Setting up desk space

[blackdog]

I was doing okay with the little white board I put up in the kitchen for awhile. And then I started to forget to update the list on it for a couple of days, then weeks, then finally stopped altogether. Then one day it fell off the wall and I just never put it back up.

The magnetic board on my fridge still has a to do list on it from December 2013.

I should try to get back to using them again because it really does help. I also use lots of different colours, one for each category of jobs- green for outside work, blue for the kitchen, pink for the living room,  etc. Very impotant things  were always written in red. I did the same thing for work, when I was still working.

It’s funny that you switched from daily lists to weekly lists @ramblinon. I went the opposite way, from weekly to daily, because  I found it was just too big, too much to try to remember and plan for. It got confusing. So I made a list for each day and then would take each of those jobs and break them down even further, into an hourly list. I write things that are coming up in the near future that need to be remembered on little tiny post it notes and stick them on the calendar. I never remember to look at them, but my husband does. (I have note books for the stuff I don’t want him to know) I also write notes and stick them to my alarm clock, or sometimes just write them on my arm, so I see them first thing when I wake up.

And even with all that, I still don’t get things done. So don’t beat yourself up too much. Look at what you have accomplished and celebrate the small victories. It will make you feel better and then you might be able to get more done.

 

REPORT ABUSE

[nellie]

Blackdog, LOL the whiteboard falling off the wall thing happened to me to. It started out all fancy with lots of categories and color coding  to track my projects but in the end I guess it became visual clutter! I didn’t even notice it anymore till it fell down. The other day I was out somewhere and the thought actually popped into my mind that I should check it. However, something seemed odd to me since I couldn’t visualize it on the wall. Eventually it occurred to me that the thing fell off the wall behind my desk ages ago!

I’ve given up with all the fancy stuff and just use an agenda now. I try to force myself to check it daily but I still fall on and off the wagon with that and forget appointments once in a while.

 

REPORT ABUSE

[blackdog]

nellie- LOL I can go months, even years, not noticing or not thinking about things. Then one day I will suddenly think “Where did that go?”, “What happened to….?” or “OMG, That thing is still there?!?”

I got out one of my white boards after I made that comment- the one that was originally supposed to go on the bedroom door so I could leave notes for Husband when we were always coming and going at different times. It never did get used for that.

I wrote a list on it for the next day, left it in my spot on the couch so I couldn’t miss it in the morning, and went to bed.

And then morning came, I made my coffee, walked over to the couch, shoved the board off to the side, and sat down. Never even read it. It’s still here, somewhere…. under the laundry that hasn’t been put away yet, I believe.

I have yet to find a system that works and that I can stick with for more than a couple days at a time. Maybe I’ll figure it out some day.

REPORT ABUSE

[nellie]

Blackdog _ I think I could have written your post word for word 🙂 That’s just too funny – but at least we have a sense of humor! It’s amazing what turns up under the laundry isn’t it?:-)

Wasn’t this about organizing desk space though?:-)

Here’s my,ahem, tip of the day – In order to combat my piling tendencies, I bought a smaller glass top desk so am forced to tidy if I want more space to work. However, it seems I still accumulate piles anyway (surprise surprise!). So for the stuff that doesn’t get filed right away but needs to get off the desk, I bought  some clear plastic containers with  lids that I place under my desk.If I put it onto an adjacent shelf or something it eventually topples over.  I used to use bankers boxes but they essentially help contribute to the out of sight out of mind problem.

While the clear containers don’t empty themselves on their own , at least I don’t forget that there is filing/important stuff in them. I also made sure they weren’t too deep so I couldn’t put too much stuff into them. Every so often the guilt puts me into a cleaning frenzy and they magically get cleared up in a juffy. Not sure why I can’t do that in the first  place but hey, I’m too busy searching the under the laundry piles for lost keys and my agenda to worry about that now 🙂

 

REPORT ABUSE

[Author]

Posts