5 super-easy fixes to make your home office more productive. Hurrah!

These are so easy! Little fixes to your home-office-work-space-y stuff that’ll save you time and make you more productive!

This post is sponsored by Epson

So here are five little annoyances which I tolerated for way too long! And they were so easy to fix! Maybe they might help you TOO!

1 The slow computer

Do you have a s-l-o-w computer? I did and it drove me nuts. First of all I thought the problem was a wonky internet, then I thought my Mac was dying. Turns out I just had too much stuff stored on my computer and it was easy to fix!

I’ve been using Dropbox to back up my files (especially photos and images) for ages but I’d been keeping them synched to my computer so I still had them all on there! Not good. It kinda stuffed everything up. Home office more productive

Now I do a selective synch which means I don’t sync all my folders, just the ones I use regularly. The unsynched files are still super easy to retrieve – just through my online Dropbox rather than my computer. Home office more productive

Thank the stars! No more waiting, waiting, waiting for the spinning wheel to stop!

2 The temperamental printer

I’d had the same ol’ printer for years and it was very temperamental. Mostly I had to turn it off and on a few times just to get it to print. And the scanner; well that was totally caput. I don’t know why I hadn’t bought a new one earlier, I wasted so much time trying to fix the bloomin’ thing and ‘making do’. And in the scheme of things, printers are not that expensive (You probably know that printer manufacturers make their money on the ink not the printer.)

Anyhoo Epson kindly gave me a new printer, an Epson WorkForce WF-7610 to be exact and oh my, it’s quite changed my life!

For starters my new printer works without turning it on and off a zillion times, but it is also super-speedy! My old printer groaned and moaned it’s way through printing and, honestly, you could make a coffee between pressing ‘print’ and the final page coming out. But the Epson  – gosh it’s quick! (The first time I used it the page was printed  before I’d gotten round to pulling out the ‘landing’ tray. The page shot out like a small missile and landed on my dog: who ate it!)

The Epson does all the usual stuff (scanning, copying, printing) totally fabulously. But the thing I love super-best about it is that it prints directly from my iPhone and iPad (and any smartphone, actually). Oh this is GOOD! So much quicker to print email attachments and photos direct than it is to wake up my computer and do it from there.

Final totes important thing I should say: I’m not good with new gadgets. That’s probably one of the reasons I hadn’t replaced my printer before. I worry about the whole set-up thing. Anyhoo the Epson WorkForce WF-7610 was SO easy to set up. Really! Did it by myself! Five minutes tops!

(If you want some more info about the Epson WorkForce WF-7610 you can find it here)

3 The piles of paper

Paper, paper, paper! I have LOTS of it! And I’ve been known to waste a heap of time sifting through it to find the thing I needed! I always knew I need to be a better filer, but I never wanted to spend time doing it. You TOO?  These two tips might help!

A. Scan and save digitally

As much as possible I scan documents (and now with my new squizzy printer it’s SO much easier!) and save them in an Evernote folder. This makes it super-easy to find stuff later AND it gets rid of the paper mountain!

B. Listen to Podcasts/Audiobooks while I file

OK so I don’t like filing (or scanning) but I do like listening to Podcasts and Audiobooks so I put them on while I file/scan and then it feels like a good use of time!

If you’re not already an Audiobook person you can give it a go for free using Audible. As a start you might like one of my fave small business Audiobooks (Which you can get free on the trial. Hurrah!) by Martha Stewart: The Martha Rules: 10 Essentials for Achieving Success (Unabridged)

If you’re not currently a Podcast-y person you can get started by going to iTunes and browse the business Podcasts. You’re sure to find something which catches your eye. Or you can take a look at this list of 100 Best Small Business Podcasts.

Fun!

4 The messy desk

Although I like the idea that a messy desk is a sign that I’m a creative genius, I know that I think better and focus more if I work at a tidy one! Getting rid of paper (see 3 above) helps but I’ve also (finally) realised that getting into the routine of tidying the workspace at the end of the day is also time well spent!

Are you a messy desk or tidy desk person?!

5 The procrastinating mind

I’m a bit of a procrastinator! I can spend a lot of time at my work space doing anything other than what I should be doing! So to keep me focussed I have an Inspiration Board above my desk. My Inspiration Board is pretty simple – I just pin stuff on it that motivates me, so a few quotes, images of some products we’re creating at the moment, and notes of ideas. Simple stuff but it works for me. Maybe it will work for you too?!

♡ YOU! ♡

Have you got any tips to make your home office more productive?

MORE!

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PS If you want some HELP making a Healthy Income from your solo, boutique, homebased, homemade or other small business you might like ourHealthy Income Program! We start it again on 15 June! Free warm up is open now! You can read about it HERE!♥

 

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