March 12th is Organize Your Home Office Day

You’ve carved out your space and declared it your home office, but do you find that items that are not work related are creeping into your work space? Is there no rhyme or reason to where you keep things? Have you lost your stapler? If you answered yes to any of these questions there is no time like the present to organize your home office — in fact; the second Tuesday of March has been dedicated to this very task. The following tips are designed to help you get started.

• Install sturdy shelves.
• Work materials can be stowed in baskets.
• Use a corkboard to post important reminders.
• Streamline your workspace by avoiding clunky, oversized desks.
• Gain some privacy and divide your workspace with a folding screen; it can double as an inspiration or gallery board.
• Pegboards are not just for the garage! Use them to hang up items that get a lot of use from scissors to staplers, calculators and more.
• Use multiple-sized movable organizers to customize one or more drawers to suit your needs.
• Cut costs and add your own flair to pencil, pen and paperclip holders using empty jelly jars or cans affixed with fabric (or leftover wallpaper) and double-sided tape.
• If your workspace is less defined in various areas of your home, you can make it mobile by working on a rolling surface or on a desktop tray to pick your work up and move it from one room to another — or even to the great outdoors if the weather permits.
• Always have a designated filing space for important papers, documents and bills.
• Avoid letting your papers pile up by reminding yourself, “Don’t put it down — put it away!”

RealSimple.com reveals clever home office solutions for small spaces which includes a “storage wonder wall” to maximize untapped vertical space with adjustable shelving and matching boxes. They recommend a customized elfa® freestanding study that can be purchased online from The Container Store. Canvas media boxes are great to bring uniformity to formerly messy piles of papers and can be purchased at BedBathAndBeyond.com.

When you think of getting organized you should also think about making your home office a physically safe and secure environment. Keep your work area free of tripping hazards from exposed network cables and avoid excess extension cord usage that can create a fire hazard.

Equally (if not more) important is data security to guard your sensitive data. Avoid becoming a victim of cybercrime with security risks that make you vulnerable to data theft. If you operate a business from your home office, data security is imperative. Any business that processes card-present payments or accepts online payments must protect the security and privacy of your customers’ financial information by adhering to the highest data protection standards. Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS) is the first line of defense when it comes to safe and secure credit card processing.

If your home office is strictly for non-commercial purposes, you still need to be cautious about protecting your sensitive data to avoid the risk of data breaches that can lead to fraud or identity theft. Be sure your PC is updated with new logins and secure and unique passwords, and always keep your operating system and anti-virus packages up-to-date.