Out of the MUDDLE, and into PEACE
It’s been weird here at Casa Pink Apple lately!
The office was sinking in the mire of paper and crap everywhere. The desk was piled high. The filing (Yuk yuk, yuk) was piled even higher! I couldn’t find things! I couldn’t DO things! Despite enormous surges of creativity, it felt like every new idea and every action I tried to take was sinking further into this squelching muddy pit. Unlike the piggy in the photo there I was FAR from happy!
Finally my friend Angela Esnouf of Creating Order From Chaos, rode up on her white charger (Ok maybe it was the family station wagon!) and grabbed my hand. She helped me step onto a sturdy piece of land and wash off all that yucky clingy mud from my legs (and brain).
I reckon Creating Order From Chaos pretty much sums up the nasty places some of us have hiding in our Home-Based Offices. How on earth did I get there? Messy Desk Woman I may have been, but this was just OUT OF CONTROL!
There were no "rules for ordering the chaos" coming out of Angela’s mouth. (That was good, because I can get a bit rebellious if anyone MAKES me do things. Just ask SweetP!) And instead she used the weird systems which I’d already developed and honed them into a sensible way of doing things. She didn’t stay long, just asked questions and suggested a few techniques. I tell you this woman is a miracle-worker.
Don’t get me wrong the Order From Chaos Fairy’s magic-wand-wave took about two weeks to achieve but NOW…
My desk is clear. I can find things where I put them in the filing cabinet. I ruthlessly went through the worst of the boggy files in the cabinet and the shredder and the recycle bin have been tested to enormous limits! Being a good little recycler, my Scrap Paper drawer has about 2 reams of paper in there, ready to be printed on its second side.
I have allocated times in my diary for filing and small drawers on the desk for sorting the filing as it passes through my hands! Now I know all you organised people do this all the time, but for MANY of us, what I’m talking about is part of our dirty shameful secret. So be kind and compassionate and don’t judge us for failing at organising!
What’s more, all manner of simple tasks have been added to my diary to help me STAY organised and remember to maintain things under control.
But it wasn’t just cleaning and tidying and systemising. I put up pictures and generally lifted the space from the doldrums!
It feels LIBERATING! The first day in the office after I had completed my task was such a pleasure! I couldn’t wait to get in there and at it! I knew what I was going to do, where to find what I needed to do it, and all was at peace with the world.
Angela, YOU’RE a STAR!
3 Responses to “Out of the MUDDLE, and into PEACE”
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Congratulations! Doesn’t it make a difference to the way you tackle the day? i find I get so buried in paraphernalia that I can’t get to the real thing. Well done. Good to see you back in business.
Thanks Anne for calling in and “virtually” admiring the newly cleared office.
You’re so right Anne, I COULDN’T get to the real thing!
IS a Change as Good as a Holiday?
We’re really experiencing WINTER here. It’s unusual because it feels like we’ve had fairly mild winters for the last couple of years. But this year it’s got COLD. There’s rain, though our water catchments need SO much more to counter