03.10.08
File management
One day last week, I tried to file my annual performance appraisal (which was very good, by the way) and couldn’t figure out where to put it. Where would I have filed last year’s appraisal? I asked myself. I looked in a hanging file folder labeled PROFESSIONAL, where there were several fat manila files, but it wasn’t in any of them. Hmmm… could it be in the big, black, unmarked binder in my overhead bin? Nope, it wasn’t there either. Where could it be? I know I had one from last year. Surely I filed it somewhere (was it in the to-file pile?). I went back to the lateral file and looked in a hanging file folder labeled PERSONNEL, but it wasn’t there either. Okay, now I’m frustrated! How can I lose a performance appraisal? That’s not something you just leave lying around when you have locking cabinets (unless you’re me).
While looking through my PERSONNEL hanging file (which was overstuffed, by the way), it hit me– I’ve been supervising employees for fifteen years and I’ve never created a decent file system for them. If I had to place my hands on their performance appraisals from last year (which I’m gonna have to do this week), I bet I couldn’t find them. What kind of a manager am I?
I began to panic. A quick search of the bottom of my lateral file drawer turned up theirs– and mine! all lying flat and hidden under a blank mileage reimbursement form. Hmmm….how did those get down there? I don’t remember putting them there (but I know I did). I probably put them there because the PERSONNEL hanging file was overstuffed with folders from long-gone staff who will never darken our doors again.
When I was going through folders looking for last year’s appraisals, I found a photocopied page from an unnamed organizing book. It was stuffed in a folder with job analysis questionnaires and had nothing to do with the questionnaires. How appropriate it was misfiled! I think I found it for a reason… as I believe everything happens for a reason. Two of the main points it mentioned were: 1.) 80% of what gets filed never gets used again ; and, 2.) Only touch paper once (gaaaahhh! I hate that one!). I now believe in #1 and am struggling to believe in #2.
Today, I was waiting on my computer to synchronize files when I realized this was the perfect time to clean out and organize my employee files. Why not? I couldn’t do anything on the computer for a short chunk of time. So I whipped through the folders, creating new ones, moving former employees to the back of the hanging file and even putting their performance appraisals from last year in each of their (new) folders. Wow! Now I feel motivated to begin working on their current appraisals, since those are a little overdue…
03.05.08
The big purge
When a vendor sales rep stopped by this morning and asked if I had received a packet he had sent me last fall, I couldn’t remember if I had it. I went back to my office to look for it, but when I saw the huge paper piles and thought of the stuffed files, I knew that if I had it, I’d never find it before the meeting got started. We gave him a new assignment to research for us, so I wasn’t worried that I couldn’t find his packet (I don’t think he ever sent it to me in the first place). But after he left, I was so disgusted with myself for having so much paper junk that I began a massive paper purge.
I was heartless. I thought about the fact that 80% of what gets filed never gets looked at again. I upped that number to 90% by the time I finished purging. I started making a stack of discarded papers. Everything went in it– old committee papers, old conference proceedings, old vendor promotional pamphlets. Most of it was 2-12 years old– gaahh! How could I keep that stuff so long?
By the time I finished, the paper stack was a whopping 18″ tall. It probably weighed 15 pounds or more. One of my employees stopped in my office to ask me a question and saw the growing pile. She jokingly asked if it was for her.
The pile was so big I couldn’t carry it, so I placed it on a book truck and wheeled it to the recycle bin (where I filled it to overflowing!). Another of my employees noticed all the paper and asked if I was doing a little spring cleaning. Yep– that and more.
I still have plenty of files to empty, so this project isn’t over yet. It’s hard to believe that I did a similar paper dump before moving into my office nearly 4 years ago. I hate to think I’m already outgrowing my file capacity and shelf space after only 4 years. But I’m involved in so many projects that the paper reproduces overnight. I believe that working in a cluttered, crowded and claustrophobic space every day creates a most insidious stress, which only intensifies when someone asks you if you’ve received something they sent you.
My desktop and office looked so much better by the end of the day. I haven’t seen so much of my desktop since we moved to this building. I can’t wait to go to work tomorrow.
03.04.08
Progress
Last week I continued to work on spot-cleaning of my hanging files whenever I was waiting for files to copy & paste or hard drives to back up. I went through a file on authority control and dumped stuff that was 10+ years old. The information on those papers represented most of what I’ve learned over the years about authority records and authority control, but most of it is available on the AUTOCAT discussion list’s archives. I bet I haven’t consulted those papers since I first printed them off and stuffed them in the file, so tossing them wasn’t the big deal I thought it would be.
Meanwhile, I’ve begun taking Adderall XR for ADHD. Wow! What a difference it makes. I took my first dose Friday around 10:30 am, assured by the pharmacist it wasn’t too late in the day to take a dose of this extended-release stimulant drug. Was he ever wrong! I felt as though I injected a triple shot of espresso coffee and was in hyper-overdrive all day, able to leap tall mountains in a single bound.
I was still going at 2 am Saturday morning and my mind raced through vivid, psychotic dreams all night. I awoke at 6 am not because I was refreshed after 4 hours’ sleep, but because sunlight was streaming in my bedroom window and the cat was meowing piteously for breakfast. I found an extra pillow and buried my face under it, effectively shutting out both the sunlight and the cat and forced myself back to sleep.
