Organized Genius

Ok, maybe not genius... and certainly not fully organized... but after taking my Office Organizing Journey a couple years ago, I have been much more productive and had the easiest time with staying that way.

If you haven't read those posts yet, I will wait. You can go do that now. Let me know when you get back. *grin*

You will see that, while I have moved into another room and changed up some furniture, my basic desk setup is the same. I still work with my planner, my file folders on the desk top, and my other important things close at hand.

This being the end of a long holiday season, I can't say that my desktop is immaculate. It is currently a bunch of works in progress.

Like this pile of snowflakes I need to put in an envelope and then into my daughter's box and those ornamental items in baggies that need some TLC before going back up next year.


And this action pile I didnt even bother to put in folders ... because I intend to take care of that pile as soon as I put the camera away.

But otherwise, I have no e-clutter, my days are well-planned, I can find what I want and it is easy to get to when I need it. The system works for me, as proven over the last 2 years. I can't tell you how much of a change Marcia's ideas have made in my life! You can check out her blog here.

Office Organizing Journey 7Setting Up Systems

This was originally posted 3/3/09 on Organising Queen as a guest blog series.

---

Hello, Hello!

My office is finished! Or at least the office area that I use daily... we will talk about my storage closet later.


Step 6 is to set up a filing system for the paper you need to keep. After all that sorting a few weeks ago, this is what I did with what was left:

One thing I did -over and above- *that I really like* I replaced all the file folders (at least until I ran out of folders) with no tab folders.

Geez Anne! No tab folders cost sooooo much more than regular folders. Was that really a wise financial choice??

Actually, a year and a half ago I bought a box of 100 file folders for $3.75. Tabs and all. But to me, the tabs are visual clutter when the drawer is open and really started to bother me. So I sat down with my trusty CM cutting mat, a razor knife and a metal straight edge and I sliced off all the tabs!

The only folders that still have tabs are the pretty ones on my desktop.

And you have to see this! This is 2 plastic file totes FULL of empty hanging folders! No joke! Can you believe that when I started this journey... all those hanging files were FULL!

Oh My Goodness!!!

Now, just to show that I have really been working my butt off on this... here are shots of my closet...

Before: full of scrapbook supplies with no hope of finding anything. (The bottom of the closet is 2 deep of boxes and totes and stuff... 2 deep!)






and After: One well-organized walk-in closet for hubby and me.



You will notice that I dragged up and old dresser from the basement. It now houses things that had no home, piles that had been taking up floor space... my jeans, my hubby's hats, etc.

I also got a terrific deal on a labeler:($15 for a $40 labeler) and went to work making everything uniform and cleanly labeled.

Ok, so I am a little OCD... I admit it!

ANYWAY.... the point is that it looks good and I like it.

But let's talk about the nitty gritty... Step 6: make a system for YOUR papers. That would be a personalized way to file your papers. FOR EXAMPLE: No sence in filing alphabetically when you think in themes or time. Me? I just hate filing at all. I hardly ever reference anything again. It takes forever to file and then just becomes a forgotten set of papers. That seems like a real waste of time!

So what I did is to get rid of the things that do not get referenced and to highlight the ones that do get used.

Out went:

• receipts from the last 5 years.


• extra papers such as registration cards


• assembly sheets for Barbie dolls


• magazine pages for crafts I like the looks of but will never actually make

In went:

• tax files


• Creditor contact information


• Appliance Manuals

Then I made monthly files in my action drawer. Almost everything that I would file will go in there. So I no longer file statements by company ... I stick them in the folder for the month they were paid. Easy.

I filed my warranties and manuals by room. I made a hanging file for each area of the house and stuck in the appropriate stuff. Now it will be much easier to find the manual for the TV in my daughter's room... I will just pull the file for her room and it is the only TV manual in there.

*GRIN* Easy works for me!

Now to Step 7. The last step. This step was a "D'oh" moment for me. Simply stated... step 7 says Make your tools work for you. The suggestion Marcia made was that if you are using organizing tools that give you more work rather than less... perhaps it is better to switch to something else.

