Desk clutter - TW3

Not my desk
I copied the above image off of Google. I was looking for images of cluttered computer work stations for this blog. This was posted on a blog about messy desks. If this is messy then mine is currently a disaster area. Mind you I am a creative mind and ergo not neat, but my computer desk and adjacent library table have reached new heights of not neat. It all began with the new computer.

CD's used for backup had to be unearthed, the laptop had to be in easy reach for transfer of files via jump drive, etc. And stacks of hard copies of documents I had unearthed to retype or scan into the new computer. I was in the midst of this task when the season to submit for fairs came. Now there are stacks of prospectuses and call for entries about with CD's containing art images shuffled from the regular back up copies. I really was making some head way when it occurred to me that my self imposed deadline for getting taxes to my preparer. Since my left brain hid after 2001 ski accident I dread this. I would almost rather be a plague victim.

Hopefully by the end of the day all the receipts for taxes will be in nice neat stacks and tabulated for total figures and those inserted in a spread sheet I managed to recover from lost files. Then all those stacks can go in folders I bought specifically to do this (I know somewhere there is a box of folders I have not used yet) and then put into file cabinet with the previous years tax records. Question? Since everyone wants us to go paperless how do we get the records we need for taxes? But I digress. The subject was mess.

In the last few years I have considered myself lucky if I shove all receipts into one basket, all bank records into another basket, folder's for shows in an in and out basked stack that seems to accommodate ins but never any outs. Then there is the stack of "suspense" items which I sort from the mail as needing immediate consideration. They are generally over or under my desk calendar. Currently that stack includes bills for the coming month and show entry forms with deadlines in the next two weeks. Oh, and items I found in that receipt basket that need filed someplace.

My file cabinets are about in the same state as my computer files - transition. There are really some folders that need to go into a file box and put up in storage. Now where was I storing those? Upstairs sewing room closet? How long do we have to keep tax records? Other than a controlled burn anyone have a workable option for the unorganized?

Comments

  1. Terry RoweFebruary 28, 2011 at 5:36 AM

    Controlled burn sounds more feasible than what I sometimes wish - that, despite the ensuing chaos, all the clutter & disorganized piles would all just disappear. Magically I think that if I started new it would all be tidier & different - not! Failing that I tackle one project at a time & try, very hard, not to get side-tracked. But, being a creative, I usually am - side-tracked. So, my second method is just not to beat myself up over it.

    ReplyDelete
  2. The Blog of BeeMarch 7, 2011 at 11:57 AM

    Sounds normal to me!

    ReplyDelete

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