Life Got Crazy. Clutter Happened. Now What?

Jae's Home Office De-Cluttering Journey ~ Part 2

Welcome back to my home office, where I am ready to begin my de-cluttering journey by opening this drawer.

Now, why should I bother with whatever is tucked away neatly, inside of this drawer when I have all sorts of cluttery messes sitting right out in the open all around me? Shouldn't I want to get rid of those visible messes first? After all, it is due to the visible messes that I have been avoiding this room. The answer to “why the drawer” can be found in how these annoying in-my-face messes began.

Fade back to August of 2005.

Yes, three years ago. No, my office has not been a cluttered mess since then.

Actually, it looked much worse when I first moved in, and for quite awhile thereafter. The problem has always been that the physical dimensions of this office are much smaller than the one I had moved out of. And, that previous office had been smaller than the office I had before that, in California. The continued, forced downsizing created a lurking clutter problem waiting to take over. This is the same problem that is faced by many retirees as they move from a house to a condo; or as a college student moves from home to a dorm room or shared apartment.

Since my husband and I moved to this place during a particularly busy time, I did some quick-fixes so I could at least find things and function. But as professional commitments picked up, the neatness factor deteriorated quickly. And, it soon became apparent that the main reason for that deterioration was due to a lack of storage space. In each of my other offices, I had a walk-in closet. The only closet I have here is two-thirds of your typical bedroom closet. The other third is taken up by a water heater.

So, as I open this file cabinet drawer, I am in search of ways to reclaim storage space. And of course, the only way to do that is to purge any papers that are no longer necessary.


Now, this is something I will actually enjoy, which is another reason I'm starting here. I love to throw things away. My slogan has always been, “When in doubt, try to find a reason to throw it out!” And as computer storage space has increased and become more dependable, I proclaim that slogan with even more fervor in my voice. I think this “toss it” attitude is probably because I had parents that never threw out anything. When my father died, my sister and I found his pay stubs from the depression years. No, I am not making this up!

But, I do digress.

I also want to reclaim some storage space in my bookcases. And as you can see by the open places on those shelves, I have already started the process.


This is probably the hardest thing for me. Both my husband and I love books. Whenever we move, there are more boxes of books than anything else. In my bedroom, there are two bookcases, plus a bookcase-headboard full of our favorite fiction books. My goal here is to open up at least three shelves worth of space. (I guess I'll be making a few more donation-visits to my local library.) I am sure that there are several options that reclaiming this shelving space will offer me. I will ponder those options while sorting through the papers from that filing drawer.

Now, here are the three piles of papers/files that I removed from the top drawer.

I'll probably put back about a third of this. And most of it will eventually be in binders.

(I love binders! We'll talk about the joy of binders next time.)

But for now, let's take all of this stuff to a place where there's more room to spread out.

WARNING!
If you carry clutter into another room.
Be sure you carry it all back out again.
Otherwise, you'll have two cluttered spaces.

So, the three piles have become one very tall pile, and I have started the sorting process. Opening each file and reviewing each sheet of paper, I sort them into one of four basic piles.

REUSE
These papers have a clean side. I will use them to print out drafts.

RECYCLE
These are non-confidential papers with both sides used,
and file folders that are very ragged.

SHRED
These are old confidential materials.

and

REFILE.

An hour and a half later, here is the result. Note that we now have six piles instead of four.


The two upper left piles are papers and file folders that I will reuse. The upper right pile goes into my recycling bin, and the lower right pile gets shredded.

Then there's a new category. The papers in the middle bottom row need to be looked over more carefully. Several things in that pile sparked some creative ideas for me. So, this is a pile of inspiration to look over at my leisure, with my feet up, and a cup of tea nearby.

The last pile goes back into the drawer.


I am thrilled to have reclaimed 12 inches worth of filing space. And there is the possibility of at least another 24 inches of space to be reclaimed from going through papers in the bottom file cabinet drawer and

these plastic file drawers behind the closet door.

Yes, it will be the same process all over again ~ meaning another three to four hours of sorting. But it will be worth it. And while I sort, I will be envisioning how all of this will be nice and neatly tucked away in perfect order using ...

Binders,
Box Bottom Hanging File Folders,
and
Decoratively Disguised Storage Ideas.

So, I invite you to stop by again soon.

Many thanks to those of you who have left comments
and shared stories about your own organizing journeys.

Peace & Light,
Jae