Another Decluttering Guest Post! I love seeing your projects!! I especially love how Andrea from The Distracted Housewife used my Decluttering Questions to tackle this overwhelming task!
My desk. It’s been a continuous eye sore in my life ever since I was a little girl. Time after time, I have vowed to get my desk into a useable state.
Yet, time after time it ends up piled with a variety of items.
My current desk was no exception. I had it loaded up with clothes, unfinished crafts, notebooks, and photos with absolutely no useable surface to be seen. Even the chair had been rendered un-sittable with clean-ish clothes. Without a doubt, it was finally time to get the desk cleaned up. After going through this clean up process time and time again, I knew I needed to take a different approach. With that I made the decision that the only way for the desk to get even somewhat clean on a regular basis, was if I did a massive decluttering.
I am ashamed to admit that I started the task with no real plan in mind. I quickly found myself piling things in vague categories on my bed with no clue as to where the things would go once the desk was clean. Inevitably, I became overwhelmed as the piles multiplied like the Blob and I realized most of the items had ended up on the desk because they had no home in the first place.
Meaning, once the desk was clean, all the homeless items would end up back on the desk. The desk would then quickly spiral back into its former state of crisis.
A change in strategies was just what I needed. So, I decided to give the Nony method of cleaning a shot by addressing each item right away. Every time I picked something up, I determined if I really used and liked the item. I am ashamed to admit that way too many things I had been saving didn’t make this cut. The items that I deemed “keep worthy” were immediately relocated by asking myself the question “Where would I look if needed this?”
This worked so much better than having a “put away pile” because, who actually puts away the things they put in a “put away” pile?
Oh wait, normal people do that! Normal or not, the Nony method works wonders. †Although some of my items ended up in odd locations, I †now know exactly where they are.
After the initial declutter, I assessed everything I had deemed “keep-able” one more time. Consequently, I decided to part with a few more things, as they hadn’t been used or worked on in years.
With an empty desk, and a clean slate, I took on the task of putting things back in the desk item by item. I knew I wanted to keep the desk surface as clear and open as possible, in hopes it would discourage me from putting any clutter back on the desk. The only items I allowed to stay were a lamp, an alarm clock, an incoming mail basket, and a basket for pens and scissors.
Next came the drawers. All too often in the past I have happily shoved anything and everything in the drawers to get them out of sight.
Of course, this resulted in me pulling everything out when I was looking for one thing or another. Did I clean it up when I was done? Heck no! We’ve already determined I am not normal and only a normal person would clean up the mess when they find what they are looking for.†So, in an effort to keep this from happening again, I hijacked some of my kid’s construction paper and lined the bottom of the drawers.
I spent a short amount of time organizing the kept items atop the paper. When I was happy with the way things looked, I took a sharpie and divided the sheets up marking where each item belonged. With this method, I no longer throw everything in the drawer. Since everything has a labeled place inside the drawer, it hurts my un-normal brain to throw something in where it obviously doesn’t belong.
I can honestly say the Nony method has worked for me.
It has fit perfectly in my distracted brain. Living such a distracted life has made this desk (and many other areas) fall victim to clutter. However, getting the item put up quickly and efficiently has allowed me to get it out of my hands, and where it belongs before my son eats another tube of toothpaste.
Since starting a blog, I have been a drifter. Writing wherever there was enough space for me to squeeze my laptop.
Now that my desk is free of clutter, I have a dedicated place to work. Things are where they need to be, leaving me with an open, organized work place. Which means a lot for a distracted housewife.
Andrea shares about her journey to get organized despite the many distractions along the way at The Distracted Housewife where she blogs about building a routine and making an agenda, revamping her son’s closet while her kids eat toothpaste and throw keys down the john. (So sorry, Andrea is no longer blogging.)
Ooh… This post hurt. As I sit here at my computer, fondly recalling a few excavation projects…proving that there is indeed a desktop under the piles of STUFF…I’m thinking it’s probably time to give it another go. I hate working in chaos, and I spend the bulk of my waking hours at my computer, which sits among the avalanches waiting to happen (and they happen fairly regularly).
So…great job, Andrea! I’m going to try my best to clear my desk tonight. Okay, so I’ll be happy if I clear a quarter of my desk tonight. It’s a big desk. 🙂
Hmm. I don’t even know where to start. Yikes!
Good luck. Glad I inspired you to get yours clean! I too have a hard time writing or working in cluttered areas. Unfortunately I wasn’t given the keep-things-clutter-free gene. But this was a step in the right direction and it has been so nice having it organized!