That really got me thinking. I have been using my Frankin Planner since 1995. I started using it because it was the only planner/calendar on the market that listed evening hours. I was working 12 hour shifts, working 6 days a week... and the traditional 5 day work week, 9 to 5 calendar did not cover what I needed. PLUS I needed to be able to keep personal information and my family calendar together with work so that I didnt double schedule myself. And that happened often... 60 hours a week wasnt enough for a customer and I would end up coming in on my time off to meet with them on their schedule... completely forgetting about family plans. So the Franklin worked for me.

And now I am a Stay at Home Mom. If I do work, it doesnt involve appointments outside of business hours.

But I do like having all my personal information in one place... no more searching for notes or reference materials. It is all in my planner.

I looked back over months of planner pages.

• I never use the appointment section. That is half a page wasted.
• And on the notes section I always note the same things... menu selections, medications I take, what I ate, how much I weigh and what the weather is. Hmmmm.
• I even noticed that in the last month or so I have gotten to the point that I write my TO DOs right over the appointment section. I have more TO DOs than anything else.

I need to personalize my planner to make it work for me. I drew out what I thought would work and formatted new planner pages.

Well.... I tried. I used Word. I used Excel. I used Publisher. I even downloaded Open Office. No matter what, I just could NOT get it to look the way I wanted. I mean it has to be cute and easy on the eyes or I will just quit using it no matter how efficient it is.

My solution? My 16 year old daughter!

I gave her the drawing and she set to work. Within a matter of hours she sent me a doc file with EXACLTY what I wanted in it! Thank God for technically savvy kids!

In fact, she did such a great job on it that I had her make my monthly financial planning form too!

Whoo hoo! I love my new planner pages! LOVE LOVE LOVE

That is it! I have completed all 7 steps! REALLY! I did it! And it feels amazing! Now it is your turn!

P.S. Remember Anne's cute file folders? She did a file folder tutorial so we can all learn how to do them here.

And Anne's also sharing her daily planner and monthly financial pages with all of us.

Office Organizing Journey 6Overcoming Organizing Obstacles

This was originally posted 2/17/09 on Organising Queen as a guest post series.

---

Anne here.

Confession time: I quit. I am a quitter.

It isn’t any of the self-justifying excuses I could throw out at you, it is just that I quit.

I did Steps 1-4. I had already done step 5 last fall so I limped through that one by just updating and decluttering. And I quit before I got to steps 6 and 7.

I know what you are thinking. What a loser! Way to go Anne!

I know, I know.

And the guilt is killing me.

I am so close to being finished that it is just insane to stop now. But that is how I operate. Oh, I might call it something else, but it is quitting none-the-less.

• I have plastic-canvas coasters that are 45% completed... from Christmas 7 years ago.
  
• I have 20% of a baby blanket started in 2000.
  
• I have thousands of dollars in scrapbook supplies that will *eventually* get mated with photos and stuck into albums.
  
• I have thrown away so much food because I got through 2 days of Freezer cooking and gave up before I got to the chicken day.
  
• I clean the entire kitchen and ignore the crumbs on the table.
  

Yep, I quit a lot.

But that is part of what this is helping me with.... the new system is so easy that I feel stupid for not using it.

And I already identified that it is easy that makes me use things, so what more excuse is there?

Loss of interest?

Could be... but no, I have enjoyed this process.

And you have all been so incredibly supportive.

So I quit quitting.

ANYWAY... I am working beyond belief to catch up and have a post for you all.

I need to share with you how I got off my butt and out of my own rut and completed all 7 steps and blogged about it. (that was a run-on sentence, I am pretty sure about that.)

Look for my final post next week with all the details.

Thanks for understanding!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Anne's busy working through 7 easy steps to organise your office. If you'd like to check it out, have a read.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hi everyone, Marcia here

I love Anne's honesty in this post; don't you?

But more importantly, I want to use this as an organising lesson so we can all benefit.

The truth is that we ALL face obstacles in life when we try to do worthwhile things, whether they're organising projects, getting fit, eating more nutritious food or just improving our relationships.

That's life.

The way to overcome those obstacles is to realise that it's normal and brainstorm ways to navigate those obstacles.

