Desk Mess

19 years ago

I never seem to be able to keep my computer desk straight!

Sitting at it now there are all these things on it that shouldn't be:

Newspapers and mailers that have had something in them that I needed to check out on the internet;

My routine and branch work lists;

Debt Proof your Kids book along with stuff I've printed off the net on the same subject;

To do lists;

Pens;

Timer (?!?);

Things I need to photocopy and laminate;

Diary.

Along the top of the desk there are even more things - a few of them are DHs too.

These are all spread out right across in front of me. I try and tidy it each night, but every morning this STUFF finds it way back again. **Sigh**

What does your desk look like? Any help appreciated :-)

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Comments (4)

bouncingpig
19 years ago
I can relate. Since I sell on ebay, I spend a lot of hours at my desk. So, mine becomes a "grazing field" and so it has empty pop cans, slimfast cans, etc. This along with plates I am listing on ebay, goo be gone (not sure why?!), miscellaneous papers, fed ex labels, two kid videos (why? I haven't the foggiest), one Christmas ornament that somehow escaped being put away and a paper cutter. Your post was a good reminder for me, so I am going to fix it now, while it will only take five minutes, rather than wait until the desk is near collapsing before I deal with it! LOL!

Brenda
gluecille
19 years ago
Denise, I was thinking the same thing. I was thinking today if I just straightened up my desk/computer room/craft room for 10 minutes each night this week it should look pretty good by Saturday. I'm sitting here looking at a roll of paper towels, a roll of toilet paper (I had a cold two weeks ago and I ran out of Kleenex so I grabbed a roll of Charmin) Batteries, a bottle of alcohol, pin cushion, camera, a glass full of my paint brushes and basket full of crafting odds and sends. You guys have got me motivated so I signed up with flylady last night, maybe that will keep me going. I have been flinging stuff since the week after Christmas. The house looks pretty good except our spare bedroom and this room (computer/craft room). Somehow they have magically turned into junk rooms. If out of town company shows up I'm in a heap of trouble. They are next on the list.
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As a naturally messy person, I would love to agree with the opinion of that article. But even I cannot. It just seems to make an excuse for not trying harder. I am most comfortable with a "lived in" look. Steve's kitchen pic is pretty, but, to me, it looks like no one uses it. So if I were a guest in that home, I'd be afraid to get a glass of water. Even as a teen at home, when I cleaned my room I would finish by turning down the bed covers, laying a book on it and putting some papers and a pen on the desk. Like life was in progress there, then it felt right to me. As a mother, I need a certain amount of organization in the house. But the effort to keep it perfect cannot consume my mind, then I'd be the housekeeper not the mother. When my kids are grown and on their own and someone asks them "Did your mother keep house like a neat freak or a slob?" the best I could hope for would be "I don't remember." I don't want my housekeeping standards to be what they remember about their childhood. I don't want them to remember that it was so perfect they weren't allowed to have fun or have friends over. (Like DH remembers, and no pets b/c they're messy.) I also don't want them to remember it as so messy they couldn't have friends over for embarrassment. So anyway. I'd like to celebrate my messy side like the article encourages. But I know there is a time for both creative messiness and peaceful organization. There is value in keeping both in your life, not either or.
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Laura - we just finished our remodel and the layout part is agonizing. Take your time to really think it out and play with it multiple ways. Only you know how you will use your space and what is going to work best for you but certainly be open to what GWers have to say. My suggestions/comments/questions: 1. Definitely put a garbage near your prep sink. Ideally in the island and such that you just open a drawer and sweep your trash in. We actually have two pullout trashes on opposite sides of our kitchen b/c it is so long (about 20 feet) and it is so nice. One is tall and narrow near the prep area, the other is smaller and a double bin for recycling too. As far as compost goes, you will want to take it out regularly so you don't need a giant garbage can. A small pail with a lid is more like it. 2. I like the island more "turned" as Lavender originally suggested and people have played with. IMO, I'd make it a curved triangle. You just don't want it so big that there are parts of it you can't reach from any side. Or if you leave it how cam suggested, only put 4 chairs - 2 and 2. It looks like you have plenty of space for a high chair in several places. You'll make it fit. 3. What side of the sink do you like to prep on? I have always prepped to the left of a sink. Make sure you are comfortable with whatever set up you decide on. In your original drawing, you didn't have much contiguous prep space with the sink almost in the middle (and it was on the right, further from the fridge). I think cam's suggestion of putting the sink in the corner of the island is a good one. Prep is usually fridge to (counter space) to sink to stove. This makes that part of the work triangle excellent and makes filling up pots with water to put on the stove easy too. Prep is like 70% of the time spent in the kitchen. You don't want to be doing it in a cramped little space in such an otherwise large kitchen. I can't remember the exact numbers but I think it's suggested to have 30'' of continuous space for prepping. HTH (Hope that helps. I had to look up a lot of acronyms when I first started using GW too.) The advice you'll find here is excellent though. Oh, and not to throw a wrench in it, have you given any thought to where you are going to work on a computer? I know everyone down on desks in kitchens these days, but as a mom of little ones, I find my desk in the kitchen invaluable. It is a little bit away from all the kitchen cabinets so desk messes down wander but I no longer get to my desk in the basement as often (sometimes not for days) and would be miserable without my computer and desk in the kitchen. As a mommy the kitchen is your new office (regardless of if you are a stay-at-home mom) and you'll spend a lot of time there. Just something to think about knowing you are expecting and want more than one child.
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blazedog
19 years ago
Since you are sitting at a computer why don't you take advantage of it and get rid of all that useless paper?

You don't need mailers and newspapers - just copy the url onto a list or visit the url briefly and bookmark it.

Why do you have paper lists at the computer when you could more easily be using some type of computerized organizational tool -- especially if it is linked to a PDA to take with you.

I'm not sure why you would need more than one pen. Don't you have a drawer or at least a cup that can neatly store those types of office supplies - a pen, scissors etc.?

Why did you bother to print out information from a website -- that data is going to be there whenever you need to access it through the internet.

Is there some reason you have so much stuff to photocopy and laminate -- Why not create a folder and just do it five minutes at a time.

I have a small desk area and take 5 minutes or so to consciously get rid of anything that I don't immediately need. Othewise it would become overwhelmed with clutter.

It's really not different than any other "hot spot" -- focus on de-cluttering and then organizing it is much easier. As flylady would suggest - it's not a place to keep all one's projects out -- if you haven't finished a project, put it away.
Purple_Jade
19 years ago
Denise: Yeah, what blazedog says.
My computer desk isn't near as messy as it used to be, since I've been working on a filing system for all of my papers.
You sound like the type of person on a decluttering show I saw, that likes to SEE their stuff, somehow think if you put it out of sight you'll forget about it or won't finish it.
To help this woman they took the closet doors OFF the closet, some doors off cupboards, and had lots of shelves with baskets, bins, and organized all her stuff where it could all be seen but was not an eye sore. Open book cases and shelves on walls were used as well.
I like to stack things, until the piles get out of control. Therefore I have a vertical file system, with 12 slots, all labelled, one for papers to file, bills to pay, things to read, etc. This has helped my heaps of paper problem immensely. I can still have my papers stacked but in a way that looks organized and functions very well.
I guess each person has to figure out their clutter style and work with it instead of against it if you want to get a system that will work for an ongoing basis.
Sure is funny how when you get rid of clutter from one area it mysteriously finds it's way somewhere else ......... sigh, thus the neverending battle with clutter.

Desk Mess

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bouncingpig

gluecille

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