Thursday 30 October 2008

Disgraceful Desk

My desk at home was a disgrace. I could put nothing on it and papers were sliding off. So I took a picture of it and started at it.

So I started pulling things off the desk and out of the drawers and things just got worse.

(Raechelle, is your heart beating fast? Do you want to come here and sort this for me? Too bad!) I went to work and made a list. I love making lists. Lists make me feel grounded. In order to organise all my papers and things in the following manner:

1. Citizenship Papers- Anything I think I would need when I apply for Permanent Leave to Remain and then UK Citizenship went in this pile.
2. Finances UK- All my UK bank statements, etc. went in this pile.
3. Finances US-All bank statements, etc. from the US went here
4. Health- Anything having to do with my health insurance, the ultra-sound from when I had that pain, etc.
5. Living-This was a bit more general. My leases, recent bills, and documents pertaining to my current living situation.
6. Manuals- for all my electrical appliances. You know, just in case I forget how to use my stereo.
7. Memorabilia- Pictures, cards, and various crap that means nothing to anyone but me.
8. Menus- All my take out menus with Joy, the restaurant we ordered from this weekend on the top.
9. Pension- As if that's worth anything right now.
10. School- All paperwork I need for work. Not papers to mark but contracts and such.

Then I had degrees, certificates, visa stuff from Mexico, and various other important things I didn't know how to categorise, but I knew I would need one day. They went into another pile.

In my drawer I put the stuff I needed to grab quickly: post-it notes, paper clips, passport, checking books, stamps, usb cables, usb stick, etc.

But then there was stuff I needed for recording podcasts and voiceovers-headphones, microphone, etc. I put these things in a box. Oh and all this stationary and 3 random clipboards. What the hell was I going to do with them?

Then I took another look at the piles. I combined piles 1 and 3 into a big accordion file. The Memorabilia went into two boxes which I marked. I put all the Manuals in the top drawer of the little wooden drawer organiser thingy next to my desk. My printer paper was in the 2nd and the rest of my stationary went the bottom drawer. The three clipboards and a box of stationary I put on top of the little wooden drawer organiser thingy. Everything else went into separate large envelope files. I labelled everything.

Then I started to put it all back together. I had some random little decorative things which I placed in the appropriate places. The files that I would need to grab with more frequency I put in the bottom part of my desk. And after about 6 hours, I was done.


And this is how I spent my day. I had every intention of sorting my kitchen and bathroom as well, but lost my steam. I will be cleaning a bit more tomorrow. I've made a list a list of what needs to get done.

2 comments:

TD said...

Phenomenal, H. Now I need to do that to MY desk, before the party tomorrow! Yikes!

Raechelle said...

FANTASTIC! Your desk looks great!
Good job, H!!

I'm so bad at the before and after pics. We've done so much cleaning and I have no pics. Next project, though. Promise.