LOL…yeah, that gene passed me over, too. I’d like to say that my desk looks as pretty as yours in the photo, but I sat here looking at my desk, wasn’t sure where to start…and gave up after about two minutes. I do hope to tackle it tomorrow…rather later today…though. I need to do it right after I get up so I don’t let fatigue talk me out of it. 🙂
Kristy, I feel your pain as I have the same problem. I blame it on my ADD and that’s the truth with other obsticles thrown in on me..like caregiver for my DH. I separated a lot of my paper clutter(genealogy related)into piles with intentions to get into each surmane notebook. I should have taken the smallest pile first and put it in notebook but I did just the opposite. Started on the biggest pile to file away, and came to a stop. Took a break from that and started something else, pulling out my cookbooks that I no longer use or want. Took a box full to the thrift shop to donate, plus another box of household stuff. How do you remove return address labels that I stuck across the front of a book or inside page? Will Goo-gone do it without damaging the hardback cover? I could kick myself for doing that! I need to be going to grocery store, somebody here is asking for pain pill and I need to be decluttering. See what I mean by outside forces? Let’s supoort each other. Feel free to email me if you feel “down under” and frustrated.
I’m so glad I have a twin out there! Thanks Betty819. thank you Andrea!! I’m going to check on you more often!
What a great post, and I LOVE the construction paper ‘map’ you created. As I look around my desk, I have a similar problem. Everything that needs ‘handled’ ends up here. Occasionally I put it all in piles, with the intent to ‘handle’ it later. then more stuff arrives. I have full drawers, but probably only use 2-3 things out of each — they have been filled during a desk cleaning session, so more stuff to ‘handle’. As I occasionally go through my piles, I find lots of stuff that has expired before I got to it, relieving me of the burden of dealing with it. Like a 30% off coupon to a store I don’t really need to go to.
I need to follow Nony’s advice and declutter, then set up a process to deal with things in a timely manner, but that seems overwhelming. But I”m going to work at it this week!
Good luck. Your explanation of your desk drawers sounds exactly how I treated mine on a regular basis. Thankfully this decluttering project has really turned it around. The construction paper map was actually a last minute thought that has had an excellent impact on the drawers. If I were to take a picture of it right now it would look exactly the same. So good luck, hopefully this post helps a little bit.
The paperaos look like a long term effective strategy for those of us with an odd on/off attention to detail. Haha!
Wow, impressive job, Andrea. And, I love it that your organizing “tools” (construction paper, what genius!) were simple things that you already had. Personally, I tend to convince myself that new and shiny organizational stuff will magically solve my too-much-stuff problem, and so I often just add to the clutter. I am inspired to follow your example and use Nony’s method on my Dining Room of Doom.
I too always want to find shiny new solutions to my organizational issues. Luckily, this last minute idea made such a difference. Good luck on the Dining Room. I am working on mine as well, hopefully I can have similar results in there.
Nice job! Thanks for sharing how you did it step by step. I really need to do this in my closet. 🙂
Good luck! I hope it goes well!
Thanks for sharing…right now I’m sitting across from the Stack (desk surface with multiple piles) and contemplating fitting in the time to clear/deal with the stuff.I think if paper got stinky as it aged I’d be more on top of this Stack, at least I’m keeping the kitchen user friendly…your desk has a great view to the outside and gives you a great view while inside now, great payoff!
I think you should patent stinky paper. I bet there are lots of people who would invest in it because of the paper clutter issue. LOL Jk.
I really like the idea of dividing things up on the paper. I may have to use that. And I would LOVE to have a desk facing straight out the window. Such a nice view for all my daydreaming (ahem… planning). 😉
I will admit, quite a bit of daydreaming goes on at the desk. Maybe too much.
Great post! This is exactly what I go through on my office desk. I used to always think I had excuse, since I’m a “creative” person, but I hate it!!!!
Every two-three days I clean it off and in a matter of hours, it’s a mess again.
Story of my life…
Whitney
Oh, your desk looks just like mine. I too have uncovered and recovered my desk. I don’t even use that poor desk top computer anymore because it is too cluttered, not to mention the room is too small for a desk. I know my room would have more room if that desk and chair wasn’t even in there, but I am at a loss for where else to put it. Thanks for sharing your de-clutter desk journey.
I didn’t know what i was doing when I was doing it, but i had finished my packing of mail and started throwing the trash away, putting my envelopes away, the tape, the stamps, even the items i had just gotten ready and put them “away”.
Strange, I know. It seemed almost “normal” to put things where they go when done with them. Kept my desk clear and things easy to find when i will need them again. This post about needing to unearth items you need just shows me that if I take that extra 5 seconds now it won’t take me an hour next time.