Yesterday I called a couple of home organizers to get an idea of what they can do for me and how much they’ll charge to do it. On the plus side, if I hire someone for six hours, we’ll book an appointment and I won’t be able to procrastinate my way out of it. On the minus side, it’ll cost several hundred dollars. I haven’t decided if I’ll hire one or not, but it’s under consideration.
Meanwhile I received several private emails from people who either didn’t believe my office was as bad as I claimed it was, or who thought it was probably even worse. Honestly, it couldn’t get much worse, but we’ll start with a photo of one of my bookshelves, which is one of the least problematic areas in my office.
- an empty toner cartridge that has to be recycled
- a basket of junk I don’t use (I honestly have no idea what’s in it)
Bottom shelf:
- UPS unit (uninterrupted power supply)
- two storage boxes (in use)
- modem and router
- an anthology of women’s literature
- four stacking trays filled with printer paper, labels, overhead transparencies, envelopes
Second shelf:
- the pile on the left: scanner, two empty storage boxes, a box of stationary and an old teddy bear
- a storage box filled with promo stuff (bookmarks, biz cards, etc.)
- two binders (white) filled with stuff I wrote as a freelancer
- a magazine file filled with research material used when I was a freelancer
- binders (black) filled with photographic slides from when I was a sessional lecturer in earth sciences
Third shelf:
- printer (in use)
- all-in-one fax machine (no longer in use, although the tray makes a handy paper caddy) and it’s accompanying telephone, which works when the power goes out
Fourth shelf:
- a stack of recycled printer paper
- books
- a pile of photos on top of some of the books
- assorted cat toys
Fifth shelf:
- more books
Top shelf:
- books I can’t reach—genealogy, gardening, plus a dozen issues of academic guidebooks for which I was the project editor
How much of this stuff do I actually use/need? Maybe twenty percent. Why do I have all this stuff? For one thing, I have the shelfspace for it. A lot of it seemed important when I put it there five or ten years ago, but I haven’t needed it since. Meanwhile, many things I do need and use are piled on desktops and the floor because I have no shelfspace for them.
For the rest of this week, I will ponder whether or not to hire a home/office organizer. If you or someone you know has worked with one, I’d love to hear about it.
Until next time,
Lee