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Advice pls for 'going through my stuff' 1st time
kenzi | Apr 5 2006
I can't put it off any longer and must go through my stuff. I can't move forward with GTD until I do this, but it still feels like a monumental task to me. I am going to start this weekend, and take Monday off to do it. I would greatly welcome any advice you all can give me to help me through this, especially stuff that the book didn't tell you but you wish you knew before you did it. Here is some background: the place where 95% of my stuff is, is my home office/home. I have a job that pays the rent, but it's not an issue with respect to GTD except as an action item: go to work. I run a small business out of my home (I import handicrafts from Morocco and sell them on my website kenzi.com, plus I am a henna artist taking clients at home but also doing house calls. My home office/store is about 40% of my home; I work on my computer, store my inventory, process orders, welcome clients, etc. all at home. I also work on some creative projects, some of them for the business and some just for pleasure. A lot of my business stuff is mixed in with my home stuff, plus I have boxes that I haven't unpacked since I moved 4 years ago, boxes with work stuff in them. I have mapped out my home showing where there are piles of papers (my main organizational nemesis) and also boxes of stuff to go through. I also plan to deal with the personal/home stuff as well as the work stuff since the overall disorganization of my home/home office is making me crazy. I live in a loft with NO closets (though working on buying armoires) and only open space. I have a lot bookshelves and one filing cabinet. I think that I should buy another filing cabinet. I think that is sufficient background, but feel free to ask me any questions. I really welcome any suggestions you may have. 35 Comments
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 Awww, thanks for making sure...Submitted by kenzi on April 17, 2006 - 9:47am.
Awww, thanks for making sure I'm not a total basket case. Things are starting to fall into place. I found more stuff to go through; my pile of recycled papers climbed to 8 feet! I think that I am pretty much done with the in-box and the filing. I then made a list of projects, 35 total, and mades lists of actions for each. I decided to go with the Kinkless GTD/Omni Outliner/iCal option to track everything. I set all that up yesterday and entered all my projects and actions. I know that there is still a lot more to do, but I feel amazed that I was able to get through all that stuff and distill it down into a working system. It really does look worse when you first start to tackle it, but the feeling of elation at having gotten through it is so worth it. My house is still chaotic because there is leftover detritus from the purge, and that pile of recycling is still sitting by the door. Plus I have neglected housecleaning for the past two weeks; that is pretty normal for the old me, but the new me feels weighed down by the dust and dirt. Next step is to go back to the book and see what I do next. I didn't read the book all the way through because I knew that if I did I would just say, "oh that's great advice" and never do it; I always left myself more to read as a treat for finishing one of the steps. Everyone advice has been really helpful. » POSTED IN:
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