Word count: 300 words
Reading time: Just over 1 minute
I don’t know about you but I cannot write when I have a messy desk. Even if I take all my papers — without any sorting at all — and dump them into my inbox so the rest of my desk is clear, I am much happier about writing.
I was a born organizer. This doesn’t make me easy to live with (either for others or myself!): Apart from the times I desperately need to write, I will delay cleaning because I want to ensure I do the job properly and that everything I’m putting away has a home. This means my home and office are far less pristine than you’d expect for a born organizer.
Slowly, however, I am learning to change my ways. I am discarding stuff faster (I gave away hundreds of books when we moved home prior to renovating two years ago). I’m handing off my New Yorkers once a week to a good friend. And I’m learning that spending five minutes per day on organizing is preferable to 35 minutes per week. What you do daily makes a huge difference to your life.
What helps inspire me? I try not to buy organizational magazines (after all, they’d only stack up). Instead, I go to the Interet. And this brings me to today’s website of the week: Unclutterer. Written and produced by Erin Doland and her husband, this smart and entertaining site gives plenty of excellent advice for anyone who wants to reduce the clutter in their lives.
The site is very well written, offers great advice and has occasional bursts of humour. I particularly enjoy Unitasker Wednesdays, wherein they highlight a ridiculous device that does just one thing. The latest? A set of $8 coffee filter separating tongs. Sheesh!!
If you’re a writer who’s overwhelmed by clutter, be sure to check out Unclutterer.
Photo courtesy aliwest44, Flickr Creative Commons