organize my office

For me, the key was, stick to the task at hand, and not get sidetracked by all the sub-systems within the office that need organizing. I can deal with the photos that need to be sorted as a separate task. I can completely straighten out my library later. Also, I did it all in one day - with breaks - so I wouldn’t lose the momentum.

Finally, I began the job with the proper tools: A big wastebasket, bags for recycling, plastic bags to dump the wastebasket into when it was full.

I did it! I finally did it. I looked at my wonderpoodle this morning and said, “time to perform a miracle,’’ and we went upstairs and I completely cleaned an organized my very disorderly office. Threw away tons, recycled tons. Tossed all the magazines I was going to read “someday.”

I just got back from vacation, and looking around the house, I realized that the disorder in my office was sort of the source for the rest of the disorder I was creating. Everything eventually belongs in that office, but because I didn’t know where anything went, I just let it pile up.

One thing I did, which I suppose you’re not to do if you’re truly organized, is create a junk drawer for all the little things I don’t know what to do with. That was a wonderful release valve.

Now, I need to attack my other areas of disorder, and use my newly organized office as the central filing cabinet it is.

What a nightmare. My office is small, maybe 12 by 6. It’s a wonderful room other than that, with windows on three sides. But it is just crammed, and there’s stuff all over the floor because there’s nowhere to put anything. So I got out a couple boxes and started packing things that I want to keep, and put aside 50 books to sell on line, and the office is still a wreck. My goal is reduce this clutter until there is nothing in there but my book shelves, my desk, and a file cabinet. I have 8 feet of table in addition to my desk, and all kinds of files shoved under the table, and papers stacked up and shoved in every available space, and I can barely see out the window with the tower of stuff in front of me. It all has to go.