I’m going to be honest with you. The room I hate the most in our house is the farm office. I dread having to go in there and work. I didn’t always hate it. It used to be organized and neat. I used to keep everything filed in my file cabinet in folders. I had it set up perfectly for me. This last year has kicked my but though. Between the craziness of 2020 and the addition of our youngest son to our family I haven’t had the time to keep the office organized like I want. It seems like I never have the time to get in there and organize it like it was originally. Every time I walk in the door I get overwhelmed with everything that needs to be done. But, as I was sitting in there looking at all the chaos I realized, that farm office is a lot like our life at the moment. It’s crazy, chaotic, and unorganized, but everything I need is in there and I know where everything is at. Yes, there are stacks of paperwork everywhere, bills that haven’t been filed in way too long, and manuals that haven’t gotten put back in their drawer. But I can find something when I need it and all the bills are paid. Yes, my office is a disaster, but it’s the best I could do this year. Does your office get to be a disaster like mine has become? Do you walk in there and immediately get overwhelmed? Trust me I understand. The thing is I am great at organizing an office normally. I can not stand working in an area that isn’t organized. That’s the main reason I hate going in my office right now. I can’t stand the clutter and chaos. I am in the process of getting my my office back in shape and wanted to pass along some helpful tips I’ve learned. My mom is the one that always preached that in order to work efficiently you had to be organized. She taught me everything she knows and I’ve learned other tricks along the way. I hope this article helps you tackle your office chaos and hopefully we’ll all get our offices in working order together.
Office Space
I’ve seen a lot of home offices. Some are big and some are small. It really depends on your preference. My mom has a big home office. I on the other hand have a small home office. I would prefer a big office but the way our house is set up that just wasn’t possible. I was extremely happy to have any office in it at all. I will suggest if you are adding onto your house or building a house to please make your office the size of an average bedroom. You may not think you need that big of an office, but trust me you will use it and be glad for the space for years to come.
Filing
Filing is the thing I let slip through the cracks this last year. Because I didn’t stay on top of it my office is a disaster, with stacks of papers everywhere. It’s incredibly easy to get behind on filing or, not think of it as something you should do often. You may think well, I’ll just leave these papers right here and file them later. DO NOT DO THAT! Once you get your filing system set up it takes five minutes to file the papers away. I fell into the routine of stacking my papers and bills on my desk once I was done with them, instead of taking the extra five minutes to file them. Because of that my office looks like a bomb went off in it. Please learn from my mistakes and take the extra five minutes to file your paperwork once you are done with it. Now, there are a few ways you can set your filing system up. I use file cabinets with file folders. I love my filing cabinets but, I know they can be expensive. I got mine used from a business that was getting rid of old ones to get new ones. Try looking for used ones in your area or check with business to see if they are getting rid of old ones. If you don’t want to use filing cabinets a good alternative is file boxes. You can get them relatively cheep and keep your files in those. I have my files set up with a filing cabinet drawer for personal expenses and paperwork, and a second drawer for farm expenses and paperwork. Now you might be wondering why I need two filing cabinets if I only use two drawers for my files. You’ll find out what I keep in my other drawers in the next section. Now, the best thing to do is to file your bills and paperwork as soon as you are done with it. Then at tax time you have all your paperwork together in one place. After I finish with my taxes I clean all the paperwork out of my filing drawers and put it in a file box. I do this so I can make room for my current year’s paperwork. I choose to leave the file folders in the filing drawer so I can reuse them. Once I have all my completed paperwork in the box, I label it with the year it applies to and store it in our shed. This way, I keep all my paperwork organized and together incase I need to go back and reference it. Since I also have a small office this lets me keep my office from getting cluttered. Everyone has their own way to set up their filing system but this is what works for me, so I thought I’d share it with you.
Paperwork to Keep on Hand
Ok, you read in the previous section how I had two filing cabinets in my office and only used two drawers for filing. Here is where you find out how I use the rest of the space. There is certain paperwork that you always want to keep within reach when farming and ranching. For me that paperwork includes, user manuals, deeds, titles, registrations, insurance policies, and loan documents. If your farmer or rancher is anything like mine and my dad, then the last thing they think about is keeping up with a manual for a generator, or knowing what insurance will cover. But when the day comes they need this information they expect you to know it. That’s why my mom always taught me to keep that paperwork easily accessible at all times. The chances are you will hardly ever need this paperwork. But, the times you do need it, you need it ASAP. I have a filing drawer for manuals and one for deeds, titles, and registrations. In another drawer I combine insurance policies and loan documents separating them in file folders. I combine those two because neither of them fill a drawer on their own. The remaining three drawers I have left I use to store my office supplies such as ink, paper, and extra file folders.
Office Equipment
Let’s talk about office equipment. This is an area that can get expensive in a hurry if you aren’t careful. Before you run to the store and buy what you think you need do some research. Stop and think about exactly what you will be doing and what you will need. You will most likely need a computer, printer, scanner, copier, and back up hard drive. You can shop around and find all in one printers that include a scanner. I recommend getting one that takes the big cartridges instead of the small ones so you don’t have to order ink as often. I also suggest getting a wireless one. Now with computers you have to decide what you want. For me, I didn’t want a desktop. I prefer a laptop because I could sit in my living room or outside and watch the kids while they play while I worked. My mom prefers a desktop. It really is just your preference. Most employees in the store are more than happy to help you find a computer that works for you. I got my laptop by calling and telling the employee at Best Buy what I needed a computer to do and he was able to recommend which ones would work for me. Remember you don’t have to have the most expensive or high tech equipment. At the end of the day you just need something that will work for you.