Spring Cleaning for Writers

Ahh, springtime. The birds are chirping. The flowers are coming up. And you are thinking about actually fulfilling your New Year's resolution of making more money this year as a writer. Unfortunately, your office is a mess; not only can't you find anything in it, but there are some serious doubts that you can even make your way to the computer to actually write even if the muse strikes.

Ok, maybe it is not that bad. Maybe you are one of those highly organized writers, who put things back in the file cabinet as soon as they are done using them. If so, my wife would like you to come over and teach me that trick.

Not that I am saying that I am unorganized, but I will admit that my office looks like the offspring of a disaster zone and the book return room at the local library. I never realize how bad it is until tax time when I can't find half of my stubs; everyone else, including my cats, knows that my office is badly organized- -me, I just ignore the clutter until tax season.

But this year, I plan on being more organized. And the first step is to actually deal with the clutter in the office.

Towards this end, I brought some supplies at the office supply store. File folders, a new bulletin board, some tacks, and a dry erase board, along with a calendar and a paper shredder; all are paid for and awaiting my use. While I am organizing, I also decide this is one of those rare times I will actually turn on the vacuum cleaner. Preferably at a time when my wife is not at home; I keep telling her that I can't vacuum, no need for her to discover otherwise.

Going though the various newspaper clippings that I have accumulated, I sort them and put them into folders. I try to actually label them in a way that will allow me to find the necessary research later. In the past, I have labeled files in a cryptic manner that not even a kabbalist could actually decipher, forcing me to spend hours sometimes looking for a particular item.

The bookcases also end up getting some attention. I am not sure how some of these books got where they are; I would blame it on fairies, but I suspect that I am the one that shoved a book on Freemasonry in the section that is supposed to be just cat books. Considering how much time I lost last year to locating research that I had in the house, but misplaced, it is a good use of a couple of days.

And while I am at it, the computer could use some attention too. I can't remember the last time that I did a deep virus scan. And there is enough icons on the desktop that they are in danger of drifting off the screen. Spring is as good as a time as any to scan for viruses and spyware, to move files around, and defragment the computer. Besides, if I am going to be organized this year, I really need to multitask; otherwise it will be Christmas before it gets done. I can do the virus scan and the defragmenting while I go though the clippings and bookcases.

Thinking of Christmas, I realize that perhaps some of the books and magazines I have could be given away. Or taken to the local used bookstore for trade value, and it is not like they don't get enough of my money as it is. And some of the clippings should be tossed, rather than filed. If some of them are really important, I might consider running them though the scanner and making PDFs of them instead; with today's cheap external hard drives, I am less concerned with using up all my computer's memory than I was ten years ago.

The one thing that needs to be both filed and scanned are my tax records. Heaven forbid that I ever get audited. I don't imagine that the IRS agent will take me at my word that "Buying another book on Yiddish was actually necessary; and no, it was not on sale" during an audit; I think he might want to see actual receipts. And with today's receipts, it is best that you scan them immediately; the heat written receipts become as useless as a losing lottery ticket in the matter of days, especially if I accidentally leave them near the heating vent.

With a few days hard work, provided that I remain focused, I will end up with a clean and organized office. Best of all, I will have a dry erase board full of story and article ideas just waiting for me to write. As I clean and go though stuff, my mind will have time to plan new material, allowing me to bash out some new material at a quick pace once I sneak the vacuum cleaner out of the office and get the cat to give up my chair. And the fact that I can walk though my office without knocking over anything is a bonus. I just wonder how long the organization will last. Oh well, there is always next spring to do another cleaning of my office.