PeNoNotWriMo 2014
Since I decided not to write (or edit, as one friend suggested) a novel for NaNoWriMo, I’m trying to figure out what to call November. PeNoNotWriMo sprang easily to mind (Personal Novel NOT Writing Month).
But given my “goal” (for lack of a better word) of making my home office a place where sane people (such as myself) want to be, I might call it “MaMyOffLiMo,” or Make My Office Livable Month. :)
It’s a working title. I’m sure I’ll come up with something far better the instant I press “publish.” :)
Anyhoo . . . one way I’m going about this is that every time I have to go upstairs for whatever reason — laundry, bathroom, book, brushing my teeth, etc. — I go into my office and disposition one or more items of clutter. Disposition means that if I lay my hands on it, I have to decide — then and there — what to do with it: keep it, store it, toss it, donate it. “Keep” means it stays in that room. “Store” means it either goes into storage in that room or another room. “Toss” means it goes either in the trash or in the recycle bin. “Donate” means that I’ll either donate it to Good Will (or someone like that) or find a friend who might want it. Hey, Geoff or Phil, need any airplane propellers? (It’s an extremely inside joke.)
Hint: It’s mostly going to be ‘toss it.’ Probably about 80% of it.
So far, I’ve moved two stacks of read books out of my office and into the “library,” which is one of my guest rooms. Which currently has a whole separate issue with clutter which I can address at another time. One of which is insufficient shelf space for the books I have.
There are old computers (plural) in my office that were last useful when Windows 95 was new. I have floppy disks. Actual floppy (5.25″) disks. I have manuals for electronics I last used when I lived in another state (15 years ago).
It’s time. Oh, yes, it is very much time.
I sincerely doubt I will be posting pictures, because the clutter is pretty horrible and I’m embarrassed by it. But one way or the other, I’ll post a picture at the end of November. There. I’ve said it in public. And now it’s a commitment.
I might have some sub-goals once I’m able to picture the room as it will be instead of as it is.
Gary Henderson
Gary Henderson is an amateur author who lives in the Greater Atlanta Metropolitan Area with a chef housemate. By day he is a mild-mannered software developer working for a major health-care company. By night and on weekends, he occasionally creates and destroys worlds.
7 Comments
Marcia
Good luck on the cleaning out the office project. We just did the office closet – a lot of work, but now we actually have actual storage in the office.
If you find any 5.25″ floppy drives in those old computers that you don’t want, please let me know. Jim has been looking for some for one or another of his electronic projects.
Gary Henderson
I will. This project doesn’t involve actually reading the disks, does it? I have no idea what’s on any of them. :)
Gary Henderson recently posted…PeNoNotWriMo 2014
Gary Henderson
Oh. You said drives, not disks. Heh. I’ll keep them aside if I run across them, sure. :)
Gary Henderson recently posted…PeNoNotWriMo 2014
Carol Cassara
I am so with you!
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Gary Henderson
It’s tempting to hire a professional organizer. I did that once before, back in 2002, and she helped me greatly with my downstairs. But I’m going to make a go of it myself, first. :)
Gary Henderson recently posted…PeNoNotWriMo 2014
Barbara Tate
Good luck on your de-cluttering. I need to do the same thing. Why, oh why, do we collect so much “stuff”.
Gary Henderson
Thanks, Barbara. I can already see the top of my desk. It’s pretty amazing.
I heard a theory once that our junk expands to fill whatever space we have. I moved into a four-bedroom house with two extra rooms that are both big enough to be bedrooms on their own. And I have filled it to the rafters. With a little help.
Gary Henderson recently posted…PeNoNotWriMo 2014