When I opened my law firm a year ago organizing my office space was simple. I leased a space from an already established office and it came completely furnished. Desk, check. Chair, check. Filing cabinets, check. Bookshelves, check. A couple of chairs for clients, check. And it was already pre-arranged and too heavy to move.
But things have changed, and now I’m in charge of organizing my own office space. I’ve rented a space that is about 14 feet by 13 feet, and right now it only needs to hold me. But, I’ve got plans on adding a staff member sometime in the relatively near future, so I need to take that into account.
I think when anyone is organizing space the first thing you want to think about is what you actually need the space for. For me, because I’m a criminal lawyer, I need a good working space where I can hone in on the computer (I have dual monitors and work from a laptop that is docked), a place to keep all of my files, and a place to keep all of my books and materials. That’s truly all I need.
I think after that you have to think about what you want. For me, I want a space that is a little funky, that is fun to work in (I want to be excited to come to work in my office every day) and that other people think is cool. I want to be able to show my office off. It’s part of the reason I bought where I did – it’s got a warehouse type of feel with concrete floors and exposed duct work. It’s cool.
To get some inspiration I’ve been looking around at as many offices as I can, and I’ve been looking at a bunch of pictures online. As you might expect, there aren’t many criminal attorneys posting pictures of their offices online, so I’m just looking at whatever I can find.
In the end, the key to organizing your office space is thinking ahead, knowing what you want, and then executing on that vision.