Think about it like this - when you're getting your house painted, you know beyond a shadow of a doubt that it's going to be messy and smelly while you're painting but afterwards, you're going to have a gorgeous, fresh room/house.

In the same way, the road to our dreams always has an obstacle or eleven :)

A couple of ways you can navigate those obstacles is:

1. realise that obstacles happen to everybody - it's not because you're a bad person, lack discipline, etc.
   
2. get some help (if you can) just to get you over the hump - even someone just sitting there and encouraging you is help
   
3. make yourself accountable to someone (I have the utmost faith in Anne and I know she will finish, and she will finish strong, but I do know that part of it is because she's made herself accountable to 600-odd of my blog readers. There's something about that accountability that propels you forward toward your goals)

Now, over to you.

Post about any project you've started where you've encountered obstacles

Office Organizing Journey 5e-Clutter

This was originally posted 2/10/09 on Organising Queen as a guest post series.

---

E-clutter

A few years ago we wouldn't have known that phrase, but now it makes so much sense.

Everyone is buying bigger and bigger memory storage for their computers because they keep everything they ever download... necessary or not... rather than making their capacity work for them.

That is like buying bigger and bigger houses because you are unwilling to throw out an old pair of shoes every once in a while!

I had e-clutter. Uh huh!

• Homeschool files, forms, books and records
• Three jobs' worth of created forms, records and client files.
• E-copies of taxes, bills, audio books (I do not like audio books) and recipes.
• Email since 1999.
• Jokes and cartoons.
• BMP files of bad pictures the kids created in Paint.
• Photos.

Embarrassing. Yes, let's discuss it...

6 computers. No kidding. 6 computers. That alone is e-clutter! But not just that, although they were all networked together, there were still multiple copies of e-files. Finding the right file could take hours!


The only part that was well organized and accessible was the 20 Gigs of Photos and the 20 Gigs of e-books. Even that took years of hassle to come up with a plan.

I will start with those... my photos are on their own hard drive. The folders they are in go by year then month then day. The file names are the date (6 digit) and number. Nothing fancy for naming them because they get lost when I start naming them. I keep them this way because I scrapbook chronologically so I keep my photos the same way.

The e-books, also on their own hard drive, about 3000 of them, are filed by Publisher and then by Theme. They were originally filed by level and theme, but I could never find what I wanted because I don't think that way... that and the fact that when you homeschool you teach multiple grades at the same time and you can often use the same stuff for different kids with slight variations. OK, so e-books by Publisher.

But there is so much else!

What about the Favorites list?

Great place to store links, but not a great way to find them again if you don't set up a system. My Favorites are stored in folders like FINANCIAL (banking and online bill pay), MOM BLOGS, FOOD, STAMP_SCRAP, and ORGANIZE. And to make it one step easier, I label the links.

So my Bank account is B -Bank name

and my Credit card is CC -Credit Card Company

and my Utilities that are all on auto-pay are U -AP -Utility Name.

What about the crafts in Stamp-Scrap? I sort those by function.

I have BLOG, RETAIL, BLOG -PROJECT, REFERENCE, LINK LIST, etc.

This makes it the easiest to get what I am looking for without spending a ton of time surfing the internet looking for it.

But the biggest evil is email.

Everyone sends me everything. Jokes, projects, books, personal info... I even have emails from 4 years ago about clients. The hardest part was letting go of these files. I cringed and clicked delete. I started over fresh and clean.

I set up folders in Outlook similar to my favorites folders... FINANCIAL, FAMILY, FRIENDS, NETWORKING, STAMP-Scrap. Within each folder are other folders... one for each bill company, one for each family or friend, one for each network.

This helps in many ways... I set rules so Outlook auto-files email as they come in. I set rules so replies and sent messages get filed the same way. I can now open someone's folder and see how long it has been since I have contacted them. No more forgetting someone!

I have a similar system for clients, but it is another program add-in that keeps all kinds of client information together, including email. No more hassle... and did I mention that I finally deleted all those old emails????? *giggle* as if I was going to really need those files to refer to! OMG, what was I thinking!

My Documents. UGH! Do we even have to go there?!?!?

