A) a place for everything and everything in its place.
B) no more paper on the floor.
C) little objects into a box
D) convention stuff like business cards and cover flats into one drawer all its own.
E) desktop clear of everything. Period.
F) tape, clips, scissors, stapler all accessible.
G) specialty papers like photoprint and label flats all in slots ready for use
H) three bins on the door: one TO PAY or DEAL WITH, one TO FILE, and one RECEIPTS. To be used.
I) mail to be opened, tossed, or assigned one of those categories on receipt.
J) wastecans accessible and frequently emptied
K) the sorting rack reserved for actual work.
L) books and other such sent to storage, not the working space.
That’s my story and I’m sticking to it. With just a 10×10 clerical space with a 3×5 closet, out of which we run everything from art to bookkeeping and store all clerical supplies (not the boxes of records and older stuff and reference stuff that takes up most of the basement), we just don’t have room for unidentified stacks of things in the little working space, and we don’t need the stress of finding a bill and trying to apply valuable brain cells to figure out if that was the one we mailed last month or not. We’re better at putting PD on things, but we just need not to have stacks of stuff that force us to reconstruct what we did a month ago, before the convention. Stacks are the enemy…
I empathize with your situation. I have a 6′ x 15′ workspace at work in which I keep up with at least 10 separate projects a year. (This year it’s 23 projects. Don’t ask) By regulation I have to keep the data and answer questions on it for up to ten years. At the end of every fiscal year I have a big shredding party for stuff that turns ten years old, after I’ve made sure the data has been scanned and archived such as it is. In the last two years we’ve gone from four employees in my office to two. Guess who inherited the files and contents of (unmarked) hard drive, floppies, bernoulli disks, CDs, DVDs and four full size filing cabinets with no room to spare. Since I’m retiring at the end of the year (YAAA!) I have spent all my free time during the last two weeks going through my files so that I can turn over 22 years of data, programs, templates, and accumulated cheatsheets, etc. to the one remaining analyst. Sequestration will mean that my agency will not be able to hire anyone to take my place and since we’ve been suffering through a hiring freeze for the last three years, my sole office mate is stuck holding the bag.
Thank goodness I’m organized at work, but I just can’t manage to do the same at home. Our library at home has upwards of four thousand books that have taken over the walls and the floor and the guest bed that is now inaccessible. Our den has my spouse’s computer, three game consoles, and the rest of his office. We took the folding doors off the closet and put shelves into the closet so that all the office supplies could live in the closet, but whenever I go looking, anything I want can reliably be found on spouse’s computer work station (under piles of other stuff).
I handle the bills at my workstation that lurks in the dining room next to the kitchen. The dining table has piles of magazines and stuff left from when my son moved out and didn’t have enough room to take it all with him. Every time he makes the ten hour drive out to visit he takes a little bit or gets rid of something, but it never seems to be enough. My New Year’s Resolution will be to tackle one room a month for the first year of retirement, and get it cleaned up, everything put away, sold, or given away, and the room painted with new window treatments, and new furniture as needed, so we’re not sitting on 30 year old chairs, or having guests sleeping in 25 year old children’s beds.
2013 is going to be busier than I thought retirement was supposed to be.
Lol—I thought when I quit teaching that there would be all this Time…….
I think if I had Ari’s facilities, I’d clone myself and Jane about 10 times and take a deep breath.
We could hold decorating progress photo contests…exchange paint chips and tile samples… lol! We’ve just been where you’re heading for, and we STILL have the basement stairs to civilize. Right now they’re incredibly ratty carpet over really bad wood, and we dream of polished oak treads with a central runner in some tasteful Japanese chrysanthemum shadow pattern with brass carpet rods (those things that hold the runner steady)…but we’ll probably settle for clean and functional. 😉
Did you ever read The Gammage Cup? Which involved among other things a character who organized by piles . I always so related to her. 🙂
I loved The Gammage Cup and found a remaindered copy of it some years ago:hmmm…. I am just starting a week’s vacation tonight. Perhaps I will pull it out….
After all my home improvement projects, the tool room looks like Fibber McGee’s closet, and we DON’T mention the Captain’s Cabin…!
My (home) office is slowly but surely reaching “critical mess.” I have this honking great computer “desk” which has flanking bookcases, computer cabinet, hanging file drawers all in one monumental, space-hogging, monolithic structure which my BFF refers to as “the cockpit” which I hope to break apart and haul to the alley, keeping the two-drawer hanging file cabinet part, maybe. All this in favor of a computer setup that takes less space — in the process going on a bigtime “shred, donate, sell or trash” -ing bender. Hopefully, I’ll be able to maximize my space and have room for a craft/sewing area, and a reading nook with a nice floor lamp. Don’t hold your breath waiting for it to happen, though. . .
