some agents had cleaned out there boxes, etc. for 20+ years. They had old MLS listings cards, brochures for businesses long gone, and flyers for homes with prices that we haven't seen since the 80's.

Lane: You will...believe me...it took me a few years...but I just needed more room...and needed to declutter. We also back up our NAS because I just can't seem to get all the burning done.

Kat: Our office is where we spend the majority of our time so we really needed that extra space....now to go fill it up lol!

Anthony: I did that...now it was time for EVERYTHING lol!

Virginia: LOL! I made myself sick yesterday....we're all pooped, tired, drained....and yet had to work full days AT the office today :)

Jeremy: Oh, depends on what 'messy' means. I can't do where it takes me too long to find something. Nope...gotta have neat. :)

Rhonda: That was the case with me....until yesterday ...woohoo!

Kathy: Silly...now I have to go watch tv.

Randy: I overheated my shredder so hubby went out and got me a super duper lights for everything ....and it went through the rest ...no problem. I love my shredders!!!!

It feels wonderful to organize everything. Then, all of a sudden, it all starts to pile up again!! Ugh!!!!!! I'm running my business AND my husband's construction business out of my home office. I have a small file for him close to me and the rest of his items are on shelves in his office - next to mine. Yes, I work 7 days a week (no kids). Once in a while we'll take a few hours to do something fun together. But, in the meantime, it's work. Shredding is a wonderful thing and the shredder gets emptied twice a week. The ScanSnap S510 by Fujitsu is a lifesaver. We hardly fax anything anymore. We scan and e-mail.

It's still a challenge to get to everything on my desk each day - especially when I have to leave all of a sudden to show property or meet a new client. But, our goal is to retire early. Hopefully, we'll get there early and not die first from working so hard!

Kudos to your fantastic organized office!

Kathy: One day...you'll have an office here...boy will you be lucky with me and Randy in your office harassing you all the time ....lol!

Geoff: Funny, our office is always pretty clean...this is my home office....and it filled a quarter of a dumpster! Trash from old...has to go away. Purging ...the way of the future :)

Sally, my desk at my office is pretty clean & organized, at home not so much ~ partly because I don't have the luxury of a separate space of my own at home.

When I was a kid I would have just called you "Smarty Pants." Well, maybe I am still a kid. I'd never be able to get any work done in an office like yours. I'd be afraid to move a thing!!!! You GO girl!

Sally - well now I am motivated. It's on the list but business keeps interfering. And we never get that rainy day that is good for stying inside to clean!

Jeff

MAY

2008

Sally - There is just so much paper in this business! I've always been very organized, but I have to tell you this is one profession where the paper takes over if you lose your focus on it. I've got a foot high pile to go through, but don't know exactly when I'll get to it. I need a holiday, when there are no phone calls and then just plow through it (Mother's Day may be the day, after I visit my mom).

It is amazing what you can accumulate in a short amount of time. I have a tiered organizer on the corner of my desk that it sort of the catch all. It drives Kathy crazy. Every now and again it will get the best of me and I'll clean the whole thing out. Just think, now you have room for all new stuff. :)

Good job. I remember the picture a while back with you sitting at your desk, with your feet and chatting on the phone. You have obviously got it all together. Just in time to get really busy again, right?

Sally - my problem is that I take it from the top of my desk and cram it in a drawer and can't remember exactly where! But..the TOP of my desk looks great...my filing drawers look like I have schizophrenia! LOL

Sally, I cleaned off my desk a bit the other day, but have a long ways to go before my office is organized and clean. Ugh. Finding the time to get it organized... But, I know where everything is... or do I?

Sally, want to fly to MI and help. I did a little organizing on Sunday, because I couldn't find something and I knew it was in a pile, "somewhere".

You go girl!!! Hopefully one day soon I'll get motivated enough to quit talking about it and just get it done :)

Sally,
Good for you and it is way past time for me to do the same but..............let's see now what is my excuse this time? Give me a few minutes, I'll come up with a really good one!

I had a guest over and put a bed in my office for them..it's still there right now and I'm using the top as one of my file holders...my wife has been asking me when I plan on putting things away...I told her soon:)

Morning Sally,

Good for you, a job well done, I hope your husband took you out for a nice appreciation dinner. If he hasn't yet be sure to have him read the comments to your post. LOL

Keeping things organized and current takes a little doing, however if one has a plan, scheme, schedule, it can be accomplished in an ongoing routine. HUmmmm!!! Did I say that! LOL

Have a great day!

Sally, Good for you. And thanks for giving me something else to add to my list of things that needed to be done. LOL.

It's Spring Cleaning....at my Office & my Home! Neatness seems to have an upbeat influence...it's like Coffee for me:-)

Sally, I'm sorry to say that my office is no where as neat at yours. I do tend to straighten it out and clean up, but then it's back to more piles within a short period of time. But I won't let the piles grow too much, so I'm basically in a state of almost always trying to clean my office. Go figure!! :)

I am drowning and can not for the life of me even figure out where to begin!! You have inspired me to get busy and dedicate a day for organizing and cleaning my office in the near future! Now that your desk and mind are not cluttered you are ready for more business...to help clutter you again! ;o)

Linda: Mine piled up from December. The filing cabinets and storage I haven't cleaned in a few years :(

Joddie: My living room is our office. We have such a small space that we have to share the Office :)

"Smarty Pants" anonymous person. Sorry but I lived with a pack rat mother. For the last year we have been cleaning out old THIRTY year old mind you.....bills and old papers from her house and cleaning it up. I vowed to not be like that....and my husband won't let me :)

Jeff: Excuses, excuses. :) It's lovely here the last few days too...no vog, no rain but a drizzle here and there....and a nice clean office to enjoy woohoo!

