I start off with a nice clear table. I place my laptop there, and within a couple of days the whole area is a mess.
The problem is that everything is essential. A notepad and pen, the recharging wires for Wi-Fi speakers and phone, Fly swat, spare pairs of sunglasses, sun hat, packet of extra ballpoint pens, small bag of essential grooming things, jar of drawing pins, twelve different penknives, mug of coffee, and a few other assorted objects.
I'm perfectly aware that it looks awful, and I don't know how to solve it. I could, of course, just put everything in the bin (as Lady M suggests), but I would simply have to PAY to replace them as required.
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I'm the same back in England. Where my laptop is, there is also MESS. When I see picture of peoples offices, all neat and tidy, I can only imagine they are bizarre aliens.
How do I solve this problem? Me and mess are like brothers; identical twins even!
12 different penknives? my table is the same, well similar with attracting other items, newspapers, books I'm currently reading, hand cream, tissues and the cat food over on the corner. (Lola refuses to eat in the kitchen) My excuse for all the mess is I only have the one table and everything happens on it.
ReplyDeleteI like your deco lamp stand
ReplyDeleteIt's looking its age, but I think I'll leave it that way.
DeleteI must definitely be a bizarre alien then, Cro. My desk is clear of clutter and I couldn't bear to even sit at my laptop if it was surrounded by so much junk!
ReplyDeleteMy friend says I have OCD but I insist it should be CDO - has to be in alphabetical order!
Maybe your desk has drawers. My table has nowhere to store anything.
DeleteAh yes, drawers would help.
DeleteEinstein is quoted as saying "If an untidy desk is the sign of an untidy mind, what then of an empty desk?"
ReplyDeleteI don't take too much notice of Einstein; he couldn't even get the i before e thing right!
DeleteA personal mess. A comfortable mess. It looks like a happy space should
ReplyDeleteWell, I'm comfortable with it. Lady M not so much.
DeletePerhaps a good wooden lidded box for the stuff you know you wont need every day.
ReplyDeleteThat's what Lady M suggests, only hers has a black plastic bag inside.
DeleteLOL. We have a compartmentalized desk organizer. You could probably design something. Then it could sit on your desk, with all your clutter hidden away inside of it but still comfortingly close by in the case of an emergency pen knife situation or the like.
DeleteI DETEST clutter. However, for some completely unfathomable reason the area around my laptop in my kitchen at this very moment looks even worse than yours. That will all change in the next 10 minutes. However, and here's the rub, it will be the same tomorrow morning as it is at this moment. WHY?
ReplyDeleteThe problem is that if you put everything away, not only will you need some of it instantly, but you'd also forget where you put it.
DeleteIsn't that the truth?!
DeleteBizarre alien is me too. Let's look at the list.
ReplyDeleteCan stay on desk; wires, note pad and pen.
Fly swat, yes. That needs to be within arm's reach. Mug of coffee, a temporary invader.
The rest, get rid of the crap from you desk. Do you stick drawing pins into your computer screen?
The drawing pins are still there. I must have needed them for something, it's just that they've never found their way home.
Deletemy husband can beat that. His desk is not against a wall but directly in front of his armchair.His curved screen is about 34" across wires all on show.I hate wires!! Loads of stuff , worse than yours. I am a tidy person.In his defence he can usually find what is looking for. Lady M has my sympathy.
ReplyDeleteI can always find what I'm looking for, unless a certain person has been tidying.
DeleteA tidy desk is a sign of a weird mind, mess shows that you're too busy thinking and working to notice your surroundings!
ReplyDeleteI couldn't agree more!
DeleteThe solution is to only take the photo after you jave moved everything to a horizontal surface on the side of the room behind you. Move it back when you have a satisfactory photo. Everyone else does that.
ReplyDeleteJust out of sight of the camera lens. What a good idea.
DeleteIf your desk mess and my desk mess got together we might solve it.
ReplyDeleteWould they create even more little messes?
DeleteI do not worry about a little desktop mess. My desk is similar. The rest of the house seems to stay mostly ordered. It all looks lived in and normal to me.
ReplyDeleteI'm afraid I have to admit that we live in permanent mess. The only excuse I have is that the house is very small, and we have too much stuff.
DeleteAs fate would have it, I'm in England now. You might remember me as Willow. I spend most of my time hanging around Instagram and Facebook.
ReplyDeleteHi Willow, how good to see you again. I thought you'd disappeared!! What have you been up to?
DeleteIt's because you're a boy !!!!!! XXXX
ReplyDeleteProbably. Every female I know is much tidier.
DeleteCro, I think there's a difference between 'cluttered' and 'lived in'. I like things to be handy. Don't want to go looking for things I use on a daily basis. A clean desk is usually one that is barely used (IMO). It's the same with a kitchen. People who have all their utensils and appliances put away and show an empty countertop... all I can think about is 'don't they cook?' But possibly that's just me.
ReplyDeleteDon't get me going about kitchens. Here in France kitchens are often REALLY basic yet they produce wonderful meals. Back in the UK people seem to want huge open spaces equipped with every possible gizmo, yet buy take-ways.
DeleteComplex efficiency is a skill easily organized with a homemade desk set, (bleacher style is nice). Line tin cans of various sizes with felt, canvas or plastic from a spiral notebook. Arrange in a basket, away from those candlesticks.
ReplyDeleteTo my left (out of photo) are two pots filled with penknives (7), pencils, magnifying glass, thermometer, laser pen, etc. Is that what you mean?
DeleteIt is not a problem. It is just an outward emanation of your character. Embrace it. You are not a scientist in a laboratory. Neatness is not necessarily a trait to admire.
ReplyDeleteI shall show your very sensible comment to Lady Magnon!
DeleteMy desk is always very tidy because that's the way I work. My husband, however, builds up piles of paperwork only for it to 'disappear' - until I chase it down to his desk drawers and cupboards. That's the Administrator gene in me that passed him by long ago.
ReplyDelete