I like it better when its organized , Im just not one who likes the organizing part of the equation.
My feet are usually up on the left hand side as i lean back in my chair, they stay right next to my Black Madonna...theres a pile of checks on the first shelf, behind my voodoo doll from New Orleans, Im not sure whats in the 'organizer' on the left, I shuffle that around about once every three months, the wastebasket is usually pletho-ing to overflowing
O heck this took afew minutes but heres a picture from just now-- its alot easier: (its usually alot messier, but I had a cleaning jag this week...
Hee hee...my desk once looked like that. Clutter everywhere, cigarette ashes on EVERYTHING, cat hairs vying for space among the ashes, piles of mixed open and unopened mail all covered in a thick layer of Nevada dust.
But now my desk has four levels and all have artfully arranged mementos/gifts, my actual work space has a small pad of paper on it (strangely with the Way College of Emporia red logo at the top...where was that hiding the last 20 years? :blink: ) my mouse on its pad and a letter opener. That's it...I dust every week and the cats have been ordered to keep their fur to themselves. Now I'm not distracted when I play my games!
A mess I have some stuff on my real desk, some on my dining room table and most of the other stuff is scattered between here and there. I seem to function ok but I do miss things being lined up.
I can't function well with a messy desk, but I'll never try to change someone who has one, or criticize them. I've seen people with wobbly piles of paper covering virtually every square inch of surface reach into a pile and pull out just what they need.
Or maybe they just say that's what they needed <_<
I have to come out of lurkdom for this one, because this topic is amusing.
My former boss has the messiest office (one desk could never hold a fraction of the crap he accumulates) I've ever seen. He could win the messiest desk contest hands down.
Once I was trying to get a book from a top shelf of his bookshelf and a pile of books came crashing down on my head. The company president happened by as I was digging myself out, and I commented that I'd love to get in there and clean out that bookcase. My boss was out of town at the time. The prez said, "I dare ya." So I did. It was so full that it took me all day to sort the trash from the duplicate stuff from the good stuff.
I found (in no particular order, and this is just a representative list):
Boss's diploma from Yale (this was in 1997, and he graduated in 1963)
A magazine from the library that was several years overdue
Boss's children's early grade school drawings (by this time two children were grown and married and the third was in college)
Duplicate, triplicate, quadruplicate copies of books
Several 3-foot-high stacks of old press releases (roughly 5 years old) on the bottom shelf
This is just a sampling from one bookcase, mind you. He has a huge office and one of those mammoth desks. You can't see an inch of the surface. The piles of paper are each at least 2 feet high. When we moved to our new offices, they made the mistake of putting shelves on his walls. Those are stacked with papers, too.
I still work with this man, although he isn't my boss anymore. When a CD or some photos or a manuscript or something is missing, nothing gets a reaction of rolled eyes faster than, "Did you check Richard's office?" No one wants to go in there. It's like the Bermuda Triange of offices.
My desk occasionally gets cluttered, because I have tons of incoming manuscripts to deal with every week, but I can only take so much messiness and then I have to stop and clear it all up. I can't think straight if it gets out of hand. I wish I could keep my house as tidy as I keep my office at work!
MStar, pretty neat stuff on your desk. I love the black Madonna! Is that a Green Man Watching on the shelf? DMiller, I'm not really surprised to see musical instruments on yours. :P
In true geek style (or is it 'tree hugger' style?) I have absolutely NO PAPER on my desk save a small spiral notebook for taking notes in meetings. I have a couple of reference books for the software that I use and a mini flip book of information I need to reference on a fairly regular basis. My phone and quite a few framed pictures of Vixen and family are the only other things on my desk. The walls of the cube are decorated with hilarious greeting cards from friends, a mini-poster of Tony Stewart and a border terrier wall calendar.
It's actually pretty darn clean, neat and sterile compared to most of the other cubes in the farm.
Now.... my desk at home? Not so bad, but the outer edges have piles of paper I keep meaning to file or "do something" with. It's a roll top desk and the very top sports family photos, the desk portion is where the pile of paper are so if I start feeling guilty or annoyed about it, I just close the roll top. Only.... I can't visit the Cafe when I do that.
