{"id":4471,"date":"2016-02-28T21:08:58","date_gmt":"2016-02-29T02:08:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.susanvogt.net\/blog\/?p=4471"},"modified":"2016-09-30T18:49:45","modified_gmt":"2016-09-30T22:49:45","slug":"365118-cleaning-my-desk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.susanvogt.net\/blog\/365118-cleaning-my-desk\/","title":{"rendered":"365+#118: Cleaning My Desk 1"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_4448\" style=\"width: 160px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.susanvogt.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Days-365117-Lent-desk-cropped.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-4448\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4448\" class=\"wp-image-4448 size-thumbnail\" src=\"http:\/\/www.susanvogt.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Days-365117-Lent-desk-cropped-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"Before\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-4448\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Before<\/p><\/div>\n<p>I\u00a0finally made the time to work on my Lenten commitment to clean out the paper clutter in my life, especially around my desk. It took me 2 \u00bd weeks to start because I knew cleaning off my desk would be a big project and I had other priorities. This weekend, however, provided some free time. For perspective, the first picture at right is the <em>before<\/em> photo of my desk.<\/p>\n<p>First, I took everything off the desk. This is what scared me because I knew those files and stacks and scraps of paper had information that needed organizing not just a sweep into the paper recycling bin. This would take time. In fact it took about 2 hours to take everything off the desk (Disclaimer, I didn\u2019t tackle the bottom drawers yet.) and about 4 hours to go through the remaining stuff on the surface and 9 mini drawers.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_4473\" style=\"width: 160px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.susanvogt.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Days-365118-Lent-desk-cleaned-off-cropped.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-4473\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4473\" class=\"size-thumbnail wp-image-4473\" src=\"http:\/\/www.susanvogt.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Days-365118-Lent-desk-cleaned-off-cropped-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"Emptied\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-4473\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Emptied<\/p><\/div>\n<p>This turned out to be an exercise in sorting trivia from what\u2019s important. I suppose that\u2019s similar to life in general.\u00a0My findings and prunings may seem inconsequential at first glance but upon reflection I\u2019m struck by how many things seemed important to store and keep when I got this desk about 10 years ago and now are useless.\u00a0For example, I found and discarded:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Directories from past jobs, some over 20 years old<\/li>\n<li>2 ink cartridges from a printer that I haven\u2019t had for 10 years.<\/li>\n<li>Computer camera that I replaced several years ago<\/li>\n<li>The \u201cNew User Edition\u201d for Quicken 2003.<\/li>\n<li>Paper manuals for Windows XP and Windows 98 SE<\/li>\n<li>Paper instructions for installing drivers\/utilities\/operating instructions for a Dell computer that I no longer own.<\/li>\n<li>14 discs for obsolete computers or programs. (I discarded these after consulting my son and some other young adults who confirmed that I\u2019d never need them. It\u2019s all online now.)<\/li>\n<li>64 business cards for people I can\u2019t remember. (This was about half my cards)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>What took a little longer was dealing with 9 scraps of paper that looked like they were cluttering my desk. Actually, I had very intentionally left these in the middle of my work space because each one required some attention. Now I was forced to do something with them, like:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>I typed some of the information into related computer files<\/li>\n<li>One was a reminder to make an eye appointment, so I stopped procrastinating and just did it.<\/li>\n<li>File the Christmas gift warranty in our warranty file.<\/li>\n<li>Put several items on my master \u201cTo Do\u201d list.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div id=\"attachment_4474\" style=\"width: 160px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.susanvogt.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Days-365118-Lent-desk-fixed-cropped.gif\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-4474\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4474\" class=\"size-thumbnail wp-image-4474\" src=\"http:\/\/www.susanvogt.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Days-365118-Lent-desk-fixed-cropped-150x150.gif\" alt=\" After\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-4474\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">After<\/p><\/div>\n<p>The 9 mini drawers were relative easy because they were, well, \u201cmini.\u201d Mostly I reorganized them a little and updated their labels.<\/p>\n<p>Then I hunkered down for the big job \u2013 those folders. This took the most time but I disciplined myself to only keep the folders I actively use on my desk. The rest can go into file cabinets \u2013 once I get to pruning them out, but that\u2019s for another weekend, maybe another Lent. We\u2019ll see.<\/p>\n<p><strong>8\u00a0Things I learned through this process:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><strong>I was right.<\/strong> It did take a long time. It\u2019s good I waited till I had a hunk of time. It would have been hard to continue my work with files in disarray.<\/li>\n<li><strong>I cut myself a break.<\/strong> I quickly saw that if I wanted to deal with the paper <em>on top<\/em> of my desk, in the bottom drawers, on the Ping-Pong table, on top of the file cabinets etc. it would keep me from starting. I decided that the stack of monthly medical reports and other misc. paper would just have to wait &#8211; another example of the perfect being the enemy of the good.<\/li>\n<li><strong>It feels satisfying<\/strong> to have my main work space orderly. It\u2019s a good feeling; sort of like the feeling after going to confession. I often resist doing it, but when it\u2019s over, I feel like a fresh human being.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Most paper over 10 years old can be tossed.<\/strong> (exceptions: documents and stuff that I will use again, although most of this is probably on my computer now.)<\/li>\n<li>Computer related stuff (manuals, paraphernalia, etc.) <strong>have an even shorter life span<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Only by emptying everything out<\/strong> would I have found some of the obsolete items tucked away in corners.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Perspective.<\/strong> Although it took time to go through old business cards, directories, and files, it was an exercise in reviewing my life. I thought about the people I once worked with and the projects that seemed so important at the time. I found myself pondering whether what I\u2019m working on now is worthy of my time? What is necessary but will fade in importance over time?<\/li>\n<li><strong>I will never be 100% done.<\/strong> New papers will spontaneously generate to take the place of my bare center desk surface. But that\u2019s OK. I have a bit better system to deal with it now. I still have those other papers (outside of the photo range) to challenge me during the rest of Lent.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>So is this a worthy Lenten effort. I think so. I\u2019m reminding myself to notice what\u2019s trivial and what\u2019s of lasting importance. I\u2019m continuing to focus on being fully present to people who cross my path each day and to listen closely to them. Some times it\u2019s working.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I\u00a0finally made the time to work on my Lenten commitment to clean out the paper clutter in my life, especially around my desk. It took me 2 \u00bd weeks to start because I knew cleaning off my desk would be a big project and I had other priorities. This weekend, however, provided some free time. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[46],"tags":[30,33],"class_list":["post-4471","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-paper-less-lent-2","tag-faith","tag-organizing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.susanvogt.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4471","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.susanvogt.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.susanvogt.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.susanvogt.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.susanvogt.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4471"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.susanvogt.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4471\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4490,"href":"https:\/\/www.susanvogt.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4471\/revisions\/4490"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.susanvogt.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4471"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.susanvogt.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4471"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.susanvogt.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4471"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}