Saturday, I took my dose earlier in the morning and sailed through the day shopping with my teenage daughter and dealing with ATT to resolve the issue surrounding her suddenly deceased, under-warranty cell phone. I felt super-efficient, able to stay on-task, make decisions, and see things through to the end. When the Adderall wore off around 5 pm, I had hopes I could get to sleep easier that night. I didn’t feel near as wired as I had the day before. Three glasses of wine and a midnight bedtime seemed to work better, although I still had vivid dreams most of the night. I slept until 9 am Sunday morning, missing church, but feeling much more refreshed.
I debated on Sunday whether or not to take another dose. What if I couldn’t get to sleep Sunday night? What if I didn’t take it and had withdrawal symptoms? Adderall is a Schedule II controlled substance– very scary stuff, so I feel as though I’m playing with fire. Like fire, it can be very helpful or it can severely burn you. I liked the feelings of focus, follow-through, and efficiency I felt on Saturday. I had a lot to accomplish on Sunday, so I decided to take a dose.
One of the things I like about taking Adderall is that I really can focus on tasks, especially the undesirable or boring ones– like reviewing my employees’ work. Procrastination is simply wiped away. Yesterday, I tackled books with the ugliest call number problems and dove into cataloging challenges that have been lying around my office for months. Two copies of the same book with different call numbers? No problem! Cataloging automobile maintenance examination study guides? Bring ‘em on! How about that Indiana Code with confusing replacement volumes? I can handle it.
Hanging files– you’d better watch out. I see a heartless purge in your future.
02.26.08
Old papers
I tried in vain today to file a piece of paper in one of my hanging files located at the back of my lateral file drawer. All the hanging files in front of it were so stuffed I couldn’t slide the file forward, much less squeeze in one skinny piece of paper. I decided to temporarily remove 3 very fat hanging files in order to reach the file at the back. I quickly leafed through it, purging some of the contents and sending them to the recycle bin. What a small triumph to let go of old stuff I didn’t need, much less know I had!
Hmmm… What if I spent a little time each day (or week– let’s not get too excited here) going through each file folder doing the same thing? Could I free up needed space for future papers and project folders? It’s worth a try. I’m desperate. The piles and files aren’t getting smaller on their own and the clutter, both visible and in drawers, is getting on my last nerve.
02.25.08
White space?
I accidentally uncovered white space on my desk today– lots of it. I’m not sure exactly how it happened, but I know I liked how it looked and felt to have so much empty space. As I’ve said before, it felt oddly peaceful, as though someone had draped a white cloth over everything. I wish my desk looked like this every day.
I think the white space happened because we didn’t get a delivery from our outsourcing vendors, so I was able to take care of some problem books and other projects cluttering up my desktop. I was accumulating too many papers in one of my manila file folders (which was overstuffed and lying on my desk), so I divided it into three folders, each with a different focus on the main topic. Now I just gotta squeeze the three folders into my overstuffed lateral file. Hmmm…. maybe I need to empty out some of the existing folders and create some ‘white space’ there next.
My next project might be filing some of that 6-inch tall pile of inbox stuff sitting on the back counter of my desk. If I file 5 papers per day, how many days will it take to whittle down that pile? Sounds like a complex math problem for someone who quit balancing her checkbook almost two years ago. (Yeah, that got away from me too, so I stopped doing it.) My problem is knowing when to throw away stuff, so it’s all too easy for it to build up and overwhelm me.
02.19.08
Spring is coming
Spring is coming, I’m sure of it. How can I be sure of this when the temperature outside is in the low 30s and another ice storm is forecast for this Thursday?
One: my office faces west and the sun is getting higher in the sky. I know this because my desk also faces west and I’m blinded by the sun’s brilliance as it shines through my west-facing window, directly into my eyes as I sit at my computer. I have blinds on the windows, but they are fabric and aren’t terribly opaque. So from 3-4:30 pm CST I contort into weird positions to the left or right of the wall and window frame, desperately trying to hide from the sun. I’ve tried hats and sunglasses, but seriously, it just makes me look like a dork. Any time a cloud obscures the sun, even for a moment, I whisper “Blessed clouds.” And to think I dreamt of this sun-drenched office for several years while this library was being built. Only now do I understand the quote: “Watch what you wish for; you may get it.”
Two: today the landscape company was in the cafe garden, just below my windows, giving the liriopetheir spring haircut. The workers fired up their trimmer 15 minutes before I was scheduled to participate in a conference call in my office. They carried on with their trimming for two hours (we have lots of liriope plants in the garden). Thankfully, the people on the other end of the line couldn’t hear the droning buzz of the trimmer.
Speaking of spring, I’m reminded of doing some ’spring cleaning’ every time I get into my hanging file drawer. Most of my hanging files, when I bother to use them, are stuffed to capacity. I can hardly get another piece of paper in any of them, let alone start a new file folder (like I did today). I know I don’t have to keep all that old stuff, but as soon as I throw it away… somebody will ask for it.
