While the rest of the world spent Thanksgiving weekend eating turkey and wrestling Christmas decorations down from the attic, I cleaned my office.
It was beyond overdue. When I get busy, I put off office-related housekeeping until I have a couple free hours. Only those hours never seem to materialize. But having four days off gave me more than enough time to relax and still get around to cleaning.
Here’s why it’s a good idea to declutter your office on a regular basis:
1. You find things. I found a couple gift cards stuffed into a drawer full of business cards – perfect timing for the Christmas shopping I’m about to start.
2. You toss things. There’s nothing like the march of time to help you decide which papers need saving and which can be safely thrown away. Inevitably I save less than anticipated because the information is dated or not as important as I originally thought.
3. You file papers. Every pay stub or expense receipt filed now brings you that much closer to being ready to file your income tax return next year.
4. You shred papers. Nothing beats the satisfaction of watching years-old checking account or SEP_IRA statements eaten up by the shredder (I don’t save these anymore because I can get access to everything I need online).
5. You get ideas. Ever picked up a business card or brochure and thought, ‘That’d make a great story?’ only to come back to the office, toss it in a pile and forget it in the course of daily business? Sifting through piles brings those story ideas back to the surface.
6. You feel good. I don’t know about you, but when my office is organized, I feel better about myself, and work. Same applies to my closet and kitchen cupboards.
7. Your office looks great. My office is right off the house’s front entry. If it’s clean, I won’t have to be embarrassed when people visit during the holidays.
8. You give things away. There’s still a month left to donate items you no longer use. Thanks to my decluttering, I’ve got a pile of old electronics – scanner, cell phones, tape recorders – ready to take to Free Geek, and a bag of books that I’ll try to sell to Powell’s and if they don’t take them, give away.
9. You make room for new stuff. One of my 2011 New Year’s resolutions was replacing my ancient desktop PC with a new one. But I vowed not to bring anything new into my office until I’d gotten rid of old junk. Now that I’m clutter free, I can shop with a clear conscience.
10. You rid yourself of nagging guilt. The knowledge that I needed to clean my office but wasn’t doing it was mental baggage – i.e. guilt – weighing me down. Now that it’s done and off my physical and mental to-do lists I feel better about myself.
Had your own office cleaning revelations? Please share by leaving a comment.
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#2 and #3 are my favorites. I love to purge and I love being ready though it takes effort to be/do both.
You’re right about the “takes effort” part, which is why I put things off for so long – the last thing I feel like doing after an 8 or 10-hour day is organizing my office. Sometimes I’ll take a 5 minute break and tackle one little thing, just to feel like I’ve done something.
M
Perfect timing and feeling organized at the end of this project is an added bonus
Agreed: there’s nothing quite like filing and tidying up to close the book on one project and get ready for the next.
Michelle
Michelle,
I remember a pic of your workspace from a post you wrote long ago. If I remember correctly, your place looked pretty tidy. Must look terrific after your cleaning!
Cleaning out the office is the first thing writers tackle when they coach with me – as you’ve written, I find it creates not only uncluttered space for new projects, but also confidence & momentum (as in…”if I can clean this place up, I can do darn-near anything!”).
I’m due for another clean-out here. Fingers-crossed I find a few gift cards, too.
Thanks for a fun post!
Marla
Thanks Marla. It’s been a while since I took that picture, and yes, things had begun to pile up (literally).
I didn’t know that the first thing you have your coaching students tackle is an office clean up. I’m due to start a new project this week: maybe I was subconsciously making room for that.
Michelle
Good advice– I also cleaned out my home office over Thanksgiving. Found a bunch of old photos that were not in the right place.
I just started cleaning out this week. Already starting to sweat the income tax season. I found a few things that have inspired new stories, too!
Good for you!
Timely and on target! And you’re right about finding writing ideas. Every time I clear out clutter, I rediscover topics and projects I planned to launch. Your post today helps me kick-start the process. Thanks!
I need an office!!! The kitchen desk with family computer is not cutting the mustard