Are you tired of reading about the great flood of 2014? Honestly, I’m tired of writing about it. However, it’s the source of a ton of great new projects happening my house. New projects bring new products. New products means SHARING my honest thoughts on the products! Everyone wins, right? Now is the time I’m getting a new office space organized.
What happened to the organized office space
Once upon a time, not long ago, I had a really fantastic office space set up in our finished basement. My husband found a great “previously owned” desk. It had shelves, plenty of drawers, and a great layout. File cabinets flanked one side, and a cabinet filled with office supplies flanked the other side. A printer was on top of my cabinet, and I had a great filing system set up on top of my desk. It kept me organized, and all the current work I was doing was in front of me, just like I liked it!
It was an oasis for me. I spent my days writing, making phone calls, attending webinars and participating on conference calls. I had two huge windows in the my office area, that allowed for great natural light for any kind of photography I needed to do. It was a somewhat happy place. What happened? A flood. Long Island had a crazy storm in August of 2014. The rain just came too fast, and our drainage systems in the streets around our home weren’t cleared out, and the rain just had no place to go. The run-off just had absolutely no place to drain, because the sump down the street was overgrown and not cleared out properly. Every street drain was clogged thanks to the overgrown sump. Thanks to the fantastic town we live in, the water just filled our property and then our finished basement.
Goodbye happy office space. Goodbye finished basement. Goodbye furniture. Goodbye toys. Goodbye almost everything.
November Sunflower still had to work, so as soon as possible, all of my office papers, and files were taken upstairs. A makeshift work space was erected in our living room. We moved the kitchen table into the living room, set up the computers, printer and everything else was just sort of thrown together. It’s now February and I’m still working in the same disorganized mess from the day of the flood. To say I’m losing my mind would be an understatement.
Getting a new office space organized
Unfortunately, there’s no way I’ll ever put my office in the basement again. Even though it’s slowly being put back together by my husband (walls are up, now it’s time to tape and spackle,) I’m still not putting my office down there. It’s highly unlikely the basement could ever flood again, but for me, it isn’t worth the fear. Every time it rains these days, I just keep checking the basement until the rain stops. I struggle to stamp out the fear of another flood, but I just can’t get the images of our stuff floating around my feet. #TheStruggleIsReal my friends. It’s real.
A new office space in our home is going to be in our living room for a while. As much as I try to deny it, it is what it is. Now I have to just buckle down and get the new office space organized, or I may never feel at ease again. What’s the best way to get a new office space organized? FILING SYSTEMS that work! Right now, my files are sitting in a pile and I’m missing deadlines. My filing cabinets are sitting in the garage, empty. I need to see things on my desk. I’m a visual person. I need to see the work folders in front of me.
As luck would have it, Smead has come out with a new 12-pocket stadium file organizer that’s tiered so I can easily see it. It sits right on my desk, or since it’s so easy to move, it can sit on the floor under my desk when I need more space to get work done. Totally love it. Smead SuperTab folders with oversized tab sit in the stadium file, and since the tabs are larger, it’s easier for me to write a more descriptive subject on them. If I’m working on a project with a few different parts, or if I need to bring certain folders with me, I’ve got the Smead 3-in-1 SuperTab Section folders. The 3-in-1 allows me to put multiple papers in the folder, which means my projects are organized more efficiently! I’ve got my instructions for the project, the list of photos necessary for the project, and deadlines for everything and it’s all together. Once the project is written, I can print out the final article and keep that in there, too. Once it’s time to submit the work, I’ve got everything I need in one folder! Submit, remove from the folder, staple it all together, and file it away in the TO BE PAID file in my 12-pocket stadium file organizer. AWESOME.
How do you organizer your office space? Are you the type that can file it away and remember to look at it; or do you need it on your desk, in your face, to remember what work needs to be done? What are your favorite office supplies, and file supplies? Please, share in the comments below!
