Office supplies retailer OfficeMax conducted a study of 1,000 American adults that showed the value of workplace organization. Some of their findings included:
- 71% of those surveyed say they feel more an accomplished after their workspace has been organized
- a tidy work environment made 68% of respondents feel more in control and 54% feel more confident
- 52% of those surveyed felt more motivated and 43% more relaxed when their work area was organized
It shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that a more organized work environment produces people who have a more positive outlook on things. The same can be said for those living in an organized home.
Just as workplace organizational skills are transferable from one job to the next, they’re also transferable to your home life.
Your workplace organizational skills can simplify your home life
Nearly all positive workplace organizational skills have value outside of the workplace. Examples include being a strong communicator, knowing how to plan, effectively managing your time, paying attention to detail, and being physically and mentally organized.
Applying any of these organizational skills to your home life can help simplify things and lead to a more organized, efficiently run household.
But as much as good workplace organizational skills can help at home, so too can poor organizational skills used at work follow you home.
That only creates a perpetual cycle that keeps you surrounded in clutter almost all of the time. This contributes to higher stress levels and poor productivity, both at work and when it comes to getting your house in order.
If some of your organization-related skills at your job or home aren’t what they should be, work on improving them and then reap the benefits they’ll provide when applied in either environment.
Here are five workplace organizational skills that you’ll find very helpful when used at home.
1. Establishing clear goals
Your employer will have certain work expectations that need to be met. You’ll also have personal goals that you set for yourself, such as exceeding a weekly work quota or earning a particular promotion within a specific timeframe.
Having a clear focus on what your goals are will increase the odds that you’ll fulfill them. And while it’s always admirable to be ambitious with your work and career goals, remember to keep things realistic. There’s no shame in adjusting your goals to accommodate previously unforeseen variables or factors.
The same philosophy applies when establishing clear goals of what you want to accomplish with your home’s organization. How realistic is it to get a certain number of chores done within the time you have available? When will you realistically be finally able to add that long sought-after laundry room?
2. Knowing how to effectively plan
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, author of the beloved children’s book The Little Prince, once said “A goal without a plan is just a wish”.
You’ll need to have an effective plan in place to reach your long-term or short-term goals at work. Smart planning is a key organizational skill for anyone seeking success in their field.
Effectively managing appointments, schedules, and deadlines are all part of this process. Creating to-do lists are always helpful as well.
Schedules, deadlines, and to-do lists can also be extremely helpful when used at home in order to keep on top of things. Some of the organization apps we wrote about recently can make things even easier to manage.
3. Managing your time well and prioritizing
With established goals and a plan in place, which tasks will take priority over others? Understanding the best approach to tackling your to-do list will result in their successful completion. You’ll also experience less of the frustration that comes when goals aren’t met.
For example, certain tasks at work might be harder to complete at certain times of the day due to interruptions that make it difficult to focus.
This same scenario could also occur at home. Perhaps your laundry duties are taking longer than they should because you’re being interrupted by your kids who need help with their homework.
Understandably, their educational needs come first. Scheduling your laundry chores for a time when they’re out of the house (such as at a hockey practice) will result in more productive results when it comes to completing this task.
This is simply choosing to work smart. When your organizational skills help you effectively prioritize and multi-task, you’ll accomplish more.
And getting more done is only useful if you’re actually getting more done at a high standard level. Taking on lots of tasks and only getting decent results for each of them (as opposed to great results) isn’t the goal here.
4. Being physically and mentally organized
Being physically organized means keeping your environment tidy and clean, whether it’s your work office, home office, or bedroom.
Decluttering regularly is essential if you want to sustain an organized workspace or home. At work, this can include getting rid of unnecessary paperwork, keeping your desk clean, and managing digital clutter such as email.
It can be tricky finding enough time to tidy up at work or home, so you’ll want to make it as easy as possible to do so. That OfficeMax survey reveals that about a quarter of those polled said that not having the right organizational tools or systems made it more challenging to stay organized.
In the home, you could turn to a helpful closet organizer to make it easier to manage your wardrobe collection. Closet organizers allow you to group like items together so that you can easily find a specific piece of clothing.
Other helpful closet accessories like drawer dividers to separate socks, ties, and undergarments, or a retractable valet rod for extra hanging space can also save you time.
Once you’ve taken steps to ensure your world is physically organized, you’ll find it easier to achieve a balanced, healthy level of mental organization. That helps you focus better and be more productive in your career and your home life.
Being physically organized includes maintaining a tidy closet.
5. Communicating and getting support
Strong communication skills will always serve you well. If you’re a leader at your work, that means making sure your workers understand what’s expected of them. Any strong leader also has a good sense of when and how much they should delegate.
For the non-bosses, part of their organizational skills includes constantly communicating with leaders and co-workers to maximize workplace efficiency. They should know when to ask for support and help if certain tasks are beyond their capabilities or time availability.
At home, a healthy level of communication between all family members capable of doing chores is important, too. Delegating tasks and holding family members accountable for their completion, in addition to lending others a hand with chores all work towards creating a harmonious household that’s more likely to stay organized.
Helping people get their home physically organized is what Organized Interiors specializes in. We provide free in-home design consultations, so schedule yours today.