Tag Archives: Paperless

Creating a Productive Home Office – Update 1

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I wrote a few weeks ago about my aim to totally revamp my home office and make it a truly productive home office. Well, I just thought I would provide an update as to where I am with this.

After deciding to proceed, I removed everything out of my home office and I was amazed with how much clutter I had accumulated over the years. There was no way that I was going to move all of this back into my new office. I removed my wall units and filled the walls to make it a clear canvas!

I then had the walls painted and bought a new carpet. I decided on quite a calming creamy brown color that looked both stylish and modern.

So, after all this I was left with a nice empty room, and a lot of clutter in my garage!

I was originally planning on new office furniture from IKEA but I was very disappointed with the selection. It all looked a bit too cheap and nasty. The build quality of the cabinets was shocking. I then looked at Staples and although the quality was better there was limited selection in the showroom and I would have had to order from a catalogue and I really believe seeing and touching furniture is important.

I eventually made a trip to a company local to me that I had used before called JP Office Furniture and I am glad that I did! They took the measurements of my office and made me a great 3D model. They then worked out which products would fit exactly. They provided me with 12 wood samples to take home and I eventually opted for the Walnut.

I ordered a great desk, double draw filing cabinet and great curvy cabinet. I will have an acre of desk space and this is one thing that was a requirement for my new office. I also opted for a matching double bookcase wall unit.

This was not a cheap option but I think it will be reflected in the quality. The price also includes delivery and installation so I can leave my screwdriver in my toolbox!

Below is a graphic of the 3D representation that JP did for me.

Productive Office

The good news is that this is now built and ready for me and getting installed in my house tomorrow!

I have also ordered and taken delviery of a Drobo, filled with 4TB and a Fujitsu ScanSnap S1500M. There sure will be some posts coming about both of these new toys and my strive for a paperless office!

I cannot wait to get off my kitchen table and office floor and back to working on a desk..

Update 2 to come soon, as soon as I get back in my office!

Creating a Productive Home Office

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Messy Home OfficeI am happy to say that I am eventually upgrading my home office and this is something I am really looking forward to.

My current office layout is now nearly 8 years old and a lot has changed since then. Time for a change and time for me to start with a blank canvas and plan an ideal and productive home office.

My home office 9 foot x 7 foot, so a pretty good size for just me and all the techie gadgets I can fit into it!

I am trying to get quite a minimal layout within my office whilst building a great working environment. My current office is rather cluttered and does become a dumping ground for a lot of things.

So, the essentials I need as far as I can see are a chair, desk, filing cabinet, inbox trays, and some cabinet to hold my printer.

I am totally clearing my office and buying everything new. I am going to take down my wall units and get the office painted and new carpet.

I currently have a desk with two drawers down each side. One is a drawer and filing cabinet and the other is three drawers. The filing cabinet is bad as it is hard to get my files in and out due to the layout of the drawer and the fact that it does not fully open. I currently have quite a cheap fake leather chair. My printer is on the top of a nice Ikea wooden cupboard.

For my new office I want a big, curved desk to hold my MacBook Pro and 30″ Monitor. I have seen one in Ikea from the Galant range. I want to do away with pedestal drawers as I just seem to fill these with junk, as most drawers are in most offices.

I am looking for a nice premium but trendy chair. Not really started looking but one in Costco does take my eye although it is quite expensive at £250.

I currently do not have a great filing capability and I must have a good filing cabinet in my new office. I want at least two drawers with the ability to utilize my manila folders and A to Z system.

I do not implement the Tickler File so no need for the 43 folders!

I have a laser printer that I do use quite a lot when I need to print anything out. It is only a small footprint but I still need some cabinet to keep it in, ideally out of view.

I am also really fancying a scanner to go totally paperless. I currently have a HP OfficeJet All In One but this has a large footprint and takes an absolute age to scan from.

I therefore will purchase a Fujitsu ScanSnap. The models I am looking at are the S300M or the S510M. These are not cheap scanners but the ability to duplex scan as well as use the ability to load the document tray with up to 20 sheets makes these a very attractive proposition.

I love Evernote and the ability to scan from the ScanSnap scanners straight to Evernote looks amazing, and one of my main drivers for trying a totally paperless office.

If I implement a paperless office I am going to need a good shredder. I currently have a bin shredder but it is quite lightweight so I may look at the cost of updating to something more heavy duty as I plan to shred everything I can.

I will take photos and keep you all updated of my new workspace.

Also, the photo at the top of this post is NOT my current home office 🙂

I would love to hear any recommendations anybody has about building the ideal home office or the choice of equipment to place in the office to make it as productive as possible.