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Week 13 - Clean one place
One change each week. This week: Clean one place.
Let's face it. I'm not the tidiest cat in the world.
At home, I tend to put things down on one table and just let them sit. These are mostly papers of various kinds - printouts of things I intend to read, printouts of things I've already read and should have already deposited in the recycle bin, lists, books, work files. And there they sit, gathering dust and growing slowly larger.
Also at home, there is the closet. It is almost beyond comprehension that there are so many things in the closet that I actually do not wear. I rationalize that this item was given to me by my wife, and that item night actually come in handy some time, and this other item might be just the thing to wear "some day." The truth is that a huge amount of this stuff will never leave the closet on my body.
I have two offices. One at the law school, where I teach a first year contracts class. One at my business. These offices are piled up with papers that I have not been willing to just throw away.
The whole thing can be quite intimidating.
It also takes away from the physical serenity of my life.
I tell myself I must clean up all this stuff. I don't do it. There's too much stuff. I'll have to make too many decisions. And so on.
Here's the easy solution. I'll pick one place and clean it up. Or I'll pick one part of a place (such as the top shelf in the closet) and clean that up. There are always three piles: Keep, throw away, give away.
Ruthlessness is the best method for me. If I haven's used something recently (for papers, that's 2 weeks; for clothes, it's 3 months), and it's not something I must keep (an old tax return, for example), then I do not keep it. Throw it away or give it away.
Next: The table in the living room. Watch out. Get out of the way.
What about you?
- Are there places that need to be cleaned up?
- Can you pick just one of them?
- Then start throwing away and giving away.
Ross Runkel, Post Office Box 1031, Salem, Oregon
97308-1031.
Phone 503-399-8028. Fax 503-566-8844. email Ross@LawMemo.Com
