Small Business Tax Center
Small Business Ideas, Grants &
Plans to Start & Run a Business:

Small Business Grants
CyberSchmooz
Network in Cyberschmooz Community Ask Questions Questions and Answers Share Tips Small Business Ideas List Your Business Business Advice from Idea Cafe Experts Coffee Talk with Experts Starting A Business Business Plan Biz Planning | Sample Plans Small Business Ideas Idea Name Your Biz Name Plan Your Biz Plan Financing $ Starting a Business Do It! Running your Business Marketing Tips Promotional Merchandise Marketing Tips Marketing | Sales | Customers Human Resources HR | Employees | Contractors Legal Forms & Tax Information Legal | Biz Forms Managing a Business Managing | Operations
Financing Resources Financing Your Business E Commerce & Webhosting eCommerce Take Out Info Trade Publications FREE Trade Publications Business Books Biz Books Your Own Business Small Business News Small Biz News Gen X Biz Gen X Biz Work at Home Work @ Home Business Information The Fridge - Biz Info on Ice Destress Send Awards Send Awards & Greetings Yoga At Your Desk Yoga @ Your Desk Fun Guide Guide to Find FUN Online About Idea Cafe Press Idea Cafe has received Idea Cafe in the News Idea Cafe's Kudos Kudos for Idea Cafe Advertise on Idea Cafe Advertise on Idea Cafe Privacy Policy Privacy Policy Contact Idea Cafe Contact Idea Cafe Link to Idea Cafe Link to/from Idea Cafe Join Idea Cafe
Search Idea Cafe Site Directory Site Map Online directory to business resources Biz Web Guide



Ideas to achieve a values-based business practice

Expert Answers to Biz Questions

Listen in! Pick up some expert advice to a reader's question that we selected from CyberSchmooz.

color business bar

The Biz Question

HELP!! Does anyone have any good ideas to get my home office (and me) organized?! My family thinks that what's mine is theirs. Consequently, I'm constantly removing their stuff off my desk. My husband pays the bills there (we only have one computer and the bill-paying is computerized), yet he won't clean up after himself. I can lose a piece of paper and never leave my desk! I have files; I try to keep things organized, then I find I'm over-organizing. Maybe I'll have two files for the same thing and file something in one, then be looking for it again later in the other. I'm a mess! Can someone help?

Lynne

Answer from our Guest Expert Allison Gaea Jucha of Yes!Coaching

Dear Lynne,

A home office can be very tricky, especially when it's in plain view of the entire family. But it's possible to achieve harmony with a bit of cooperation and organization. And you've done a good job identifying the two basic challenges you're facing.

  • Boundaries around what's yours; and
  • Consistent system of organization.

Only you can conquer that first one. You're going to have to make it clear whose desk it is and what it's to be used for. If others in the family can identify what purpose your desk serves for them, you and they can come up with alternative choices. It's got to be a bottom line issue. And there may need to be consequences for infringement, such as, time you spend tonight cleaning their stuff off your desk equals time you don't spend driving them to a friend's house this weekend. As for the bill paying, even a large basket as an after-bill-paying dumping ground may be preferable to sorting through your stuff and the bills.

Examine how it serves your family not to pick up after themselves. Do you automatically clean up after them (muttering in frustration the whole time)? Why should they do what you have carefully, albeit begrudgingly, agreed to do? Stop doing their work!!! Stop right now! Let them know what they need to do and NEVER pick up after them again.

As for number two, some people are born organizers; some achieve organization; and some have it thrust upon them. You may want to thrust this job, initially anyway, onto a professional organizer who will identify your needs and, with you, develop a system that works for you. Professional organizers can offer a plan that suits all budgets and spaces.

For information, referrals, and local chapters, look up the National Association of Professional Organizers at http://www.napo.com. Or if you'd like, write, call, or fax them.

National Association of Professional Organizers
1033 La Posada, Suite 220
Austin, TX 78752

referral Line: (512) 206-0151

Fax: (512) 454-3036

Let your family know they're important to you, but let them know your work is important too. They're not your work; they're your relationships. Household management and family life are accomplished by all working together. It's not too much to ask that you have your space respected the way they would like theirs respected.

Allison

Have a biz question of your own? Go post it in CyberSchmooz

Meet the Experts

Google      

Small Business Tax CenterIdea Cafe HomeSign UpBiz Grant CenterCyberSchmoozCoffee Talk with ExpertsPeople in Biz ProfilesStarting Your BizBiz PlanningRunning Your BizFREE Trade PublicationsMarketingFinancing Your BizHuman ResourcesLegal & Biz FormsManaging Your BizeCommerceYou and Your BizGen XWork@HomeThe FridgeDe-StressSend an AwardSend an eGreetingYoga @ Your DeskWeb GuideIdea Cafe in the NewsAbout Idea CafeAdvertise on Idea CafeContact UsPrivacy PolicySite MapSmall Biz News

Copyright 1995-2024, Idea Cafe Inc. Downloads are for personal use only, not for resale to others, and may not be reprinted in any form without written permission from Idea Cafe Inc.

DISCLAIMER: We hope whatever you find on this site is helpful, but be cautioned that it may not apply to your own situation, or be totally current at any given time. Idea Cafe Inc. and all of its current and past experts, sponsors, advertisers, agents, contractors and advisors disclaim all warranties with regard to anything found anywhere on this family of websites, quoted from, or sent from Idea Cafe. and its related sites, publications and companies. We also take no responsibility for comments published by others on these pages.

TRADEMARKS: The following are Registered Trademarks or Servicemarks of DevStart, Inc.: Idea Cafe®, Online Coffee Break®, The Small Business Gathering Place®, Take out Info®, Biz Bar & Grill®, Complaint-O-Meter®, A Fun Approach to Serious Business™, CyberSchmooz™, and BizCafe™.