Your home office • Cut the clutter – mess only makes you feel claustrophobic. All paper must be filed, recycled or shredded. For everything else, get yourself an in-tray. • Put a pile of affirmation cards on your desk to make you feel positive before starting the dreaded paperwork. • Rearrange furniture to give the room a fresh look. • Brighten up the area with fresh flowers or artwork. • Make a vision board with magnets. You can stick up pictures or quotes that inspire you, a to-do list or mantras to help keep you focused.
Your shed • Make sure you empty it for a big clean out every six months. It’s the only way to get organised. • Check the roof and walls for holes – you don’t want mice OR leaks! • Who said your shed or garage has to be dingy? Paint the floor walls and ceilings with glossy white paint. Talk about a face lift! • Introduce a sensible layout – fill one wall with shelves covered with a patterned curtain and cover the other wall with nails for you to hang tools and utensils on. • Design a relaxation corner, complete with comfy chairs and a fridge full of beers and sodas. After all the hard work, you’ll have earned it!
Your work desk • You’ll be horrified to know that the average desk harbours 400 times more bacteria than the average toilet seat!!! Clean your desk regularly. • Put a pinboard on the wall for postcards, photos of loved ones or inspiring scenes. Not only will they keep you motivated but they’ll be a good conversation starter with your colleagues. • There’s nothing more depressing than grey paper clips. Invest in some pretty coloured, shaped ones. • Add a cushion or coloured scarf to your chair. This will help make it ‘yours’, make you seem approachable to others and help you get comfortable at work. • Put your own stamp on the space with a funky coloured lamp. The warmer glow will also bring you much more pleasure than overhead fluoro strip lights.
Your document cupboard • Receipts are the leading cause of cupboard and drawer mess! Get yourself a receipt stick to put them all safely in one place. • Get yourself lots of large binders and get that paperwork organised through colour coding, file dividers and labels. • Don’t look at a boring filing cabinet! Transform it with spray paint or stick patterned vinyl on. You could even turn the front into a chalkboard or whiteboard. • Jazz up the cupboard by labelling shelves reading ‘bills’, ‘healthcare’ and ‘car insurance’. We can guarantee all those things wouldn’t seem quite so boring if they were painted onto pebbles, drawn onto flags or stencilled. • Line your document cupboard with scented paper. You won’t dread doing the bills quite so much if you’re hit with lavender whenever you open the door.
