I have spent the last few months becoming more organized. Although it’s taken a lot of time, it saves much more time in the long run. As many of you know my blog is a business and I do online marketing for companies so I need an office and workstation to keep me on task.
I am a big fan of Silicon Valley on HBO and if you watch close enough you can actually learn some amazing office management skills. One of my favorite scenes on the show is the scrum chart Jared creates for the team to stay on task. I became completely obsessed with the idea behind the scrum chart. I knew immediately I had to have my own scrum chart. It’s amazing how it keeps me organized and my work completed on time. I also use an editorial calendar online. I’ll share it with you one of these days. With my scrum chart and calendar I am never off task!
I’m sure you’re now intrigued by the episode if you haven’t seen it so here it is:
I started with a whole wall scrum chart which worked amazingly but quickly realized I needed more of my wall for other organizational items. Plus, it really wasn’t so pretty… here’s my original below. Of course, my son had to have his own label too.
So, I sadly tore down my scrum chart wall and decided to rethink how I could use the wall to stay organized while keeping my beloved scrum chart.
First I headed out to my favorite one-stop shop for decor, the nearest AtHome Store in Kansas City. I’m never a browser when it comes to shopping but this store could have me browsing for hours. It is simply wonderful. If you haven’t checked one out you absolutely must!
I already had a cork board and dry erase calendar but wanted to add some wire wall baskets, shelves, and chalk board labeling so I headed over to AtHome to find them. I set my budget at $100 for finding my must-have items. I had actually been to the store a few weeks prior for my post on 6 Design Tips for Decorating on a Budget. I knew I’d be back after that visit!
Check out our video below of our AtHome shopping haul:
Creating a Scrum Chart
Supplies:
- wall, cork board
or dry erase board
- labels – a printer to print labels
- washi tape
– something to use to section off if you like
- sticky notes
- sharpie
or 
– something to use to section off if you like
You can use a whole wall, cork board, dry erase board or whatever your heart desires to create your own scrum chart. Decide what your labels will be vertically. I included things like giveaways, sponsored posts, reviews, etc. but yours can be whatever you need for staying on task. The horizontal labels at the top can be ice box (things not yet started), emergency (things to be done in 24 hours or less), in progress and completed. I ended up leaving completed off on my cork board because I ran out of room and figured I’d toss the sticky notes once they were finished anyways.
From there it’s pretty much self explanatory on how to create your scrum chart. I definitely want to add nicer labels to mine. My nicer color printer is on the fritz for some reason so these bland ones will have to do for now. What am I saying… that printer has been on the fritz for several months now, possibly a year. Long story short – I wanted to save a few bucks so I ordered the generic ink for it on Amazon and now I can’t get it to work! So, I’m hoping magically it will start printing again. I’ll try some of that magic on it tonight and see if it will work.
Wall Office Workstation
Supplies:
- Dry Erase Calendar
- Shelves
- Baskets (AtHome Store)
- Wire Baskets/Organizers (AtHome Stores)
- Must-have “Every Day I’m Hustling” burlap banner (AtHome Stores)
I had the dry erase calendar I had snagged a few months ago. I wish it were bigger but then it would take up more space than I’d like so it will have to do. My mom gave me the shelves to use for the baskets. If I ever am in need of anything on short notice I can pretty much count on her to have it. She’s like a neat and organized version of a hoarder. She’s also a storage container hoarder. She went to the AtHome Store with me and bought baskets. I’m like don’t you have a million baskets? Apparently that’s not enough. She needed a specific sized basket with handles that she just didn’t have on hand.
Back to the wall office workstation… I had a whole system on putting everything on the wall. I didn’t have any rolls of paper so I used old wrapping paper I’d had for years. I measured everything out to size on the wrapping paper and used painters tape to tape to where I wanted everything on the wall. I measured everything out in the beginning but realized it was taking a long time so I started eyeballing it. I quickly realized it looked pretty darn fantastic. I wish I’d taken a picture of this so you could all appreciate my hard work as much as I did. I have realized I am officially an amazing DIY’er…
My husband came in and said he’d help. He didn’t seem to think too much of my eyeballing approach. Apparently my wrapping paper cut outs weren’t working for him and he ended up putting everything on the wall for me. It was pretty darn nice but I’d spent a whole lot of time cutting out those cut outs for nothing.
The drill wasn’t charged when we put everything up so I went back in to add some screws for the shelving. I didn’t even think about the screw heads being too large for the back of the shelves. Ugh! So now I have to find a smaller screw and redo. I’ll update with pics of the shelves once I find some smaller screws in my not-yet organized garage!
We use the dry erase board calendar for my son’s school. He loves being able to add his own things to it easily. It keeps him organized which he loves.
Besides being perfect for an at-home office you can create these workstations for your college kids in their dorm room.
What’s your secrets to staying organized in your home office? Comment below and share with us!