Really sticking with these two things from your list:
I) mail to be opened, tossed, or assigned one of those categories on receipt.
J) wastecans accessible and frequently emptied
has made a *big* difference in my home office situation. Now if I could only make myself file the stuff before the “To Be Filed” stack gets three inches high…
I feel your pain. I only JUST (like two weeks ago just) replaced my hulking bat-puter-ready corner desk with a much slimmer, stand-up desk. So of course the question is what the heck I’m going to do with all the stuff that was in the cubbies.
This isn’t as big a problem as it might be because I’ve been slowly weeding out some of the junk over the last few years, but I still have quite a bit of stuff to get rid of/find a home for.
It sort of reminds me of back in the day when I used to carry a purse. I kept getting bigger and bigger purses, and the stuff I *had* to carry expanded with every size upgrade.
I finally got a fanny pack for casual and a tiny dress purse for when I wanted to dress up, and lo and behold, it was amazing how little I actually *needed*. This already seems to be happening with the new desk set up–we got one additional book case so that I could free up a shelf on the current bookcase to store my printer paper/supplies, and it’s truly amazing how quickly the mess is disappearing.
I’m also packing up some of my knick-knacks–the desk and a new TV with TV shelf means I have much less space for displaying stuff, so I got myself a banker’s box and some bubble wrap, and I’m only keeping the stuff I truly like/keep for sentimental reasons. When I want a change from the current knick-knacks, I’ll swap them out for some of the ones that are currently put away.
We can already see a difference, I can’t wait to finish up.
Wicker basket modular units have been a help for us, fairly decent looking, light, easy to take the whole thing out at need, stack on shelves. We lucked out when we moved into this place and needed a desk to hold all the crud—we went to a second-hand office place, and they had this monster desk that’s a big equal-sided L that fit our little office so precisely the left end is even with the woodwork of the door. It has hole for computer in the center, a monitor platform—and it has a whole big—whatever you call it:top unit with shelves on one side of the L. We could not have asked for a better fit, and when we put that dark brown unit in, it made the pre-existing pumpkin walls look like a great color. WOrk done! We were happy with that; and extant little shelf units and a ding and dent file cabinet (who cares if there’s a dent in the back?) finished out the walls, not to mention two mini-chairs for sitting and consulting with whoever’s pulling hair out with the accounting.
We just need one of those floor mats you can roll on handily: I’m tired of fighting that shag carpet.
And of course just now — my laptop started emitting horrid sounds. A chat online with a very nice Dell service person will produce a technician with a new heatsink and fan next week: Dell business in-house service policies are good. Thank goodness.
I turned over a new leaf when I got the imac – trying to be NO clutter workspace here … since the thing itself takes up so much less room .. seeing your post this morning I hastily filed something that had been sitting there for 2 days ….:D … but the office/sort-label-press-pack knitwear station is a terrible cluttered space. we try to keep on top of it, but Sue is not the tidiest person ….. and as for me … 🙁
I like those rules. Trash will accumulate to fill any given space!
It must be the time of year. I am redoing my sun room with computer area. One major thing I have already done is to bring the shredder out to my work space. Have noticed a difference for the better in accumulated shreddable stuff.
I find changing a room around gives me a different perspective…..almost makes me feel like I have a new space.
Good luck with all of that. I mean that with deep sincerity.
The madhouse here, it’s an uphill battle every day to control the clutter. Then again there are six people, and three people in one “office room” – which seemed so wonderful at first. There are three and a half computer stations, with a generous amount of work space around each, and then a 10×10 space in the middle of the room – it’s a sizeable room! But the “half station” is completely overwhelmed with paper clutter. One of the other stations, I am constantly battling the user’s tendency to “forget” cups, plates, and fast-food containers. Thank God she hasn’t repeated the trick she did last year – which was leaving a not-quite-empty root beer float at her station and “losing” it under her other junk. For five months….
We have cabinets, too. But even with 25 cabinet units around the perimeter of the room we still could use some lightweight units. WOL, I’d kill for that “cockpit” of yours! It sounds like something I’d make use of.
It was one of those assemble it yourself deals. I bet I’ve had it for 15 years. Too bad there’s no such thing as a teleport. I’d ‘port it to you in a New York minute. It was what I needed at the time (two complete computer setups plus room for a component stereo+ 50-CD player and a TV — which was why my BFF called it my “cockpit), but my needs are changing. I think I’m going to have to see if I can bribe a friend to help me break it apart, salvage what I want to keep of it, and haul the rest of it out to the alley. As for clutter, I am the Queen of Tchotchkies!
Happy birthday (again), Carolyn!
Long time no see, OSG!