Do you struggle when it comes to starting your work? Staying inspired? Or do you get distracted easily? All of this may be improved if you take a good hard look at your workspace. Luckily, this is something that you can solve relatively easily with a little help organizing your space. Working from home can be distracting enough with everyone in your house being around while you try to focus or your dog barking in the background of your zoom call – it’s not easy. The least you can do is organize your space so you feel productive.

While working at home, you may not even have a defined workspace for yourself since your home wasn’t necessarily designed as an office. Now is the time to claim some land and get comfortable in your new office space. I know for myself, this has taken some trial and error. I started working from my bedroom and soon realized this was not going to be a good long-term solution. I soon moved down to the dining room table and have had a lot more luck with this. Try different spots in your home until you find the perfect place for optimum productivity.

Clear your space. There is nothing that compares to a clean workspace. Eliminating all distractions and clutter is the best and most important thing you can do when it comes to achieving a productive workspace. Get rid of anything that may catch your eye and distract you from your work – out of sight, out of mind.

Come prepared. This may sound funny, but it is an important reminder! Before it’s time to settle in and start your work from home, you need to have everything in place for yourself, or else you will sit down and realize you’ve left your papers upstairs, or your charger is in the other room, and ultimately you won’t start your work until 30 minutes after you had initially intended. Knowing that you have everything in place for your workday really just gives you some peace of mind. This may take some prep work, so you may have to get up a little earlier or just prepare the night before.

Get a planner! You do not have to break the bank for this step. A simple planner from Target will do the trick and it will make a world of a difference. Being able to visualize due dates will make it far easier for you to plan ahead and make time for yourself to get everything done so that you are not cramming at the last minute because you forgot something was due later today.

Make this a routine, not a one-time thing. Staying organized should be a lifestyle, and once it becomes your lifestyle you’ll never want to turn back because it simply makes everything so much easier for yourself in the long run.  By staying organized you are really just doing yourself a favor.