MStar, pretty neat stuff on your desk. I love the black Madonna! Is that a Green Man Watching on the shelf?
The madonna is a copy of the one in Montserrat.. Shes been sitting there for about a year, I like her there.
My greenman is actually out of the shot, he is behind this photo (next to the tortoise shell...of course...), Thats a carved rastaman I picked up up in the jungles of Jamaica, I think you are seeing.... my guitars (I think there are 6 here) are also just out of the shot. Iusually I have two at least surrounding the desk
The desk is actually pretty neat now, but bureaus, tables, bookcases--anything that is flat really--- have become a collection of all sorts of strange artifacts
My shop is a different story, the desk has overflowed onto the bookshelves, the top of my kiln and a whole 4' x 8' workbench.
If anyone comes--please dont touch anything! I know where it all is....
well ---except the remotes, and that bill I was supposed to pay yesterday...
I have 2 desks. One is the public desk that has my laptop, mouse and mug on it. The private one :ph34r: is the "oh my" desk. It is a rolltop and it's got everything else and more in it. Gotta love rolltops - guests come over, roll the top down and voila' the room is clean once again!! Works for me.
over there on the left (somewhere) is the telephone, bills that need to be paid and other mail. The left side is the "to do" side.
over there on the right is copies of paid bills that 'she who must be obeyed' needs to submit for expense reports, a couple of recall notices for the speed6, and a spiral notebook for notes. The right side of the desk is the "in process" side.
In front of the laptop (under my forearms as I type) is the "currently working on" stuff (or in this case, the 'last worked on but not put away')...
As stuff gets handled it then gets either a) put in a drawer b)thrown away, behind me to my left c) shredded, behind me to my right
To most I guess it looks pretty messy, but I know where everything is... or at least have a good idea...
There I was relaxing, Grease Spotting, enjoying peanut butter cookies [with extra peanut butter smeared on top] and a diet coke when I came upon this thread…My desk is the ottoman in our sitting room, it's my favorite spot in our home.
I had to run, get my camera and take a quick picture while fending off my dogs from gobbling up the rest of my cookies – that's grounds for the beatin'-of-the-week!...Geez, we take em for walks, give em treats, let em lounge on any piece of furniture in the house – all I ask is that they leave my cookies alone! I swear if I have to…oh…what's this thread about again? Oh yeah, right…here's a picture of my "desk".
I had to run, get my camera and take a quick picture while fending off my dogs from gobbling up the rest of my cookies – that's grounds for the beatin'-of-the-week!...Geez, we take em for walks, give em treats, let em lounge on any piece of furniture in the house – all I ask is that they leave my cookies alone!
T-Bone --- a word of advice (if I may). ;)
Get rid of the dogs, replace them with cats, and take up the banjo.
There is NOTHING more inviting to a cat, than an open plush-lined banjo case.
Leave it open on the floor, with the banjo on a chair -- and 10 out of 10 times,
the cat will climb into the case, and settle in comfortably for a nap.
Guitar cases work too. Believe me -- this is a Truism.
And I've never seen a cat go for cookies either!! :D
A friend of mine entered a "messiest desk" contest and I won't be shocked if his desk wins.
We're talking old pizza crusts, older socks, piles of..........I don't even know........stuff that is nasty.
Cigar ashes all over, how he's not burned the place down is a mystery. Sticky soda spilled here and there, other messy stuff I don't want to think about.
He thinks there are uncashed paychecks in there somewhere.
I don't think he's emptied the trash in a couple of years, it just sort of runs over and out and down and everywhere.
As for me, I give my desk area more attention and care than most other parts of my house, stuff is filed, shelves are tidy.
What's your desk like?
Great topic! Actually, my initial response was going to be "you don't want to know." But, after reading about your friend's desk, my reconsidered reply is " pretty clean and organized, " lol!!!
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Suda
An organized mess, always a work in progress. For each piece of paper I get rid of, seems like 10 new pieces appear to take it's place.
And my son keeps my trash can emptied. Has to empty it about every other day it seems.
Sounds like your friend just may win!
Suda
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mstar1
My home one is better than it used to be.
