My Desk: The Mess

If there is one thing I cannot stand to see at work, it's a mess.
My desk is a mess right now. Everyone knows that a cleared desk day at the office with me is a good day with me. I've got boxes on the corner of my desk that need to be taken to the post office and mailed out. Speaking of mail, I have stacks of that to go through and the ones that have been gone through are in other piles known as "the bills" and "correspondance." Then I have stuff that's waiting to be signed and has been waiting to be signed for stinkin' ever! It makes me nervous to not be able to actually see the wood of my desk. It makes you wonder if it's still there at all. It makes me laugh to think that the others that work here look to see what shape my desk is in to know what mood I am in. They know that if it is clear then they can come and talk to me, but if it's a mess they stay away and peek at the desk every time they walk by to see if I am finished with my work. They know if they try to talk to me, I will just jot down what they need on a sticky note and add it to the pile without another thought about it.



That's how life is a lot of times. We get busy.
We have times when people know "ok, better not talk to them right now." We become so distracted by what needs to be done that we zone out everything else. You feel like there is just simply not enough time to get everything done that needs to be done in one day. You feel like my desk: cluttered. People ask you for prayer, favors, or whatever and you just pull out these mental sticky notes and cover your brain with them, only to find that there just isn't enough room and you start overlapping them. You start looking at the check list and it seems like there are more tasks than checks showing up and you get frustrated. When you get frustrated, you and I both know that is not a good feeling to have.



So, what can we do about it? Stop trying to run the marathon.
We treat most everything we do like a race. "I've got to get to SAM's Club, the bank, post office, pick up lunch, get gas, pick up my brother from class....and I only have an hour to do it!" I've found that when I walk I am always way ahead of anyone walking with me because I just have this instinct to walk really fast. It's a conscious effort to slow down. Running around and trying to get everything done franticaly is not necessarily the most efficient way to get things done. Rather than trying to get everything done in one day, try spacing it out a bit into maybe a couple days. Rather than let things pile up, try doing them as soon as you get them and that way it will be one less thing to worry about later. Rather than going to the places like the post office at lunch break when everyone else is on their lunch break doing the same thing, wait until an hour or so after lunch when the lines are a lot smaller. Instead of eating lunch out all the time, make yourself a sandwich the night before, so that you can stay at work and eat and get more stuff done than if you had gone on an hour or so lunch break. I find that right after I eat I have a boost of energy and it helps me work, but if I take a long lunch out I feel lazy by the time I get back to work because I waste my energy waiting for my food at a restaurant and fighting the traffic. The best thing is the internet because instead of waiting in line places you can order your stamps, supplies, and such online. It's so much easier! My biggest thing is that I don't wait until the last minute to get somewhere. I always try to be at places a bit early so that gives me more time to do what I need to there and it's always good to have that feeling that you have plenty of time, rather than rush.



I blame myself for when things pile up because I know I can avoid it happening.
I work better when I can see that stuff is done. If you have been feeling frustrated and overwhelmed, try thinking of ways to better manage your time and resources and believe me it will be worth it if you stick to it and you will feel so much better for it! Also, think of ways that make you feel relaxed and try to incorporate them into places such as work. For instance, I like little toys that do funny things like spin or bob, so I pull out that stuff when I am frustrated and I take a moment to watch Pluto bob every time I touch his head. It may sound odd, but hey it works!