HELP - My Desk Is Buried Under a Mountain of Paper

The Mess On My Desk by Kasey_and_Company

My current paper flow is all "in" with very little "out." New layers drift across the top of earlier layers of papers. Occasionally I'll sift down through the layers to see if anything important is lurking there.

OK, here I go, "My name is Virginia and I have a problem with papers." Now all of you can say, "Welcome, Virginia." I'm assuming that you have a messy desk too and that's why you are here.

Now that we've admitted that we have a problem with this, we can get started fixing it.

Super Organized To Do Binder by Anotherfort

Here's my task for the 2nd day. Figure out some categories for all this stuff on my desk. I know a lot of it is idea generating STUFF with topics that I plan to spin off into Squidoo lenses. Being a writer means these ideas (bits of newspapers, things from the mail, notes on bits of paper) are important. I just need to figure out how to corral them and keep them convenient when I'm ready to work on that idea. Keeping these right at hand contributes to the avalanche of paper filling my desktop. I need to give up the idea that I'm going to get to all of these today, or even tomorrow. They don't need to be right on top of the desk.

Other STUFF on the desk needs responses or are intended to be sent by e-mail or regular mail to all the people I want to keep in touch with you. That would account for the stack of Christmas cards and Christmas newsletters on my desk on March 8, several months after the holiday.

The desk top also contains items needing action (my camera to upload photos, a medical bill to submit to insurance, items to list for sale on a local online bulletin board).

I think I'd better stop here and act on these three categories that I've identified. Don't want to let this illuminating moment get away from me. First I need to make a file called IDEAS - Squidoo, one for LETTERS - to send, and one for ACTION ITEMS. If I sort out the STUFF that goes into those four folders, it should make a significant reduction in the piles of paper on the desk.

How about your desk? Are you able to see categories of STUFF, so you can start separating it?

Tie Stuck File Cabinet by what_if

Quit worrying that filing papers out of sight means "out of mind." For those of us who are visually oriented, that may be the thinking behind keeping all our papers on the desk top. If you file something and want to remember to use it later, put it on your TO DO list. In the case of my idea papers, if I really get stuck for ideas, I just need to get out that folder and start browsing. Actually I never seem to run out of ideas and they keep coming faster than I can use them. That's why they pile up. Having them in a file is the only smart way to go. I must think vertical storage (a file drawer), not horizontal (the desk top).

If you don't have an honest-to-goodness file cabinet, they really aren't that expensive. It's possible to get one of those milk crate file boxes very inexpensively. Put the hanging folders in and then fill them with all the stuff on your desk. I'll round up some options for file storage in case you need some.

Danger! by AdeleCB

Darn, I missed the deadline to turn in my photos to the camera club for their scavenger hunt. I was looking forward to getting the photos reviewed and had taken most of them. It turns out that the deadline in my mind didn't match the actual deadline on the instructions. Whoops.

Starting now, I must, must, must put deadlines on the calendar in my computer and it wouldn't hurt to post a sticky note reminder on the hutch of my desk. That way, even if the paper with the deadline on it gets buried, I'll still have a reminder.

Garbage Truck by graphxpro


It's tempting to just toss everything in the trash, but I know there are still things I need in that heap of papers. My efforts of the past four days have lowered the stack a bit. Today I'm taking all the papers off the desk. Every piece!

I'm taking the heap to my dining room table to sort. There just isn't room on the desk to do this organizing step. Besides, when I'm at my desk, I get distracted by my computer. When I'm supposedly working on clearing papers, I sneak in e-mail checking and wander off on Facebook or Squidoo or Pinterest. I won't have that lure if I'm in the dining room.

As I sort, I'll put action notes on each piece in red ink. The action notes will tell me at a glance what needs to happen to this paper next. Here are samples: call for clarification, file in XYZ, mail to sister, make lens on this.

Once the desktop is clear, I can start bringing back the pieces of paper that I will work on today. I'll also have some things to file in my new file folders.

It appears to me that the remaining papers on my desktop are there because I can't figure out what to do with them. I need to do something... anything, to get the paper to move onward. Do I need it? Will I ever do anything with it? Who will care if I toss it?

Yes No Maybe by windyone

I figure once a week, I need to attack what has weaseled its way onto my desk. For me, a good day for this is Saturday after golf. I'll just put it on my calendar system so it will pop-up to remind me. If I take fifteen minutes once a week, then it should never get so bad again. Right?

Well, I'll give it a try anyway.

Alarm Clock Shirt by pickledradish

Inbox by what_if

Don't let some things get into the in-box from the very start. Do a rough sort of the mail and junk the ads right away that you know you don't want. Open everything and put sticky notes with the needed action onto the pieces requiring that. Put those with the action items.

Once again I'm letting the paper pile edge higher and higher. I get so focused on what I'm working on online or at my desk, that I keep shoving other things aside. I need to take 15 minutes to find out what's lurking in there. My goal is to toss out at least five things and to take action on at least two things. That should be easy enough.

Keep with it until that goal is accomplished. Just Do It !!! Then I'll have an answer if someone asks, "What did you do all day."

What did you do all day? by CreativeColours