Yes, and I went there with the delete button! I opened and deleted or renamed files appropriately. When they were all named in a similar fashion, I created folders and filed them. Now I can find exactly what I want right away instead of opening hundreds of word documents looking for just the right one ... I knew it was here... I just don't know what I named it...

So now I have folders LEGAL, STAMP-SCRAP, FOOD, ORGANIZE.

And did you know that when you open word files (pdfs, excel, many other files as well) that you can create comments on the file that you can see when you hover your mouse over the file or on a details listing??? So if there IS something that you have two of, with variations you need all of, you can distinguish the files easily.

ANYWAY, night after night of hiding in bed with my laptop feverishly renaming files has paid off! My computer has tons of empty storage, runs faster and files are now easier to locate.

Yee Haw!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Note from Marcia:
If your email is out of control, Conquer your email will get your email organised and under control. Someone went from about 3000 mails to less than 100 in just days.

This is a comprehensive handout plus an hour-long audio. I teach you every single secret and tip that I use to help me manage my email in only 15 minutes a day.

What are your biggest email or electronic challenges?

Office Organizing Journey 4Paper Clutter

This was originally posted 2/3/09 on Organising Queen as a guest post series.

---

Anne here! It is Week #4 and my desk is still clean!

Clean, but honestly, for me, this week was the most difficult by far!

Why? Because Step Four is all about the Paper Clutter. And not only do I have tons of paper clutter on my desk, but I have tons in my drawer, tons in my files and more hidden in boxes in the Long-Term Storage closet. My oh My!

Where do I even start?

I started by clearing off the top of my desk, clearing out the drawer, pulling all long-term files, and pulling out all the regular files.

YES… I took everything out of everywhere! And to make sure I worked on it, I piled it on my bed… no sleep for me until it was better!

I know what you are thinking...

“OMG Anne… wouldn’t it have been easier to take it one file at a time?”

Why, yes! It would have been, and considering I have been taking the easy way out for years, I thought that the only way I would finish this step was if I did something drastic! (Marcia here - don't you love her spirit? LOL)

Mountain of paper in the middle of my bed = drastic!

I started going through the pile one file at a time. I made piles *gasp* around the edges of the room…

broad categories… TAXES, REAL ESTATE, MANUALS, MEDICAL, BILLS, SHRED, TOSS, PERSONAL, IDEA FILES….

And when the bed was clear, I confess… I crashed for the rest of the day… and a couple days after too! Paper is my nemesis!

Next step was cull through the files. Anything over 10 years old got tossed or shredded unless it was a birth certificate or medical file or such.

I also tried to determine how much of what was left really needed to be kept for reference.

Obviously I kept too much! I had 5 file drawers FULL, one medium size Rubbermaid tote FULL, and two long term file tubs FULL… not including all my homeschool files! That is another 8 tubs!

1. The old tax and real estate files will go into the tubs and into Long Term Storage in the big closet.
2. The Action and Reference Idea files will go in the desk drawer.
3. The rest of the files will go in the file cabinet. I am going to make them fit! Surprise! It won't be as hard as you might think! When I culled through all the files, I reduced the amount down to one action file drawer, one tub of long term, one drawer (not full) of manuals, and one drawer of Current tax, bills, medical, insurance files. REALLY! That is all that is left! I KNOW! I can’t believe it myself! (Marcia here - Anne, I'm so proud of you!)

Let me give you some specific examples of what I did:

My piles of actionable papers were reduced into good looking Immediate Action Folders located on the desktop and As Convenient Action Folders in the desk drawer. (Marcia here - Gee! those are very good-looking files!)



Business cards were input into My Contacts and then tossed.

Notes and ideas on little pieces of paper, previously stuffed in the drawers, in my inbox, in the pockets of my planner and in my purse were added to the Notes section in my Franklin planner, appointments listed on my calendar and tasks noted on my Master To-Do List to be referenced when I do my weekly planning.

Bills were also noted on my calendar then put in an action folder.

I consolidated 3 notepads -full of lists and ideas and thoughts -into one notebook with the plan to make notations ONLY in this one place. (Marcia here - this is going to work out so well - no more looking for that "bright idea" in several places)

My projects were planned step-by-step to help track goals and documentation/supplies were filed in separate labeled folders and buckets for each project.

