Clean Out Time!

Tomorrow is the first day of spring! (Waits for applause, cheers and whoops of joy to subside...)

Okay, that's the good news.

Now for the bad.

It's time to clean out.

No, I don't mean the sock drawer, although if you can't close it all the way, and you have tons of socks with holes in them, well then it is past time.

I'm talking about that one area of your life/space that has been harboring lethal dustbunnies. (Like under my couch in the basement, along with a few spider bodies.)  For me, it's a constant battle to keep my desktop clear. Partly because my desk is a cute little library table- not meant for much more than a pretty picture frame, a fancy pen and a book; it's not meant for a laptop with external drive, white board, appointment book, mouse & pad, and papers. TONS of papers. Hazards of the trade are little Post-It notes, pens, folders, and magazines that quickly pile up.

While I have a wonderful sized home office and you can be jealous of my space, with three large windows, lots of closet space and four beautiful bookcases, there's a catch. It's my office.

Except...for the winter coats and family office supplies, photos, and memorabilia I have to store in the closets, plus the daybed I have to keep in there for when family comes to stay over, and excess books that don't fit in the bookshelves or the library downstairs. (ok, you can hate me a little.)

That means cleaning out the excess. It's hard to do now since I have Sirenz Back In Fashion swag in boxes and bags, Sirenz signed copies going out to the Romantic Times convention in Chicago next week, books I picked up at PLA that I'd like to read (if I weren't busy on other novels, my crit group stuff, booking signings, and yes, taking care of a family, doing church and volunteer work, and eyeing my meditation garden as the temps climb.).

But too much STUFF clutters up not only my space, decreasing productivity, but my brain; I keep looking at the piles, fretting what I should do with the stuff, debating when I should get rid of the stuff, and figuring out who wants the stuff. It's taking me away from my writing and important things (and the laundry. Although not high on my priority list in life unless it's mine, I must keep the peace and ahead of the deadly pile.)

So what am I going to do? In between loads of laundry (ugh!) and cleaning the bathrooms- all FOUR of them- (double ugh with ick, gross and disgusting thrown in), I'm tackling one thing at a time. Pay this bill, file the paperwork. Make that phone call. Gather up those books to donate. Schedule appointments. Make a list of writer tasks to do. (And stay away from the chocolate swag.)

So, as Adele pines in the background, I'll slowly clean out, clear up, and get down to what's important.

Happy cleaning!

Char