No-Clutter ZoneWhen you can't afford to waste time, you can't afford to be disorganized. Need any more incentive to straighten up your home office?

Are you wasting more than one month each year working in aninefficient home office? If you waste just one hour a day, fivedays a week, at the end of the year, you'll have wasted morethan 32 eight-hour days. Whether you've just recently openedyour homebased business or have spent many years working from home,an inefficient home office can waste your time, stunt your businessgrowth and reduce your cash flow. Before you spend one more day (ormonth) looking for lost items, fighting with an office arrangementthat you've outgrown or adding more unread magazines to analready towering stack, stop what you're doing and considermaking a few changes.

Location, Location

Perhaps you started your homebased business in any old spot inyour home, just to get going. Now it's time to settle into amore strategic location. Designate an area in your home, whetherit's a spare bedroom, a room above your garage or space in yourdining room, that can best be used as your office. Keep the areaclear of nonbusiness-related items and handle only work-relatedtasks in this area. Although a particular room may seem ideal foryour office at first glance, consider whether it's a placewhere you can maintain your productivity, keep track of papersrelated to your business and, more important, work with minimalinterruptions.