For the past couple of months I've been trying to clear out my office amidst a whirlwind of issues both at home as well as at work.
About a month ago, things just started getting crazier as we struggled (and still are) with problems at work with HR and finance (two departments that my sister held). I think it was sometime then that I realized that I needed to stop the confusion and clean up the mess, that I started making it a point almost every evening, and Saturday, to make organizing a priority at work.
One of the best things I did, using Lent as a great excuse, was to delete Facebook and Instagram off my phone. It's amazing how much time I've found. The next thing I did, was basically to accept the relentless mission of getting my office in total order - that is, to give up every excuse or complaint I ever had of how things were just going too slowly, or how situations (or people) were hindering my progress, and just take responsibility.
I read a wise quote recently:
"Never organize what you can discard"
And that's what I've been doing.
A WHOLE LOT of discarding.
Going into my sister's office was a daring move I made... I pretty much had to force myself in. Her office was known as "the vortex". There were stacks of paper everywhere - in the cabinet, in drawers, on chairs, on the floor... It was just a whole mess of paperwork. She was really overloaded with work and she was evidently drowning under a huge burden of way too much responsibility, and on a paper chase she just couldn't catch up with. She needed help.
I told myself "enough is enough". I had to help.
So I did... And the discoveries that were made were tremendous!
From open invoices worth thousands of dollars from years ago, to expired cheques, to... all sorts of random paperwork that were mailed out/responded to... I could have chosen to have been really upset, but to be honest, I was just glad I started the process of weeding! I only wish I had started the process sooner.
I've been reading, or rather, listening to the audiobook, Marie Kondo's "The life changing magic of tidying up" and it's amazing how many similar experiences I've had in my life! And the way she organized the information, as well as the progressive steps of purging and organizing, made total sense!
Considering the main bulk of issues are currently from paperwork (and that the company doesn't quite have a problem with clothes - which is what she recommends we start with), that's where we have been working on. Every week since early Feb, we've been throwing away bags and bags of shredded paper and gosh it feels AMAZING. It does take a lot of perseverance, but I honestly absolutely love my 12-14 hour Saturday organizing and cleaning sessions. :) I truly believe that there is light at the end of the tunnel and that my sister sees that.
For the past year, in fact, we (my sis and I) have spent most of our nights at work trying to get the place in office. But it's only today, after cleared out a third of her lower cabinets it felt like we had made such tremendous progress that we deserved a break and are making time to have a relaxing day on a Sunday with my parents to the river safari.
It's been a while.
There is light at the end of the tunnel.
Just keep swimming.
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