Office Supplies

[da]

I just left a backpack full of office supplies in my department's supply closet.

A ream of legal paper, a box of maroon presentation folders, and quite a lot of magic tape.

In 1997, I went on an office-supply rampage when my company won a contract with the US Department of Education. (Enough said? I think so.)

Except to add: my closet is that much emptier, and I am that much happier.

(*) If there's anybody local who needs legal paper, a box of maroon presentation folders, or rolls of magic tape I might be able to hook you up.

Comments

[swadfather.livejournal.com]

You are sounding like one of my clients during cleanout!

[melted-snowball.livejournal.com]

Hopefully not too much like your clients!

[da-lj.livejournal.com]

I'm curious whether your clients recognize the downward spiral they've gotten into? Or just think other peoples' are worse? Because I find myself going, "well, the closet is cluttered, but everyone's closets are cluttered, and it's not so bad." (And it's really not as bad as many I've seen- I should've taken a photo before I started so you don't imagine the worst!)

I can also imagine your clients having the exact same response as mine, and they'd probably be right that their house is not as bad as /some/ other houses, but the essential differences are that I notice the process(es) that led to the stashed stuff, so I can break out of the spiral of clutter collecting more clutter, and also I have the emotional and physical wherewithal to deal with it rather than staying in denial; I'm ready to deal with it.

In addition to having someone I trust telling me "that's too cluttered for your own good" I had to already have come up with very clear counter-arguments against the reasons why I was saving this stuff: excessive frugality or "you never know if you'll need it" or excessive sentimentality...

(The counter-reasons I've identified: it's not worth that much to me; I could get more if I did need it but I haven't in over a decade; I can scan the few things in this batch that do have sentimental value and toss the originals). Reading a bunch of anti-clutter books over the years, and following unclutterer recently, has been helpful!

But the funny bit is that when I look at someone else's cluttered closet, I might go, "Wow that's cluttered. I'd never keep that many of Z..." and not realize it's exactly as cluttered as mine is. (Or, was; as I'm dealing with it this week!)

[swadfather.livejournal.com]

Some of my clients compare their mess to the mess of others, some of them fully acknowledge the issue and still dig their heels in, and others are in total denial.

Dealing with what lead to the stashing is really the key. If you don't figure that out then you won't be able to keep it from happening again. I have a really cool tool for thinking through some of that I could email you if you'd like.

Also, I'd recommend the book Buried in Treasures by Dr. Gail Steketee. I do some work with her here in Boston and think it is helpful for folks regardless of where they fall on the clutter/hoarding spectrum. Feel free to call if I can be of use..and yay for unclutterer!

[da-lj.livejournal.com]

I have a really cool tool for thinking through some of that I could email you if you'd like.

That sounds like it might be of use? Sure, send it along!

I think my base problem is sentimentalism about stuff, combined with a filing system that has failed to give me the right places to put some of that stuff. ...however, I think I'm on the right track now, thanks to unclutterer: once I've gotten rid of the things I don't use or display, I'm going to put more shelves into the closet, get rid of the big-ass crates that make it impossible to find what I want, and put the useful stuff in sensible plastic tupperware-type containers with labels. :)