WHEW! But I didn’t stop there.

I made new folders for my bills… I threw away all the old statements. I only kept account policies and such.

Then I added an information sheet to the inside of each folder on which I listed all the contact information, website, password, APR and such. Now the folders will only need to be referenced if I have to make contact and can be kept in a more long term storage area. (Marcia here - I absolutely LOVE this idea!)



Part of clearing the paper clutter involves keeping the volume of paper to a minimum.

Keeping this in mind, I went online and went paperless on as many bills as possible.
I now also review the day’s mail over the trash can, tossing all ads and junk immediately.
Then the rest gets handled immediately… Bills listed on the calendar and stuck in the BILLS to Pay action file. When the bill is paid, it is crossed off the calendar, noted on a yearly financial spreadsheet that is in the BILLS folder, and filed in the monthly file.

“But Anne,” you say, “doesn’t this just give you more email to deal with?”

Why, yes! It does!

And when you join me next week for Step Five… we will talk about how I dealt with my electronic clutter –all 40 Gigs of it!

Marcia here - I can't WAIT to see how she handles the email clutter - can you?

Anne, this was an outstanding effort on your part and I'm sending all my clients (past and present) to this post to see how beautifully you broke the whole process down!

Anne's busy working through 7 easy steps to organise your office. If you'd like to check it out, have a read.

Office Organizing Journey 3Decluttering

This was originally posted 1/27/2009 on Organising Queen as a guest post series.

---

Hi! Anne here again!

Have you been following my Office Organizing Journey? Let me recap:

Week One -Look at this mess! What in the world am I going to do with this chaos?

Week Two -I do so many things in this area. It is no wonder it is such chaos!


And this week...

Week Three -I absolutely do not need ALL this stuff. Watch the chaos diminish!

Part of my chaos was because supplies were put where they fit, not where they were needed.

Consequently the items closest at hand were often the least accessed and the items used most frequently had to be found and retrieved.

This created a feeling of anxiety because what would have been a quick task or a delightful craft opportunity took more time to recover the supplies... and often, even more time to stash them back where they came from.

Crazy! I know!

And because it was so crazy, I either avoided tasks or I left the supplies out because returning them was a hassle. So...

• Papers were on the desk because the files were difficult to access.
• Stamping and scrapbooking became a thing of the past.
• The day my favorite pen ran out of ink my life stopped until I found another one.
• My bills were lost and often paid late and my kids' school papers weren't returned on time.
• Shredding done inconsistently takes entire weekends.
• Projects barely get started let alone finished.

Now that I have identified what isn’t working, the necessary uses for my space and removed the non-essentials, it is time to enhance the function-ability of the work areas.

That means gathering necessary supplies and putting them in the area where they will be used. (Step Two)

I also learned that I am a VISUAL person and I do not act on things if I can't see them... and equally... I respond negatively to a disorderly work area making it highly important that action items are not only accessible, but obvious. Also making it important that tools and supplies are close at hand, but either hidden or attractive. (Step Three)

What does this all mean?

Well... just look at the differences!



My desktop has been cleared!

But more than just swiping an arm across it and hiding it in a box, my desk has been revitalized!

• I relocated the printer to the table next to the desk
• I removed the TV
• I even removed the lamp because the base took up too much space.
• I removed the messy boxes from below the desk and used the space for drawers (that had been in the closet) that hold my most essential scrapbook items.

• My use-them-for-every-project scrapbooking tools were moved from the closet to a small bin on the desktop.
• The pen cup was emptied except for necessary writing utensils that are used daily.
• The paper piles and desktop files were eliminated.

• I removed unused and overstocked amounts of supplies from the drawers.
• I removed haven’t-touched-them-in-years reference CDs and Program CDs from the drawer.

The top desk drawer now holds at-hand tools and supplies such as a hole punch, staple remover, package of staples (I used to have 3 packages of them) and rubber bands.

The middle drawer holds printer ink refills, pencils and markers not used everyday and a *new* label maker.

Everything I need is right here!

I won't have to get up to get supplies. I certainly won't need to go digging through things to find what I need!

