Decluttering the office

I had a super productive day yesterday. I really wanted to start and finish one project that needed to be done. I almost completed it, but it's still likely to take another two hours. It involved some quilting, and at 7:30 pm, I was exhausted, so I went to read for a bit. I'll be able to finish this morning. 

As a result of going to bed so early, I was up VERY early and decided that while also doing some writing, I'd send out some emails. After I sent them, I forgot that people could see the time I sent them. Ooops!

I really do not have any issues with sleeping when it works and being up when it works. Thankfully, I don't have a day job that requires me to be awake at certain times! Then I went back to bed and had some very bizarre dreams, which were sort of based on the emails I sent! 

Thank goodness, Murphy understands the word "bedtime" and will go lie down when I don't want her bothering me!

I procrastinated a wee bit before getting started on my project. I looked around the office to see what that status is. Here are the pictures. 

What is hilarious is that I posted pictures on January 1, and I really don't see much of a change! I actually think there is more stuff on one of the desks! But this year, I intend to do something about the mess. Well, I have to find those documents and fast, so I might as well tidy and sort at the same time. 

And of course, the inspector arrived just as I was taking pictures!

The bookcase

The pile of paper on the TV tray is new from last year.

The filing cabinet, the desk, and a TV table

The piles on the floor are also new from last year, as is the computer box, which is still unopened. 

The computer desk and two cabinets

The buffet

The table

Behind the table

There are two sets of doors into this room, so this door is not being blocked. And I can definitely say that this area is much neater than last year. There were piles of boxes here, and they are all gone! 

To tackle a colossal mess, one needs a plan. I decided to look through the filing cabinet drawers to start with. If I don't have room to file stuff, then how will I clean off the desk? 

Inside the filing cabinet

The filing cabinet is NOT jammed with stuff, as you can see, half of that drawer is empty! I pulled out a ton of paper. I quickly sorted through it and made sure that everything was in a separate file folder. I know there are bills and other paperwork that can be thrown away, but to get started, I'm going to file "like" paperwork together. Don't worry -- if I know it's not worth keeping, I'll recycle it, but it will be faster if I can just put like documents together and file them. Then grab one at a time and do a refined sort. 

Folders that I sorted through

Oh my -- I know I'm going to find lots of paper like this. I found these two pieces, and even after reading them, what the heck was I even keeping them for? One was a pattern for a particular line of fabric. I don't have that fabric! Sigh........   

Why did I keep these?

This particular drawer doesn't look much cleaner, but it is definitely more organized than it was. There are two more drawers for me to tackle, and I've grabbed a handful of papers to sort and then file. 

The drawer is now sorted

I also found this, which I love, but sometimes you have to do the crappy jobs to prevent the mess. Then you have space to deal with the non-important stuff. Wouldn't it be nice if we could be in the Non-Urgent, Important category all the time? I hope to spend less time in the Urgent/Important category. That seems to be where I've spent a lot of time, and I don't want that anymore. 

Weed out the bad to have time for the good! 

I've become totally obsessed with my space. I find I'm putting stuff away the instant I'm done with it. I don't even wait for the project to be complete. I used to NEVER put the stuff away, which caused many issues. But my brain wants spaces to be clear and tidy so it can function these days! It's the same with the kitchen. I would be bored to tears if I spent a day cleaning the kitchen, but now I take five minutes each morning to do something. It might be reorganizing one drawer - now that we have less stuff, five minutes works. Or I wipe down door knobs, or sort and clean a pantry shelf. Those little jobs are making a considerable improvement, and I love the quick tidy-up! One day, I'll be able to do that in the office! 

Only four clubs this year and all are full, so that's a good way to start the year. There are two ongoing classes, and I'll be adding the scrap class that will begin in February. It is NOT a project class and will only last two sessions. I'll post more details on that next week. 

It was a crazy day weather-wise in our neck of the woods! We had giant, beautiful snowflakes for part of the day, then the sun would come out! You didn't know whether to shovel or wait! When I did go out to shovel, it was at the tail end of the snow. But at one point, the snow was coming down harder than I was shoveling! At least it was a light, fluffy snow - the first of the year. 

Beautiful snowfall

Guess who wanted to be outside? The girls and I caught them lying on the deck side by side. That never happens!

What? 

Notice how different their ears are! Both of them were primed to hear anything out of the ordinary in the house -- they just do it differently! 

Best buds!

While the sidewalls are NOT clear, they aren't overly slippery, but I'm not trusting them. I keep a watchful eye on where I walk. It was a bit windy and cold in the morning, but pretty decent in the afternoon. I had to go to the pharmacy to see about filling my only prescription. It mustn't have been a busy day because they asked if I wanted to wait. It would be 10 minutes. Since I had nothing else to do and needed a break from my project, I said yes. 

I noticed this on the little table in the waiting area. I got a chuckle and was tempted, but then I thought, some little sick kids have put germs all over that. I'm not touching it with a ten-foot pole!!

A puzzle in the pharmacy waiting area

This morning will be heads-down, as I have a private Zoom lesson, and I need to finish my project and complete the writing. That should be easy to do, as it's pretty basic stuff to complete! I will say the project I created yesterday is adorable! Actually, everything in this series is cute! I'll let you know when they will be published online! 

And we will have a Virtual Retreat this afternoon. I think I forgot to put that on my blog yesterday, but it was there two days ago. The Zoom starts at 3 pm. I know I will NOT make it to midnight - that is not my thing, nor is it a thing for at 44% of the population, or so I heard a while back. 

Here's the link. 

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86965821331?pwd=QwdKXQA5i2iuYHkVZbtjQ5tboL7dGG.1

Meeting ID: 869 6582 1331
Passcode: 423224

If I don't see you on the call, have a wonderful New Year's Eve. 

Have a wonderful day!!!!

Ciao!!!