It has been awhile since I have written on here. I have tried to keep up with the hectic pace of life. Yet the more I try to keep up with the everything, the more I realize how unorganized I am.
Right now next to me at my computer desk, I just have a pile of paper stacked on my multifunction printer. On the floor below is a stack of paper laying next to my shredder. Below the printer is yet another stack of paper. Below is a picture of this unorganized mess. Part of it is that I don’t really have anywhere to put my paperwork. The little stand that my printer sits on has a file cabinet drawer, but it is only one. Ideally, I need two. Plus, I desperately need to go through and clean out old paperwork.
Another part is my digital life. My wife and I share a MacBook for home use and I have an employer issued MacBook Pro for work purposes. Given how I am on the computer all day at work, the last thing I want to do is spend time at night figuring out what folder to put a file. Then sometimes I am too organized on my computer, with several layers of folders that can make me easily create unneeded folders since I can’t find the one I am looking for. I need to figure out a system that works and that I will not feel like is too much of a burden.
Getting an iPhone last year fixed my chronic problem of not remembering what is going on thanks to the calendar on it. Now when I have something I need to attend or need to check to see if I am available one day, it is just a couple of finger taps away. Revolutionized scheduling in my life, but I need to make better use of it. Many times my calendar looks empty, when I really can be doing something productive around the condo.
This gets to down where I jot down some ideas here and see if I can get working on them. Some I have experimented with over the past week with great results.
- To-do List – I need one, I don’t understand why Apple hasn’t integrated it into the iPhone yet, but I found a possible solution. Thanks to Remember the Milk with its web site and iPhone app, it is showing lots of potential. The other day I accomplished a task that I had delayed for 6 months in 10 minutes! Today I took an old TV that we had meant to recycle to the dump, something that has sat in a corner for three weeks!
- Shredding day – Tomorrow I plan on going on a shredding extravaganza, going through and ditching any unnecessary paperwork. I am also going to look for a filing cabinet that has room so I will actually use it.
- Finances – I was doing well with this, but have slacked off a bit. I signed up for Mint.com, plan on redoing the budget, and figuring out how I can pay the $2800 left on the Subaru Forester car loan soon.
- Computer Files – I need to go through my computer’s Documents folder and clear out old junk. The other day I found a letter to my old landlord from 2004 telling him we would be leaving the apartment in 1 month. I don’t know about you, but that is probably not needed anymore.
It is a few small steps, but hopefully one in the right direction.