Keeping a clutter-free office is a big challenge, and using off-site storage is inconvenient and complicated. As your company grows and adds employees, it’s hard to maintain office organization. Workstations are rearranged, desktops grow piles of paper, and extra furniture and equipment accumulate. The resulting clutter is distracting, stressful and reduces productivity. Employees feel cramped, but your budget isn’t ready for larger offices. Callbox on-demand storage is here to help! These are our favorite tips on reducing office clutter, getting organized and keeping your team happy and productive.
WHY OFFICE CLUTTER AFFECTS PRODUCTIVITY
Of course, too much clutter reduces productivity – but the reason may surprise you! We know that sorting through piles of papers slows work down, but psychology tells us that visual clutter (like a piled-up desk) raises stress levels so much that it causes people to feel overwhelmed. Everyday tasks suddenly become monumental, difficult and massive productivity suffers.
Most types of office clutter are obvious – overflowing in-baskets, desktops stacked with files, manuals and catalogs lying around. But a lot of office clutter comes from large items not currently being used. Duplicate printers, empty file cabinets and extra desks are often shoved into corners or conference areas, where they may sit for years. They take up floor space and make work areas feel cramped.
HOW TO END OFFICE CLUTTER
Organized clutter is still clutter, so be sure to tidy up, purge old files first, and then re-organize the office layout if needed. In a small office space, mobile furnishings make it easy to reconfigure workstations as needed. Use wall-mounted shelving to keep clutter from accumulating around desks? Then follow some of these Callbox office decluttering tips:
- Address large items and office layout first.
- Create a staging area for important files and equipment that will be moved out.
- Meet with staff to determine what equipment and materials they use every day.
- Ask staff to identify problem areas; they may need space to sort papers near the printer, or to purge a lot of outdated files.
- Reduce paper files – apps like Shoeboxed store expenses electronically, so you can toss those paper receipts.
- Take advantage of technology to become as paperless as possible.
- Make a list of unused furniture and equipment.
- Decide what’s worth storing for future use. For example, desks can be saved for future employees, but a printer might be outdated in a year.
- Send broken items for repair, or toss them. Sell or donate anything you can do without.
- Pack up seasonal decor.
- Have each staff member sort and purge their own work area to make re-organizing easier.
- Remove dust-catchers like fake plants and excessive knick-knacks; keep beneficial, healthy live plants.
- Send extra office supplies and organizing bins to a central closet everyone can share.
- Purge file cabinets, and sort files for archival storage or recycling.
- Label everything – files, drawers, bins and shelves, using a uniform system. Make sure everyone understands and follows it.
After the sorting and re-organizing, that staging area crammed with old files and extra furniture needs to be dealt with. Off-site storage is the next step – it’s the perfect solution to organizing any commercial office space, once and for all.
USE ON-DEMAND STORAGE TO MAXIMIZE COMMERCIAL OFFICE SPACE
Using commercial office storage might sound like a logistical nightmare. Files in storage are less convenient to access. Your business needs to track what’s been sent to storage, and someone has to do the heavy lifting. Callbox’s on-demand storage system combines innovative tech with a full-service moving staff, so your staff can get back to business!
Once you’ve organized and packed everything, Callbox sends professional movers to inventory, photograph, pack and move it to our secure facility. With our photo-based inventory system you can easily track the location of stored files; access files any time by requesting delivery back to your office.
“It’s crazy that the e-commerce industry is so evolved, yet self-storage is still so difficult to use. We created a full service storage process where we have a team of employees licensed and trained like a moving company to make it easy.”
– CEO and Founder, Kyle Bainter
Each rental contract includes one free return delivery & pickup every month, for up to five items. Full service storage makes it easy to handle staff changes too – request delivery or pickup from your stored office furniture any time.
FULL-SERVICE STORAGE REDUCES OFFICE OVERHEAD
Most businesses keep documents and materials from completed projects for a few years, in case they’re needed again. For industries like interior design or manufacturing, bulky project materials are a major source of clutter. For many legal and financial documents, long-term storage is required by law – more than ten years for some tax files. But commercial office space is too expensive to use for file storage. Full-service, on-demand storage takes these important files out of your way, but they’re secure and accessible if needed. Free up valuable commercial space for employee use, and reduce your office overhead – just by scheduling a monthly pickup by Callbox.
Callbox’s easy inventory system helps you track your stored files, with photos, through our convenient phone inventory system. Assign a discard date to archival files, and you’ll know when to bring them from storage to have them shredded.
With our flexible, cost-effective storage contracts, businesses only pay for the space they’re using. When you return items to the office and reduce your storage needs, your costs go down. Whether your business is starting out, moving, or in the process of reorganization, using Callbox is like having extra staff on hand. Our on-demand service offers flexible moving and storage solutions that:
- Prioritize staff workspaces for increased productivity
- Streamline file storage for small and mid-sized businesses
- Maximize the use of commercial office space, reducing costs
Getting a commercial office space organized and decluttered is hard work – but with the right system, you’ll only have to do it once! We’d love to help – give us a call at 833-236-6079 or start your free quote.
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