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Highlands Today

Desktop Management Isn't Rocket Science

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Lyn and Bill Roche

Published: January 18, 2008

Last Monday we drove past the Kenilworth Lodge road sign. The message for the day read something like, "Today is National Clean Off Your Desk Day. Just toss it all on the floor!"

Back home, feeling comfortable at our messy desks, we checked it out on our computers. Sure enough, the second Monday in January is National Clean Off Your Desk Day. It has been since 1982 when Ann Chase Moeller, daughter of the Chases (of Chase Annual Event Calendar fame), wrote it into their record book.

According to Organizing Resources, "Desktop management is critically important to our well being - physically, mentally and psychologically." They say, "It is extremely difficult to concentrate on a particular task when bombarded with myriad piles of paper. The only papers that should be on your desk are the ones you are referring to at that particular moment. The only miscellaneous objects should be ones you use all the time, except for a few special mementos and a living plant."

They may have a point or two - but who actually has room for a living plant at their work cubicle? Or, a better question might be, "How long could a plant remain alive amongst the clutter on the desks of most of today's working world?"

Wait. There's more advice written especially for this personally intrusive national day. We uncovered irritating lists and check sheets designed to help create and maintain a tidy office space.

Cyberspace is overflowing with keys to paper management and tips on taming your desk. There are sites that even promote organizing as a career. In fact, if becoming a professional organizer is a career goal you've considered, you can take a quiz to see how you stack up at organization. Of course, the results could indicate just how badly you need to clean off your own desk. Remember, they want you to hire the expert who wrote the quiz.

We both took the online quiz anyway. The questions reminded us of the commercial that asks, "What's in your wallet?" The quiz asked, "What does your 'in-basket' look like?"

Another query was, "How quickly can you find a filed document?" One of us wanted to know if they meant a paper file or a computer file?

On Coachville Resource Center's Web site there are 10 steps to a clean, clear desk. No. 1 is, "Take everything off your desk and out of your drawers." (Presumably, to see your desk.) But, where are you supposed to put all the stuff that usually occupies your desk?

You're to take a good look at everything and before you put it back you're to ask yourself if you like it, is it useful, and does it belong? We asked, "Who actually has the time to do this?"

You guessed it, we stopped before we got to step No. 3. The whole subject got us laughing so hard we began reminiscing about the days when we used to call the kids' rooms "hard hat" areas.

Then we stopped laughing. We realized our garage is a far greater disaster area than the kids' rooms ever were - or that our desks are today. Since we blew off National Clean Off Your Desk Day, we agreed to observe National Clean Your Garage Day.

That's a day we may actually take seriously - if there is such a day and their quiz isn't too difficult.

Lyn and Bill live in Highlands Ridge. Lyn is the author of Coping With Caring. Together they co-authored Sharing The Care. Visit their websites www.thecaregiverscaregiver.com, www.boomersandbeyondthecolumn.com and www.journeybookstore.com

©2008 Journey Publications

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