The Office

Let's face it: Most offices do little to inspire and encourage productivity. When you're a busy entrepreneur, your desk is more likely a repository for piles of paper, sticky notes and misplaced files than a smooth, Zen-like surface devoid of clutter. Faxed restaurant menus mingle with business proposals, and a drawer exists solely to house a hodgepodge of items one step away from the trash bin, allowing you to indulge--quite guiltlessly--in your pack-rat mentality. And let's not even start on your overflowing inbox.

Does any of this sound familiar? Every day, entrepreneurs look at their offices and wonder what can be done to reverse the ravages of a stress-filled environment. And just like many harried entrepreneurs, Entrepreneur magazine's editorial director, Rieva Lesonsky, was ready for that change. When she's not traveling the country promoting Entrepreneur and small business, she's spending long hours at the office, generally the first person to arrive and the last to leave. It's safe to say her office is as much her home as is her actual residence. Lesonsky's many responsibilities require her to pore over articles and layouts, magazines and e-mails, as well as host multiple meetings daily. And with her frequent travels, it's vital that her office be organized to maximize her time there. Lesonsky's demanding schedule and obligations resulted in a disheveled, mismatched and overcrowded office that was begging for a redesign.