Comments on: A John Mayer’s-worth of cleaning

By: robin

robin — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 01:39:01 +0000

Thank you, Laura. Please speak to Annette and Herb.

By: Laura Fitzgerald

Laura Fitzgerald — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 01:12:20 +0000

Congratulations, Robin!!!! That particular part of your desk is a thing of beauty.

By: annette

annette — Tue, 03 Apr 2007 22:26:12 +0000

robin, welcome on your journey to the bright (and shiny) side. i say journey because you’re not yet there (i’d like to see a full pan of the office, with all drawers exposed, including file folders, as well as the knee hole). do not listen to herb–remember, he’s jealous. (although he does make a good point about displacing fauna that has adapted to the eco-niche created by a half-eaten pizza buried beneath a mound of out-grown dress shirts and expense account receipts).

By: Herb

Herb — Tue, 03 Apr 2007 14:09:19 +0000

Robin, Robin, Robin. Your just one of the crowd now. I will try to continue slovenly cause.

By: Herb

Herb — Tue, 03 Apr 2007 14:06:41 +0000

annette,

your offer is tempting however, i’m afraid cleaning my office would distrurb the local ecology and have unforeseen consequences. like the extinction of some unknown vermin.

By: robin

robin — Tue, 03 Apr 2007 03:08:45 +0000

Emmaco, I took great comfort from that article, too, when I saw it. But there does get to be this point–like Nancy said–where you’re actually depressed to walk into a particular room. That’s where I was. I usually clean up my office right after I finish a book so I can start the next one with a fresh slate, but somehow I skipped that part back in January when I finished my latest. So it’s just been getting worse and worse since then.

Nancy, can we agree that sometimes the best thing about having a house guest is that you’re forced to clean?

By: Emmaco

Emmaco — Tue, 03 Apr 2007 02:39:04 +0000

I just remembered this article on managing mess (hope html works on this website – sorry if not!). As a messy desk owner I was happy to read the part about messy desks=creativity!

But I know how great it feels to have some control over your immediate work environment – congrats!

By: Nancy

Nancy — Tue, 03 Apr 2007 02:34:00 +0000

Oh Robin, your desk in the before picture looks so organized and neat compared to my bedroom right now. Really, I’m at the point where it’s depressing to go to bed because I’ll see the piles of stuff I haven’t dealt with.

But by Friday I’ll have it all in order. I have visitors coming to help me get my crap together. Or at least to help me hide it all in the attic.

By: annette

annette — Tue, 03 Apr 2007 01:19:41 +0000

herb, you willing to bite?–airfare’s on me.

By: robin

robin — Mon, 02 Apr 2007 23:15:39 +0000

Patrick, nice nod to Mr. Mayer.

Heather, great point! All those people waiting to write their novels until that time when they have a year off, or the kids are grown, or whatever–stop lying to yourself! Just write where you are right now! (You can see this is a bit of an issue for me.)

Vivian, thank you for the good vibes. They’re working!

Annette, I’m sorry, but you are a little bit sick. But of course I appreciate your offer and will never, ever take you up on it.