Clearing out your office space I realized is self-care.
For too long, I had neglected this important act of self-care, clearing out my office clutter. After completing my current manuscript and submitting it to the publisher, I kept a promise to myself. A promise to clean up my office space. It was long overdue. And I knew it would take a full day, possibly more. It was the large quantity of uninterrupted time this job required that kept it on the back burner until it was a scorched mess begging my attention
But I had made myself a promise and one of the things I’ve learned in the past few years is confidence is acquired by keeping promises to ourselves. So, as soon as I had finished my early morning walk and green smoothie, I drug the step ladder and two empty cardboard boxes into the area. There were six overloaded shelves to clear. In no time I had filled the first two boxes and had to get more.
Does anyone else still use a desktop?
And if you do, do you whimper at having to unplug a mass of wires from the back with a prayer you’ll remember what goes where when you set it up again? This is a real struggle for me! Even though I’ve done it many times successfully, I convince myself that this will be the time I’ll fail. (Spoiler alert: I didn’t fail this time and in fact, it was incredibly smooth to put it all together again.) But, back to the first question. My desktop is old. It’s really old in tech years. But it works and thank goodness it does because I had a major snafu with my workhorse Asus laptop and without the desktop, I would have missed the aforementioned submission to my publisher. So, it got a thorough dusting and plenty of nice words while I had it unhooked.
Dust, Paper, and Files, oh my!
With everything, I mean down to the paperclip holder, out of the space, I cleaned. If asked, I would have sworn that I dusted and stuff. But you know, when books are left on a shelf that you can’t reach without a ladder for a few years, the collection of dust seems to weigh as much as the books! I cleaned and cleaned some more. Not only dirty but also scuffed, the desk area received a quick reapplication of paint. WOW! I can’t tell you the way my soul began to sing as I realized the progress.
Encouraged, I went after the collection of files with vigor. I filled up two and a half trash bags. The half bag was all shredded paperwork that I couldn’t just toss due to information they contained. This is a good tip to remember when tossing out obsolete paperwork. Check for private, personal information and shred anything that contains this before you wave goodbye to it all with glee.
Clearing the clutter was an act of self-care.
At the end of the day, I realized the wonderful benefit of taking the time to do this for myself. I stood there a bit enraptured. (Was that an angel chorus I heard?) It sparkled and shined. All was pretty and inviting. It was also efficient and organized. And I was worth all that. Clearing my office space was self-care.
You are worth self-care too.
Spring is a traditional time of each year to clear your space, office or otherwise. Is there something you’ve been promising to do for yourself but keep putting it on that back burner like me? I hope you’ll take some inspiration from my experience. Keep those promises made to you. It is perfectly okay to opt for cleaning and clearing one shelf at a time or one drawer. My intention is to do that every quarter this year, so the task isn’t as monumental.
Clean Office and New Book
With one new book for 2022 finished and ready to publish soon, I can tackle future projects and taxes. Yes. I may have tackled this big cleaning job ONLY to procrastinate about getting my receipts in order for Uncle Sam. (I swear I’ll never understand his fascination with the minutia of my life.)
But, back to books! My new-to-be-released book is historical romance fiction set in the WW2 era. There will be a second one ready by Labor Day (maybe before). So, while you finish your Spring cleaning project (I did inspire you, right?) you can dream about new books to read!