Tidy Up Tuesdays: Do You Need Help With Your Office Supply Addiction?
Seriously! I think I need a 12-step program.
For an office supplies addiction.
Who in their right mind, other than a retail store, needs that many office supplies?
Two closets and cabinets full. A desk with huge drawers. A mini-cabinet next to hubby's desk. An old dresser. All packed. Stacked. Piled up on shelves. In drawers. In boxes and containers.
All neat and tidy. Organized. Just TOO MUCH STUFF!
And this, after I'd already purged office supplies a few months earlier!
I had gotten rid of boxes and boxes of hang folders. Tossed pens and pencils by the 100's. Threw away tablets, those given away at conferences with other people's names on them. Dusty folders and files. Deep-sixed floppy discs... does anyone even use those any more?
Stuff I didn't even know I had, let alone ever used.
Old computer cords, plug-ins, and chargers. Extra phone wiring. Where did all these come from? What if I tossed the very one I would need?
Enough staples to last several lifetimes. Sticky notes of every size and color. Partially used journals which didn't feel quite right, so they got tucked away in a drawer.
Even after serious purging, I still had a supply cabinet and a closet packed with office supplies.
But enough, was enough. It was time for me to admit - I, Joan, am an office supply addict.
And with that, the extra supply cabinet had to go.
It was our guest bedroom after all. It hadn't been a home office for months.
Who needs a supply cabinet in a guest bedroom?
We had plenty of space to store supplies in our shared home office.
Plenty big enough, wouldn't you say? And yet, even this closet had to get thinned out.
Somehow, stuff that was not office supplies crept onto the shelves - like two boxes of purses!
Out those went. Given away. Tossed. Stored in my bedroom closet where they rightly belonged.
How easy it is to let excess accumulate, grow, and take over.
Especially for those items we believe are so valuable. Usable. And, necessary.
Before we know it, we have to add more storage to contain it all.
Here's BIG hint... use the boundaries of your current storage as your guide. If you notice you need to ADD more storage space (another closet, drawer, shelf, or shudder the thought, a PAID storage unit) then STOP. Take a breath.
There's your warning sign - DANGER. DANGER.
It's time to let go instead of keep. To thin the herd. To take stock of what you REALLY use.
Recognize that you do not need anything more - in fact, most likely you could make do with less.
