BellaOnline Forums Home and Garden Organization Tackling the Paper Pile

Dear Kelly Jayne -

Yes I strive to have all my tasks be things I enjoy. Life is too short to be caught up in stressful situations if it can be helped. I've worked diligently over the years to craft my world around tasks that bring me great pleasure.

I believe (and practice) the same thing, which is probably why I love my life so much. Just imagine how great the world would be if everyone embraced your philosophy Lisa!

What about when you have tasks that are simply stuff you can do without getting too upset? One does need to work, after all.

This to me ties into Maslow's hierarchy. If you have a job that actively harms you, let's say a job at a battery-ripping-apart factory where you get splashed with acid, then certainly you move up the scale to a job where you're just emotionally abused. And then from there you move up to a job where the hours just suck. We all go through those jobs in life. I'm sure we can all tell horror stories about abusive bosses and impossible deadlines and so on.

So yes we claw and work our way out of those jobs, and are thrilled when finally we find a job which simply is neutral - which we can do without pain and agony!

My hope would be that then we can move from there and find jobs that we are thrilled about, which bring us pleasure and joy

On the paper pile issue, Bob had a HUGE stack of mail on the coffee table - some dating back to March - and there was no room to put actual cups and things on the coffee table. So yesterday I sat down and went through the stack, removed my items which had gotten absorbed into it, and put all his things into a box. Now when he wants to (which will be never) he can go through that box. In the meantime, it's off the table and the table can once again serve its purpose!

A small victory!

lol, lisa, on bob's papers. Good for you.

I agree about Maslow and jobs. I have had jobs where I hid under tables and cried every day. So a job that I mostly feel good about is an accomplishment all by itself.

Just to clarify, I realize there are things we have to do that aren't bundles of fun. So when I am faced with mundane tasks or the more dramatic tribulations, I try to reframe the situation. I ask myself what good is coming out my efforts (sometimes it's that I have learned a new lesson), and I think about how lucky I am to be able to do whatever it is I am doing. The result is that almost always I can feel good about what I am doing. The reframing process radically reduces the stress and I actually feel grateful for having to do the job. I know it's a very Polly Anna take on things, but it makes me feel better and that's what matters.

I tend to be anti pollyanna. Maybe it's my New York roots.

The last few days I have been tackling many paper piles. I managed to get my Physical Health Binder finished and also cleared off my desk (I did this while watching Hoarders, lol).

I am hopefully going to work on one of my other piles this weekend, maybe the resources or mental health binder.

Other paper piles to binderize:
Pet Care (i need to move the info from folders)
Car Care (this one is done but i have stuff to add to it)
Mental Health
Local Resources
Money Making Projects
Self Esteem Class(I have this one but it could use subject dividers)

I am very pleased with my Physical Health Binder!! I wrote more about it on the thread about what we organized today.

Dear Kelly Jayne -

I agree that it's important for us to remember just how blessed we are and how tasks we might find "mundane" are actually things that we have chosen to help live the lives we desire. I.e. let's say I grump about mowing the lawn. But really, I wanted to have a house! I wanted a house with a pretty yard! The lawn mowing is a part of my maintaining my dream. I have to remember the context it is in. If I did NOT have a house, if I was in a run down apartment, I would be looking at my current situation with great desire.

I don't think it's being PollyAnna at all - I think it is remembering just what it is we have and how much we wanted to be where we are.

I think it's easy, once we have "achieved" a level, to then discount where we are and only think about what we still have to do.

Dear Jilly -

It is great that you're making such progress on your organization! Good for you! I'm sure it provides great serenity to you to have those projects coming together.