minimize clutter in my office.

I have two desks at work, neither of which I have seen the top of for about 2 years. And don’t even get me started on my home office…

I now have a really small office and it’s fairly tidy and not too cluttered.

I got a ScanSnap scanner and am slowly moving all my archived paper out of the filing cabinet to either a box file or just a pdf.

When I packed up my house to move abroad, I had some hard decisions about what to keep, what to donate, what to pitch. But I didn’t want to schlep a bunch of stuff I didn’t need, didn’t like the thought of just boxing it up and having to go through it later so I buckled down one night and just plowed through. I went from something like 6 boxes to bags and bags and bags of shredded stuff and 2 boxes I kept.

Now, to keep my new office this lean and clean. We’ll see…I have a feeling this goal might get added again sometime down the road.

it just comes back

The only things on my desk now are the things that need to be there. No extra papers or pens or knick-knacks of various sorts are around here anymore. I’ve reclaimed my workspace.

Well, I have space to work on, drawers to either side, a shelf above me to hold my reference books. There is light and space to move around.

Does this mean I’ve managed to minimize the clutter? I’ll give it a few more days and then make a decision on this goal one way or the other.

this ties in with my ‘work smarter’ and ‘throw things away’ things to do.

Why do I allow myself to move boxes I haven’t even opened since my move before last? Why have I allowed them to sit in my guest room in my guest room for the year I have been in my current place? Why am I afraid to throw away my papers, exams, notes and textbooks I haven’t looked at or touched in over 7 years since college?

I began picking through the piles and mystery boxes yesterday and found myself buried for hours. I made a small, visible dent but oh my, I have a lot to sort out before house guests arrive and the Salvation Army comes to take away the useable things on Wednesday.