Gail: Yup...time to put aside a day. For us it just happened. We had an idea and ran with it!

Jesse: That's what I say!! More room...more stuff :)

Just one question...what is a silverfish?

William: Got a listing appointment this am....whew...just in time eh? I'll let you all know what happens :)

Sally,

I noticed you didn't post this until you were finished...now, are we supposed to follow suit??? LOL, I clean as I go!!! Thanks, Fran

I have a wife who is a neat freak, one thing out of place and she right on top of it. Sometimes, it drives me crazy because I leave something in a spcecific place and then it's gone. But, overall she keeps it neat and organized, thankfully, or I would be a mess.

Linda: I keep mine in files...and a little pile sometimes...it's just those files were full of old bills and crap from client files (duplicates and such) that it needed to GO :) How's hubby?

Brian: I bet you don't lol!

Missy: Seems I have people who want me to do their organizing....I am pretty good at it anyway :)

Laura: I didn't talk until I was ready LOL! Otherwise I would have had hubby constantly asking....okay, he constantly asked anyway :)

Cynthia: Too funny! Don't we all at one time or another...procrastinate? Ah, but we'll get better at it won't we?

Neal: You're too much....yeah, at least on a bed (not occupied) you can spread it all out lol!

Gotta run...be back to answer the rest ...thanks!

Hal: Thanks for your input. Gary knows he did good ...he helped me! Yeah...I know what you mean..it's an ongoing thing...but old files needed a makeover :)

Sally

I like to think I can get orgainzed anywhere close to WIFI.

And coffee.

...I guess I really don't like doing dishes, so I keep my office out of my home!

Steve

Bob: You're very welcome!

Jason: That's right...you're part of the family :)

Marc: I have to every couple of months...but this "in depth" stuff I have to do more often!

Missy: Went to a listing appointment this am.....and will be signing next Tuesday....they have to clean up and declutter a little bit...but hey....look what happens when I declutter!

Kelly: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silverfish They were in my bubble manila envelopes I had in my supply cupboard. Not many...but disgusting enough to throw them all out and got a plastic bin to store paper products.

Before real estate, I was the most organized person. Now I get so much information, papers, invitations and magazines that being organized is a constant job. Thank goodness for being able to recycle.

Patrick: I'm not a neat freak...but I am pretty organized and clean. When something is out of whack...I attack lol!

Steven: My office is in my home...and I have a desk at the office.... but no matter where I am....I want a clean working environment :)

Sally, I had to read this post about organizing the office and especially my desk which gets more cluttered each day. I MUST attend to it. Thanks for the encouragement.

Sally, It feels so GOOD to declutter and get organized....and opens the way for new business to come in. I'm willing to bet you'll see some VERY soon :)

Karen: I'm just glad I have two shredders now....my hubbie can help :)

Carole: No kidding. I did have a listing appointment today!

MAY

2008

my home office is my sofa or the dining room table - I have one upstairs but I don't like to be up there away from the kids. Our brokerage is moving to a brand new office soon and I expect my office space there to stay organized for about two months...lol

Sally,

I'm part way through cleaning out my filing cabinets....getting rid of paper is so hard for me. Especially if it is marketing ideas, training stuff, etc....I always think, hey, I might need this some day! Blah

I'm glad you were able tackle this and wow, 1/4 of the dumpster? That's a lot of paper

alright I am gonna clean.... I don't know if i can get it done that quickly... But I am going to work on it!

mwah*

Karen: Mine stays clean for about one month...then I have to attack again. This time was a doozy though. Filing cabinets and storage cabinets can sure accumulate :)

Jo: I feel bad for all that paper.

Dez: Tell Al to help you....tell him Gary helped just to get his space back too.

MAY

2008

Sally, I had to get my office cleaned. I was expecting an out of town guest and I wanted him to be able to use my office while he was here. Sooooo, before Tom Plant arrived in San Antonio from CA to attend the Texas Active Rain Gathering, I took an entire day and cleaned and organized my office. Papers are beginning to pile up again so before it gets all messy again, I need to take a couple of hours and file and shred.

Judi: I think I'm going to set aside time each week to keep it up...this was wayyyy tooooo much :)

MAY

2008

Sally:

Great job!

My home office is completely organized. My office-office is getting there! It will be a well oiled machine when I am finished with it.

MAY

2008

Jessica: A well oiled machine....sounds good to me! Staying on top of things sure makes life easier. My husband told me about one company he went to do work at and the guy had a foot high pile of papers covering his whole desk. The next time he went it was half cleared. And underneath ....the wires were covered with dust mites...okay, yuk.

MAY

2008

My daughter describes me as OCD - I am VERY organized - to the point that if I actually misplace something (it has happened once or twice in my life) I totally freak out!!!! It is just something I don't do!

It drives my kids NUTS!

Leave a response…

Name:

Email:
(optional)

Comment:

What does the graphic say?