
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!
Celeste "Sally" Cheeseman is a Realtor-Associate® and Certified Residential Specialist (CRS) with Century 21 Liberty Homes in Mililani, Hawaii. With a sharp understanding that a listening ear is the key to a client's needs she serves the island of Oahu (Honolulu County) and all Hawaii Military Relocations, Hawaii Retirees, Hawaii Job Transfers and Hawaii Residents, Home Buyers and Sellers.
© 2007-2011 Celeste "Sally" Cheeseman's Hawaii Real Estate and Relocation Blog.
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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. :)
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!
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!
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.
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 - 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
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!
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!
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 :)
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 :)
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
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!
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.
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 :)
Karen: I'm just glad I have two shredders now....my hubbie can help :)
Carole: No kidding. I did have a listing appointment today!
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
Jo
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.
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.
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.
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!