My space looks good, is clean and has stayed this way all week!

This whole process is sooooo exciting! I never thought I would have a well-functioning work area at home without spending THOUSANDS on custom furniture and a space planner!

The changes this system has brought are more than just physical...

Marcia has taught me a new way of thinking about what I do and how I do it. Who knew… the problem was me, not my space!

Hi, Marcia here.

I am continually amazed at Anne's progress. She's not just throwing stuff away, labelling and putting things in pretty boxes (which is what most people think organising is) but she's actually asking herself the hard questions - why do I do this? what will work best for me? etc.

Well done, Anne - you're inspiring me and hundreds of other readers :)

Anne's busy working through 7 easy steps to organise your office. If you'd like to check it out, have a read.

Office Organizing Journey 2Sorting out the Zones

This was originally published 1/20/2009 on Organising Queen as a guest post series.

---

Hi, it's me again - Anne. Welcome back to my Office Organizing Journey.

Last week you toured my home and saw how inefficient my current office set-up is and we discussed my challenges.

To recap, here are the biggies:

• The things I need are not at hand
• There is no space to work or craft
• The filing system is confusing
• Things pile on top of piles
• I have remnants of 2 at-home jobs, remnants of homeschooling
• and everyday family life.
  
  

This week I started Step One of the 7 Steps to Organise Your Office system. The idea behind this step is to clarify the uses you will need to incorporate into your office.

Since my Office and Craft space is not yet finished, I am working from my master bedroom. This room serves as a bedroom and an office, as well as a craft space. Geez. No wonder it is so full and cluttered!


What all do I need to do in here?


I need:

• work space,
• craft space,
• filing,
• reading and planning.
• I also need to combine clothing and craft storage in a manner that makes both easily accessible and in a state of readiness.

I have other needs too. I need Long Term Storage for files and supplies. This will have to remain in the basement closet. Ok, so the closet down there is designated for Long Term Files and Supplies.

The desk up here will be for working space and current supplies (one extra roll of tape, one extra set of staples).

The filing drawer in the desk will be for action files. The filing cabinet by the bed will be for all other non-long-term files.

I like to read and plan in bed, so the basket next to the bed, that is currently a catch-all, will house my books, snacks and planner. My closet will house the craft supplies and clothing. I have a folding table for crafting if the desktop doesn't offer enough space.

WOW! Great plan, huh?

But how do I make it all work?

According to the system, I went through each section, mindful of its purpose and removed everything that did not fit that need. That meant that the TV was relocated off the desk. The pending projects were removed from the bedside basket.

Long Term files were moved to the closet downstairs. The piles of papers and desktop files that were overflowing with papers were relocated to the filing drawers. CDs that I never use were put into Long Term Storage *just in case* I blow up my computer and need them.

Whew! Stuff is everywhere.

I thought I was organized, but now I am starting to see why it wasn't working...

Lesson learned: KEEP WHAT YOU NEED, WHERE YOU NEED IT!

Next week: Steps 2 and 3!

Please stay tuned to see what interesting things happen and after photos from the first 3 steps.


Note from Marcia:
Anne is doing a great job. This is a big, big challenge and I'm very proud of her for doing this journey with all my readers checking out her progress.

Don't you agree?

By the way, Anne, I love your organised clothes and shoes in the closet with all the matching hangers :)

Office Organizing Journey 1Before Pics and Challenges

This was originally published 1/13/2009 on Organising Queen as a guest post series.
Pop on over and say Hi to Marcia. She has a ton of great organizing tips and ideas!

---

Hello. My name is Anne. I am so happy to have you join me this morning. Today I will be showing you my office in its various stages. And while we walk and see, we can talk about the benefits and rewards of having an office system like mine.



Please remove your shoes, grab a pair a slippers from the pile over there, and follow me. We will be walking though the living room and dining room to descend the staircase. Here at the bottom of the stairs you can see a wide open room that is quite bright from the sun streaming in the window. But this room, while large and bright does not appear to be an office. We sneak a look behind each of the three doors finding 2 bedrooms and 1 bathroom... We see no office.




