Oh I wish…

I sometimes wish that I was able to organize my “real life” surroundings as neatly as I am able to organize my computer desktop… and by that I do not mean that desk that my computer sits on… no, I mean the computer itself. It is so nice and uncluttered… everything has its place in a folder… whether it’s in Documents or Pictures. I have folders within folders… labels, upon labels and even more labels. When I look for something, I don’t have to search too long, because everything is in its place… and if that something doesn’t have a defined place yet, it goes into the “Other stuff” folder.

(doesn’t that just look so nice and clean?)

My actual desk on the other hand… well, it looks like a giant “Other stuff” folder. I’ve tried to encourage organization. I bought a little bin with 5 drawers to hold pens, markers, scissors and other things that happen to float around my desk. I bought one of those paper stacker/sorter/divider thingy’s at Ikea to keep stray sheets of papers or notes in… and yet it still looks like a tornado came though and destroyed any sort of order I may have had both on and under my desk.

This is no small desk we’re talking about here… it is basically the length of our one wall… almost 13 feet long, and both Ray and I have our computers on it. Rays side is rarely cluttered and looks bare in comparison to mine. He just looks over at my end and shudders… we are two completely different people when it comes to clutter (I try so hard to contain it, but I rarely win)! Now I must admit, to help him with his organization he has not only the paper stacker/sorter/divider thingy like I have, but also a rolling file cabinet with drawers under his desk (I don’t have that).

I’m taking steps to help contain the clutter… I’ve recently added the scanner to my side of the desk… yes I know, I needed to add that there about as much as I need a whole in my head… but it is serving a purpose. You see, whenever I get the chance to go through a magazine, I tear out any pages that I find interesting… recipes, decorating ideas, crafts etc. Well . . . those pages have been accumulating in a basket underneath the pile of magazines that I have yet to read (just so you know how far behind I am… I am currently in March ‘09 for Better Homes and Gardens, Good Housekeeping, Parents and Parenting Magazines!! Yikes!) Anyway… the scanner… it is on my side of the desk because I have decided to scan in each and every single page that I have ripped out of any magazine over the past few years and still think is useful. Just so you know… that stack is currently 3 inches thick!

I’m hoping that this is just another step in the right direction and not a waste of my time. I know that I still need to find some sort of system for controlling the review samples when they come in (not that there are that many, but they all seem to land in the same spot). There is no need for them to be taking over my desk either. I feel like they are though since I have fallen behind on posting them (This week was a little crazy with classes starting and everything… I’m thinking about getting caught up this next week and posting several reviews and giveaways, so be on the lookout for that!).

What it comes down to is I have a dirty habit and it is embarrassing, annoying and frustrating (not to mention that my husband hates it)… my problem is that I have a very, very hard time getting rid of things that I feel I may need one day down the road as well as things that may have some sentimental value… and I am a clutter bug… there I said it. I need to change and since I don’t have it in me to take the giant step and just start throwing everything out, I will go this route and hope that one day soon, my desk will look as neat and empty as my screen shot!