Useful Links

Ronstar · 10-31-2011, 09:09 AM

Al - Great desk for $350. The oak lumber to build one would now cost more than that.

Bestwifeever · 10-31-2011, 09:23 AM

One thing that really helped keep our home office area clear was moving DH into his own studio

. And also I use magazine filing (upright cardboard open boxes, at Ikea for supercheap) on top of a bookcase instead of file drawers, so it turns those piles upright and is just as easy to stick a piece of paper into the "things to deal with" or "paid receipts" or "family birthday cards I want to keep forever" cardboard thingie as it is to put it on a pile (and way easier than putting it into a file drawer--too much like w*rk routines where everything had to be filed carefully). I weed out the older things in those magazine files when they are too full to put new things into, and can find anything at a moment's notice.

Sarah in SC · 10-31-2011, 09:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bestwifeever

Or "family birthday cards I want to keep forever" cardboard thingie .

One small victory in my war against these, and I have kept dang near every card I've ever been given, is a couple of old (vintage, if you want to get fancy) suitcases that I shove them in every now and again, that fit under a guest bed. Out of the way, but where I can look at them when I feel like it.

You can fit a heck of a lot of cards in a suitcase!

Bestwifeever · 10-31-2011, 09:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sarah in SC

One small victory in my war against these, and I have kept dang near every card I've ever been given, is a couple of old (vintage, if you want to get fancy) suitcases that I shove them in every now and again, that fit under a guest bed. Out of the way, but where I can look at them when I feel like it.

You can fit a heck of a lot of cards in a suitcase!

That's a great idea--I have the 1968 version of suitcases my parents gave me when I left home (paid for with Green Stamps) that I just cannot get rid of for sentimental reasons, same as the birthday/anniversary cards I have been keeping for 3-plus decades. I can combine my two teeny hoarding obsessions!

Nords · 10-31-2011, 09:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TromboneAl

For me, the reasons for something being left out where it doesn't belong:
1. I'm too lazy to put it away.
2. There isn't a place designated for it.
3. I'm worried that if I put it away I'll forget about it (e.g. Document that needs to be filled out).

I have an "IN" box on my desk specifically for items meeting those criteria. Just about everything goes in there (or in the trash) and I clean the box out every 3-4 months.

Yeah, it's disorganized. But I know exactly where the mess is, the mess doesn't spread out across the rest of the desk, I know that what I'm looking for is almost certainly in there, and when it's full then I know it's time to clean it.

FIREd · 10-31-2011, 09:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bestwifeever

One thing that really helped keep our home office area clear was moving DH into his own studio . And also I use magazine filing (upright cardboard open boxes, at Ikea for supercheap) on top of a bookcase instead of file drawers, so it turns those piles upright and is just as easy to stick a piece of paper into the "things to deal with" or "paid receipts" or "family birthday cards I want to keep forever" cardboard thingie as it is to put it on a pile (and way easier than putting it into a file drawer--too much like w*rk routines where everything had to be filed carefully). I weed out the older things in those magazine files when they are too full to put new things into, and can find anything at a moment's notice.

DW loves to keep those Hallmark cards, but I can't stand to have piles of them sitting around.

So I now scan them. I store the digital copy of each card in a piece of software called Evernote where the text of the cards is made searchable and I destroy the paper copy.

Sarah in SC · 10-31-2011, 09:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FD

DW loves to keep those Hallmark cards, but I can't stand to have piles of them sitting around.

So I now scan them. I store the digital copy of each card in a piece of software called Evernote where the text of the cards is made searchable and I destroy the paper copy.

Well, that's great and all, but then how do you justify keeping old suitcases around?

FIREd · 10-31-2011, 09:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sarah in SC

Well, that's great and all, but then how do you justify keeping old suitcases around?

Old suitcases make great coffee tables!

Reference Guide | Suitcase Coffee Table : Bound Editorial

Keim · 10-31-2011, 09:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sarah in SC

Well, that's great and all, but then how do you justify keeping old suitcases around?

Scanned them into the computer, too. Duh!

Bestwifeever · 10-31-2011, 09:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FD

DW loves to keep those Hallmark cards, but I can't stand to have piles of them sitting around.

So I now scan them. I store the digital copy of each card in a piece of software called Evernote where the text of the cards is made searchable and I destroy the paper copy.

No wonder your desk is clean enough to eat off! Maybe you can have a picnic on the old suitcases.

**braumeister** · 10-31-2011, 12:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nords

I have an "IN" box on my desk specifically for items meeting those criteria. Just about everything goes in there (or in the trash) and I clean the box out every 3-4 months.

Makes perfect sense to me.
Instead of a filing system, you have a piling system.

Sarah in SC · 10-31-2011, 12:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FD

Old suitcases make great coffee tables!

Reference Guide | Suitcase Coffee Table : Bound Editorial

That is a really cool idea with the legs! Thanks! Another thing to put on DH's honey-do list. He says thanks.

Nords · 10-31-2011, 03:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FD

So I now scan them. I store the digital copy of each card in a piece of software called Evernote where the text of the cards is made searchable and I destroy the paper copy.

We have a "card lady" on Oahu who takes everyone's holiday cards to make booklets for hospitalized kids. I have no idea what the booklets look like or even how she makes them, but her mailing address is in the local newspapers so every year we save all our cards to send to her.

She's actually the second generation of card lady, and the previous incumbent did it for decades. So multiply this longevity & publicity by a few hundred thousand card-savers, and it adds up.

Quote:

Originally Posted by braumeister

Makes perfect sense to me.
Instead of a filing system, you have a piling system.

Well, it only takes one 20-degree down angle on a submarine to teach how to stow your stuff for sea... a habit born of necessity which it appears will be with me for the rest of my life even though it's no longer relevant.

Finance Dave · 11-03-2011, 09:17 AM

I have a very large roll-top desk that I bought for myself upon finishing first in my class at MBA school (I was single then). It's overloaded and has been for quite some time...too embarrassed to take a pic of it.

I'm sure once I rehire I'll get to rearranging my study and clean it off.