I like it better when its organized , Im just not one who likes the organizing part of the equation.
My feet are usually up on the left hand side as i lean back in my chair, they stay right next to my Black Madonna...theres a pile of checks on the first shelf, behind my voodoo doll from New Orleans, Im not sure whats in the 'organizer' on the left, I shuffle that around about once every three months, the wastebasket is usually pletho-ing to overflowing
O heck this took afew minutes but heres a picture from just now-- its alot easier: (its usually alot messier, but I had a cleaning jag this week...
Is three ashtrays excessive for one small desk?
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George Aar
My desk is probably fine, though I haven't seen it in years.
The pile of papers, receipts, invoices, and product "cut" sheets on top of it?
Well, that's another story...
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pawtucket
SHELL,
You promised not to tell anyone about my desk!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Ham
I dunno.. a little messiness doesn't bother me.. or even a lot of it.
Now.. if you suspect that your cat you haven't seen for a few years is under there somewhere.. then I might have a few issues..
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Eyesopen
Hee hee...my desk once looked like that. Clutter everywhere, cigarette ashes on EVERYTHING, cat hairs vying for space among the ashes, piles of mixed open and unopened mail all covered in a thick layer of Nevada dust.
But now my desk has four levels and all have artfully arranged mementos/gifts, my actual work space has a small pad of paper on it (strangely with the Way College of Emporia red logo at the top...where was that hiding the last 20 years? :blink: ) my mouse on its pad and a letter opener. That's it...I dust every week and the cats have been ordered to keep their fur to themselves. Now I'm not distracted when I play my games!
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Shellon
I'm sorry Paw, I must have bumped my head on something on your desk
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herbiejuan
A mess I have some stuff on my real desk, some on my dining room table and most of the other stuff is scattered between here and there. I seem to function ok but I do miss things being lined up.
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Oakspear
I can't function well with a messy desk, but I'll never try to change someone who has one, or criticize them. I've seen people with wobbly piles of paper covering virtually every square inch of surface reach into a pile and pull out just what they need.
Or maybe they just say that's what they needed <_<
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Rocky
I can't believe anyone thinks Mstar's desk is actually MESSY! :blink:
I once saw a doctor's desk that was messier than mine... but I don't think mine is as bad as shell described her colleagues' to be.
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waysider
One man's mess is another man's order.
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Linda Z
I have to come out of lurkdom for this one, because this topic is amusing.
My former boss has the messiest office (one desk could never hold a fraction of the crap he accumulates) I've ever seen. He could win the messiest desk contest hands down.
Once I was trying to get a book from a top shelf of his bookshelf and a pile of books came crashing down on my head. The company president happened by as I was digging myself out, and I commented that I'd love to get in there and clean out that bookcase. My boss was out of town at the time. The prez said, "I dare ya." So I did. It was so full that it took me all day to sort the trash from the duplicate stuff from the good stuff.
I found (in no particular order, and this is just a representative list):
Boss's diploma from Yale (this was in 1997, and he graduated in 1963)
A magazine from the library that was several years overdue
Boss's children's early grade school drawings (by this time two children were grown and married and the third was in college)
Duplicate, triplicate, quadruplicate copies of books
Several 3-foot-high stacks of old press releases (roughly 5 years old) on the bottom shelf
This is just a sampling from one bookcase, mind you. He has a huge office and one of those mammoth desks. You can't see an inch of the surface. The piles of paper are each at least 2 feet high. When we moved to our new offices, they made the mistake of putting shelves on his walls. Those are stacked with papers, too.
I still work with this man, although he isn't my boss anymore. When a CD or some photos or a manuscript or something is missing, nothing gets a reaction of rolled eyes faster than, "Did you check Richard's office?" No one wants to go in there. It's like the Bermuda Triange of offices.
My desk occasionally gets cluttered, because I have tons of incoming manuscripts to deal with every week, but I can only take so much messiness and then I have to stop and clear it all up. I can't think straight if it gets out of hand. I wish I could keep my house as tidy as I keep my office at work!
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dmiller
My *desk* is my kitchen table. :)
The computer, police band radio, books, etc., have a *home* there.
