It's Hard to Be Me

If there is a way to make something complex or complicated, I will find it. Jungle has pointed out this fact on more than one occasion, by slowly shaking his head and saying, "it's hard to be you."

About a month ago, as I searched for something I had lost couldn't immediately locate on my desk, I took a visual survey of the clutter important papers. Most of it was essential, or so I thought.

I decided to make some stacks on the floor by project type. It seems I had quite a few organizational tools, i.e. calenders, notebooks, journals, etc.

My main planner was executive size (makes me feel more important) in a loose-leaf binder. I kept it in the open position most of the time - presumably, so I could see my to do list. However, the planner took up so much desktop real estate that other items got stacked on top of it. I could seldom see more than the edges.

Something had to give. So I ordered the personal sized planner that comes spiral bound. I kept the Stock Traders Almanac and began using it to write down my trades. My trading software keeps detailed records, so it wasn't necessary for me to keep so many notes - which I never read later anyway.

I noticed today that most of the other notebooks have made their way back onto my desk. I had one for each type of note - one for spiritual things, one for household things like grocery lists, and several for miscellaneous. I know they each contain very important information I simply cannot do without! My plan was to go through each notebook and extract the most important jewels of wisdom so they would not be eternally lost to posterity. Have I done it yet? NO! Am I likely to do it? I'm thinking, "of course I will."

I'm not at all certain that I can be trusted here. So here I sit in the balance between order and chaos. For inspiration I'm reading 10 tips for keeping your desk clean and tidy. For some reason I don't have trouble with the rest of the house, but when it comes to my office...*heavy sigh.* It's probably because I live most of my life in my office/studio or outside gardening.

So, maybe I should be reading this instead Organize Your Cluttered Desktop and Regain Your Sanity. But only if I promise not to print it out first.

Jungle is right - it's hard to be me.