Fear and Loathing in My Office

Yep, it's that time again. Every few months like clockwork my home office starts to bubble over like some Shakespearian cauldron stirred by a band of witches, spitting out bits of crumpled paper, packing boxes and old mail that needs sorted through. It's not that I'm fascinated with clutter, but that while my head is stuck in a world of my own creation, the physical world goes to shit in a handcart. At least the extraneous paper part of my existence.

Why is that? I've often wondered as I look around at the squalor that becomes my work space, how in the hell that happens. All right, the book boxes I understand. I have a tendancy to order reference materials from Amazon and their affiliates. After ripping into my newly arrived treasure, I just kind of let the wrappings sit there hoping against hope that they will go back into the earth of whence they came without direct intervention from me. Never happens.

Then there are the books. Reference, fiction, notebooks. You name it, it's probably on my floor. That old dog earred copy of Strunk & White you've been missing - I'm sure it's here somewhere. This is the portal wherin all lost items have probably traveled.

The ironic thing is that I honestly can't work well with the mess around me. I can't concentrate. My butt won't stay planted in the chair so I can work. It's sad really. Why don't I work as I go and instead of just throwing the crap on the floor, actually put it away? That's just too easy. And it doesn't start out junky, it just kind of becomes that way over the course of weeks.

And so, at some point this week, I'm going to have to buck up and deal - to set aside some time to get my work area organized once more. Actually, looking around me, I've seen it in worse shape. Maybe if I just do one thing a day rather than taking on the entire bloody room, I won't feel as if I'm spending so much time away from my writing.

It's a thought anyhow.

So, how's your office?

-MK