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You know I’m big on getting a firm idea of your path in mind and putting it into action. I’m also big on taking action on the goals you have set out to achieve. But sometimes we need help.
And that’s what this is about. One of my themes for this year’s goals is to simplify. I decided that would begin with my office.
It has gotten smaller over time because of all the clutter and it doesn’t work as effectively for me as it used to. So the first task is to tackle the stacks and then change it up into a more workable configuration.
Here’s where you come in. I would love for you to help keep me on track with this goal. Bump me by leaving a comment, send me a tweet or write on my FaceBook wall. My hope is to complete the cleanup during February and get the new configuration in place in March.
Here are the before (the way it is!) pictures so we are all on the same starting page. I’ll post “afters” too. Ready?
This is looking in the office from the door. Notice the boxes under my desk? Plus, if you do a comparison, you’ll notice that the window sill of business books to review has grown since I posted a picture on Jan 1.
My computer desktop and work table stay pretty organized (because I stack everything somewhere else!), but my bookshelves and non work areas are cluttered with stuff.
More stacked stuff to organize.
This is my bookcase which takes up one wall of my office — it is so huge. I have most of the shelves stuffed two deep!
And this is the worse spot of all. Notice the gray storage container on the floor? It’s empty. Been there for a year because I had good intentions of archiving my files. Oy!
So there you have it. The beautiful before pictures. What do you think?
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A small business owner since 1996,
Twitter: SherylSchuff
Says:
January 22nd, 2010 at 12:16 am
Denise,
Compared to my office, yours looks pretty tidy LOL. I’ve got 3 desks, a table, several chairs, bookshelves, and filing cabinets. It might look cluttered (sorry, no pics) but it’s actually pretty well organized.
Two things have really been key for me in the past year. Using online services like Remember the Milk, Google calendar, Evernote, and Dial2Do helps me get rid of lots of notes and scraps of paper that used to be everywhere.
For getting stuff off of horizontal surfaces and into filing boxes, drawers, or the shredder, the trick is to spend 10-15 minutes doing just that every day.
When I thought of it as a big project, it became TOO big of a project. But I can handle a few minutes every day. While my computer is booting, while email is downloading, etc.
I’m sure you’ll find the way that works best for you. Good luck.
Sheryl
P.S. What I need help with now is lighting, so I can easily shoot some quick videos at my desk.
Twitter: deniseoberry
Says:
January 22nd, 2010 at 5:55 am
Sheryl – Thanks! Those are really good suggestions about the use of online services to help organize. I appreciate the resources. And that’s a really good idea about spending a few minutes each day. One reason why these piles just keep getting bigger is because of the overwhelm factor. The job of organizing the office just seems so big it’s easy to be tired before you even start.