It's also a spot where instruments end up,
when I switch from one to another, while practicing and picking,
along with various sites on the web that have good music going on. ;)
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Suda
dmiller,
You are much to neat to even enter the contest!
Now, where do you eat?
Suda
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ChattyKathy
What a fun thread! :)
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Belle
This IS fun!
MStar, pretty neat stuff on your desk. I love the black Madonna! Is that a Green Man Watching on the shelf? DMiller, I'm not really surprised to see musical instruments on yours. :P
In true geek style (or is it 'tree hugger' style?) I have absolutely NO PAPER on my desk save a small spiral notebook for taking notes in meetings. I have a couple of reference books for the software that I use and a mini flip book of information I need to reference on a fairly regular basis. My phone and quite a few framed pictures of Vixen and family are the only other things on my desk. The walls of the cube are decorated with hilarious greeting cards from friends, a mini-poster of Tony Stewart and a border terrier wall calendar.
It's actually pretty darn clean, neat and sterile compared to most of the other cubes in the farm.
Now.... my desk at home? Not so bad, but the outer edges have piles of paper I keep meaning to file or "do something" with. It's a roll top desk and the very top sports family photos, the desk portion is where the pile of paper are so if I start feeling guilty or annoyed about it, I just close the roll top.
Only.... I can't visit the Cafe when I do that.
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mstar1
The madonna is a copy of the one in Montserrat.. Shes been sitting there for about a year, I like her there.
My greenman is actually out of the shot, he is behind this photo (next to the tortoise shell...of course...), Thats a carved rastaman I picked up up in the jungles of Jamaica, I think you are seeing.... my guitars (I think there are 6 here) are also just out of the shot. Iusually I have two at least surrounding the desk
The desk is actually pretty neat now, but bureaus, tables, bookcases--anything that is flat really--- have become a collection of all sorts of strange artifacts
My shop is a different story, the desk has overflowed onto the bookshelves, the top of my kiln and a whole 4' x 8' workbench.
If anyone comes--please dont touch anything! I know where it all is....
well ---except the remotes, and that bill I was supposed to pay yesterday...
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Edi
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Tom Strange
Let's see...
over there on the left (somewhere) is the telephone, bills that need to be paid and other mail. The left side is the "to do" side.
over there on the right is copies of paid bills that 'she who must be obeyed' needs to submit for expense reports, a couple of recall notices for the speed6, and a spiral notebook for notes. The right side of the desk is the "in process" side.
In front of the laptop (under my forearms as I type) is the "currently working on" stuff (or in this case, the 'last worked on but not put away')...
As stuff gets handled it then gets either a) put in a drawer b)thrown away, behind me to my left c) shredded, behind me to my right
To most I guess it looks pretty messy, but I know where everything is... or at least have a good idea...
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T-Bone
There I was relaxing, Grease Spotting, enjoying peanut butter cookies [with extra peanut butter smeared on top] and a diet coke when I came upon this thread…My desk is the ottoman in our sitting room, it's my favorite spot in our home.
I had to run, get my camera and take a quick picture while fending off my dogs from gobbling up the rest of my cookies – that's grounds for the beatin'-of-the-week!...Geez, we take em for walks, give em treats, let em lounge on any piece of furniture in the house – all I ask is that they leave my cookies alone! I swear if I have to…oh…what's this thread about again? Oh yeah, right…here's a picture of my "desk".
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tonto
This is where I post when I'm at home. 'scuse the mess...This is our home office.
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dmiller
T-Bone --- a word of advice (if I may). ;)
Get rid of the dogs, replace them with cats, and take up the banjo.
There is NOTHING more inviting to a cat, than an open plush-lined banjo case.
Leave it open on the floor, with the banjo on a chair -- and 10 out of 10 times,
the cat will climb into the case, and settle in comfortably for a nap.
Guitar cases work too. Believe me -- this is a Truism.
And I've never seen a cat go for cookies either!! :D
Just my imo. :)
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Rocky
Mess? There's NO mess in that pic!
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waterbuffalo
Great topic! Actually, my initial response was going to be "you don't want to know." But, after reading about your friend's desk, my reconsidered reply is " pretty clean and organized, " lol!!!
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