Monday, April 20, 2020

Cluttered Office, Cluttered Mind? Say It Isn't So.

Q: Show us where you work! Please share a photo of your work/writing space, and tell us why it looks the way it does!

-from Susan

I have two options. I can stand in the doorway and show you the good side. It might – although it shouldn’t – impress you. Bookshelves on three walls, floor to ceiling, reading chair, desk, lateral file cabinets. Dedicated to writing, thinking, research. Here’s that:



The other option strips away the façade. Piles of crap (mostly work related) on every surface, papers all over the desk, held down (sometimes) by coffee cups or plates from croissant-eating, necessary for writing. When not held down, they often slide into the wastebasket that sits, helpfully, right next to the edge of the desk. I once lost a check for $155.20 that way. Dust everywhere, although that’s hard to photograph. Indentations on the upholstered chair that are filled with cat hair. Boxes sitting just out of camera view filled with things I can’t figure out where to store, much less if I should store them at all. I think I won’t post pictures, but you get the idea. 

I find it depressing some days. When I had jobs away from home, I really, truly knew where everything was in my cluttered office. Plus I had assistants and staff who saved me from my worst habits with their sense of order and knowledge. Plus, they had the power to shame me into staying on top of everything. Here, not so much. 

The determination to conquer the mess seizes me now and then. I clean off the desk, throw massive amounts of paper away. Dust the newly visible surfaces, and pat myself on the back. Within a week, ten days at the most, you wouldn’t know I’d done a thing. How can this be? Does clutter reproduce like rabbits at night? 

Maybe photos of my fellow Minds’ work space this week with inspire or shame me into a frenzy of office cleaning. Or maybe not.

6 comments:

Paul D. Marks said...

Your office looks amazing neat and organized to me, Susan. I'd love to see the other angle though. And all angles in my office are a cluttered mess...

Susan C Shea said...

Paul, No way would I turn the phone camera around and show you the mess! I have some pride, you know?!

Dietrich Kalteis said...

What mess? I don't see any empty take-out boxes, half-eaten slices of pizza or piles of clothing – just a very orderly work space. Thanks for sharing, Susan.

Jennifer J. Chow said...

Your workspace looks great, Susan! I've been booted out of mine temporarily, but the office now has 2x the amount of mess in it.

Susan C Shea said...

Dietrich, there's no room for piles of clothes, and if you saw plates and coffee cups you';d probably feel better, but I'm not going to share that view!

Susan C Shea said...

Jennifer, I'm sorry you're not able to get into your office and that - I'm just guessing here - you'll have some de-cluttering to do before you can get back in to it. Before I had this house, my work space was also the guest bedroom, the library, the ironing room, the...you get the picture!