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.
01.24.08
Goodbye piles
Yesterday was a good day. I was tired of the piles of books and papers on my desk, so I decided to act on them, even the challenging stuff (okay– all of it was challenging!). I was chugging along and making great progress (which lifted my spirits and encouraged me to keep going) when my husband surprised me with an invitation to lunch. Not one to pass up a free lunch, I couldn’t refuse, even though I knew it would break my momentum. But he’s a fast eater and was motivated to get back to his job, so I was back working on my piles within an hour. The best part? I was beginning to see white space on my desk! Do you realize how calming white space is? Piles of stuff are inexplicably stressful, even if they don’t contain challenging problems.
Unfortunately, I was derailed a second time. I had an afternoon committee meeting to attend and the meeting dragged on for 1 1/2 hours. It killed my momentum and I lost steam when I needed it most. I salvaged the last hour of my day by tackling the easier piles and cleaning out my in-box– no small feat itself! Then I re-wrote my to-do list for the next day, which I thought was Friday, so I was in a bit of a panic. I couldn’t help feel as though I would have accomplished even more if I had not attended that meeting.
In all, I was still fired up knowing I dealt with stuff that was either on my mind or on my desk and got it done. I’m continually working on the “pick it up once” method of dealing with papers and problem books, but packrats have a hard time not stroking their treasured piles. It comes with the territory!
