Jewelry shipping is small, I realize I'm lucky to be able to setup a small shipping area that doesn't have to be picked up at the end of the day. But if you can carve out a space that will let you have all envelopes, boxes, tissue, ribbon, cards, etc within reach, it will make you feel organized and efficient. If you're short on space, maybe you could set up your supplies on a roll-up sheet that can be tucked away when finished.
On top of my table is a vintage desk organizer I got from reclaimer with my delivery confirmation stickers, customs forms (yes, I still do these by hand) and my postcard inserts. There are tons of great vintage office organizers on Etsy and they feel more "special" than something from Office Depot. In my lazy susan are my jewelry cards, business cards, scissors and pen.
Right in front are my ribbons and tissue paper, where George and Martha look on. I only wish I could mount my ginormous bubble wrap roll under the table, but a certain evil cat cannot, or will not, stop chewing it. When I'm lucky enough to have a bunch of orders I try to setup an OCD assembly line, a little tower of boxes, everything done in the same order because I'm terrified of sending the wrong item.
I still hand write my forms and addresses, I'm lucky enough to live very close to a USPS facility so I don't mind the daily trips. But I'm thinking about printing labels on Etsy if I got a postage scale. I know a lot of Etsy sellers love endicia, stamps.com or ebay shipping tools.
There's a Shipping Improvement team on Etsy where you can test drive new shipping functions like processing time estimates, ship estimates, tracking - it's a great place to learn about the new improvements and how to use them. What other shipping tricks do you use?
