In a small suburb north of New York City we met Thomas Doyle, a sculptor whose miniature works reveal an interesting view of his characters’ lives. Doyle constructs frozen scenes of surreal domesticity and suburban…
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A lot has changed online since the literary world’s beloved Dave Eggers began McSweeney’s Internet Tendency 15 years ago. With the current digital climate plagued by frivolous cat videos and impulsive Twitter comments, finding intellectually entertaining…
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1. Tricycling to the South Pole Three wheels, 400 miles, ice crevasses and Antarctic weather (meaning 50 mph winds)—these are the conditions that 35-year-old Maria Leijerstam of Great Britain will face as she pedals with two other traditional cyclists from Ross Ice Shelf…
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Purveyor of memes, laughs and occasional NSFW oddities, Sydney-based website Brown Cardigan has just taken their business offline with a set of 25 greeting cards. As well as covering the obvious—Christmas, Valentine’s Day, Hanukkah, Mother’s Day—the…
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Add a little humor to the holiday season by presenting friends and loved ones with a reason to laugh in the form of a useful object. From Perks and Mini’s Carefree Willy keychain to Muffin Top muffin cups, or the gift everyone can get involved in—Cards Against Humanity—here are 10…
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Artists have plenty of cause for complaint: politics, sexuality, war, the commercialization of the art market. Too witty for sincere criticism, the discontents at Art Basel 2012 and surrounding Miami fairs decided to childishly air their respective gripes with obscene humor. The result isn’t the inflammatory art of old,…
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Cancer fuels comedy in Tig Notaro’s impromptu album
Tig Notaro was on top of the world. Ringed with critical appeal and on the crest of a booming career, life was looking up for the comedian. The tumbling of events that followed included a severe sickness, the death of a mother, a breakup and, finally, a cancer diagnosis….
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I can’t believe it! There she goes again! She’s tidied up and I can’t find anything! — Thomas Dolby
Things organized neatly is not me. While I appreciate looking at images of precisely organized spaces, I’ve discovered feeling ashamed of my workspace is detrimental to my work. My office is a living thing, not an exhibit. I’m a stacker. About a year ago, I abandoned the guilt I generated by not maintaining a white glove-ready workspace. In doing so, I’ve relieved some stress, became more productive, and realized that untidy and organized are not mutually exclusive.
Every few months I would succumb to an urge to transform my home office into a museum exhibit. I spent hours arranging my office and finding a home for everything. I called my self a neat person. Neat people are highly organized and productive. They’re intellectual and competent. I am one of those people.
Within a week, the piles returned, as did the guilt. Clearly, I’m not one of those tidy, on-top-of-things people.
When I finish a day’s work, I look at my Mac’s desktop. Screenshots, photos, snippets of text, emails and so forth fill the screen, strewn here and there. Before I throw it all way, I consider the jumble. That’s the evidence of a day’s work.
So is the stuff in my office.
I pulled ideas or reference material from those books. The photos reminded me of something or someone I love (like my kitchen from my childhood home in Scranton). The papers hold all sorts of goodies — contracts I’ve signed, drawings from the kids, numbers I’ve called, arrangements I’ve made.
This is the evidence of my work. Some would put the book on a shelf after reading. I’d rather simply put it down and start writing. I like the photos where they are so I can reference them anytime. I work hard, and this stuff is a part of the result.
There’s a very important distinction to make here. Namely, the huge difference between processed and unprocessed stacks. A random pile of stuff that contains items you can’t even identify is not acceptable. I’m not condoning an amorphous heap of who-knows-what, nor should your office become a huge inbox.
Everything in my office has been processed and assigned an appropriate home. That is to say, I look at every item and ask myself:
Once I’ve determined the answer to each question, I act accordingly. That way, everything is where it ought to be. Even if its home is a small pile on the corner of my desk.
How precisely organized should I be? Enough to pass a white glove test? No. That’s not going to happen, and imposing that ideal on myself is actually counter-productive. So, I stay organized enough to achieve my goals. Today, I achieve what I’m after, stacks and all. I’m okay with it. I have things I love around me, like photos, drawings and Disney Vinylmations. It’s working and, more importantly, I am.
When I was younger, my grandmother’s house was kept like a museum. It was gorgeous and sterile. My office is a working space. Stuff gets done, and dust is raised. Detritus is strewn about. Like a potter who goes home with clay on his jeans, I get messy when I work.
But the result is beautiful.
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This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.
