Archive for the ‘office organizing’ Category
Anxiety Attack!
Posted on: July 15, 2008
Now that the downstairs of the house is in good shape (and I’m managing to keep it that way) I decided it was time to tackle some paper and files that had been accumulating as I moved my office to get ready for my new job.
I was okay during the first sorting, (before picture on top; after on bottom) 
which included making a “to file” stack, throwing as much as I could into the recycling, putting things in their proper place if they had one; making a pile of stuff that needed a home, etc. And then there was the – play Jaws soundtrack here – “to do” pile . . . . .
I’ve tried twice to tackle that pile, but my anxiety gets the better of me. I end up moving stuff from pile to pile and feeling panicky. Just writing about it makes me uncomfortable! I don’t exactly know why; I guess it represents all the “undone” stuff in my life, some of which is important, some is rather urgent, and some I just don’t want to deal with.
I decided that if I have to tackle this project one piece of mail/paper at a time – and no more – than that’s what I’ll do. My very slow pace in the basement has been paying off, and I bet that I’ll be able to handle more than on item at a time once I get started.
Wish me luck!
Reducing Email Clutter
Posted on: May 28, 2008
There’s a lot of chatter on the productivity blogs about “processing your inbox to zero” and how to manage email overload. I decided that poor David Allen would hyperventilate if he saw my inbox, so I took a crack at it, and began by ruthlessly deleting mail after mail. Most of those emails represented indecision and/or procrastination; I figured if I hadn’t done anything about them for several weeks, I never would – so away they went into cyberspace.
I was able to reduce the number of emails in my inbox from 200+ to under 10. As we speak, there are 10 read (but not processed) emails awaiting my attention. Some examples of what I’m now avoiding:
- a baby shower invitation
- an email from a cousin which includes his siblings’ email addresses – which I need
- an invitation to a political fundraiser
- a request from Budget rental cars inviting me to create a profile – for fabulous discounts, of course!
One rule I try to live by when dealing with email is to never sit down at the computer without my calendar. So many emails require checking on dates and times and it’s so much easier to just look, decide and delete right on the spot. Of course this doesn’t help with the guilt of wanting to say no to something – I deal with that by procrastinating!
I get quite a few promotional emails from online retailers; I don’t unsubscribe because I’m waiting for the free shipping promotions – I wear petites which are not usually available in “bricks and mortar” stores, so I order online a lot and I try not to pay shipping if I can avoid it. I’m pretty good about deleting those right away if they aren’t offering free shipping.
I’m about to unsubscribe from Daily Candy. While I have to admire the founder for her ingenuity (a daily email focusing on just one topic or product), they’re all about consuming, and they have this weirdly smug tone-of-voice that I find annoying. And let’s be serious, I’ll never buy a $400 purse . . . so DC is going away today.
I do make use of folders to store emails; I have way too many I’m sure, but the ones I’m finding useful now are my Summer 08 folder (vacation and camp info); my Hours folder where I keep the emails I send to my employer (if I ever work instead of blog); and my Daisy Scout folder (I’m one of the co-leaders).
If you’re feeling overwhelmed by your email inbox, take a quick look (remember you can spend just five minutes on this to start) and maybe set a goal of deleting anything that’s older than three months, or 10% of the entire contents – something arbitrary but quantifiable so you’ll feel a real sense of accomplishment.
For me the payoff is as high as clearing my desk or decluttering the linen closet – give it a try!
I recently met with Laura Leist, author of Eliminate Chaos. Laura’s office is in her home, and I was dying of curiosity to see how an expert organizer lives and works.
Her home and her office were neat as a pin, but not in a sterile, does-anyone-actually-live-here way. Her desk was tidy, but she had a few piles of paper on it – which she said was making her crazy – so I imagine she keeps it clear most of the time.
All in all it was pretty interesting and made me curious to see the work and home environments of other professional organizers. They spend so much of their time in other people’s spaces but rarely, if ever, reveal theirs. I wonder if they feel pressure to keep everything perfectly perfect . . . then again, keeping it all together comes easily and naturally for them – or so I assume.
My First Guest Post
Posted on: May 19, 2008
Jennifer at myorganizedbiz is away on her honeymoon, so she asked if I would write a guest post on her blog this week. I was totally flattered!
In my post I suggest three tips for keeping your home office organized, and if I just followed my own good advice on a regular basis, I’d be in excellent shape!
Learn more about Jennifer and her unique perspective on home office organizing at Inspired Home Office.
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