No, really, we are in the office. A closer look around reveals wall studs built into place. Electricity run to lights and plugs. There appears to be the skeleton of a closet off to the side. And this wide open space. This space with no insulation, no drywall, no paint, no window coverings. This is my office space. But it is unfinished, in partial completion, and is being used as a junk collection station.

And let's go around this dark corner under the stairs. I want to show you my Long Term Storage Closet. I know that you will be timid to enter at first, squeezing in behind the stairs, next to the bookcases, but come along. There is much to see! We step into a large room. Each wall has rack upon rack upon rack of books and homeschooling supplies, office supplies, school supplies and crafts, Long Term Legal Files, even Long Term Linen Storage and Childhood memorabilia. I have science projects, family games, push pins and office equipment plugs. THIS is my long term storage.




Now, we haven't see a desk or anything resembling workable area, so follow me back upstairs and I will show you where I work. Back through the dining room, living room, down the hallway past the children's bedrooms and into the master bedroom. Although it doesn't look like a bedroom other than the blankets.


As we walk in the door we immediately see paper holders on a large dresser to the left. Looking right I see a table that had once been a patio table. It now houses 2 large printers. Beyond the table is a large executive size desk.

It is a bit worse for wear and appears to have had its return section removed leaving a bare feeling on the left side. But above that is a large pile of papers from the kids this past week.

Leaning against the wall is a 3 file holder in black mesh. It looks like it could be useful. But with all the papers streaming out of their respective folders at all angles like fireworks... it certainly doesn't seem to work right now.

I sit to use the laptop provided and immediately roll the chair over the wires plugging in said laptop. Whoops. I lean in to type and bump my elbow on another printer. piggy-back style on the printer is a cable box and a 20" TV. Half the desk is covered by TV and the other half is covered by piles flowing into piles.

I pick up one of the piles and decide to file those papers. The closest files are in the lower 3rd drawer. I look in there, bit those files look like craft stuff. I glance around the room. Clear on the other side is a large file cabinet.

There is no file for this paper. I set it aside and take another. This one is a receipt for a large Christmas Purchase, Electronic. I dont see a file for receipts. Should I just stuff it in this file with all this other paper? And this BILL looks urgent. Do I need to file it too? Or should I leave it on the desk so I remember to pay it? I probably will file it. It goes in the red BILL folders.

Let's see... It is a Bill, but what kind of a bill? a Gas Card. But from what company? OK, we go to the red section. I find the Bills. Behind that category it says "gas cards and stores" OR "Credit cards" OR "Signature loans". It is a gas card. so back up to that section. Hm mm, now where in here does it go? Ah Ha, here. Lookie! I got one filed! Whew. At this rate it is going to take FOREVER to file this pile... and there is another stack of papers right here stuffed in the drawer and they all need to be filed too. UGH!



I should make files for this stuff, I suppose. But that means another trip around the house and through the basement to get file folders. Then again, if I am going to walk all that way, maybe I should just take the whole pile and shove it into a box down there to deal with later. uh, no, I can't do that. I already have a couple boxes like that from the 90s.



Well, forget the filing. I want to scrapbook. Then again, there isnt any space to scrapbook. I will have to dig all the supplies out of the closet (stuffed in with the clothes) and haul them to the kitchen table. I don't want to do that either.

This is horrible. Ridiculous even. I think we should just have a snack and watch TV. If we ignore this mess, it will go away, right???

BUT SERIOUSLY, there are no benefits or rewards to my office space(s).

Here are the challenges:

• Things I need are not at hand
• there is no space to work
• the filing system is confusing
• things pile on top of piles
• I have remnants of 2 at-home jobs, remnants of homeschooling (it has been 4 years since we stopped) and everyday family life.

I need help! I need to dig out and move forward. Lucky for me, Marcia has an Office plan!

Please continue to join me on my Office Organizing Journey.

I will be decluttering, tossing, donating, filing, shredding, and finding a way to work in the space I have available to me.

See you next week for an update!

Hello all, Marcia here.

I think Anne's very brave to share her journey with all my readers. Go ahead and encourage her in the comments. She's doing a great job :)

And of course, you're all very welcome to tackle your office over the next 4 - 6 weeks.