Desk Organization Theory for Writers

If you saw any of my desks: my cubicle at work, my desk where I keep my PC, the space upstairs where I use my laptop, the kitchen table where a month’s worth of God-knows-what is currently piled up, you’d laugh hysterically at the idea that anyone would ask me how to stay organized as a full-time writer.

Don’t get me wrong. I think being organized is a great idea. A guy who lives around here and writes professionally for paper magazines and books teaches a local seminar on exactly this. He has A METHOD. The course is very, very popular and fills up almost immediately every time he teaches it. It costs $150 and lasts for exactly one day. You bring your own lunch.

I’m thinking, if he gets 20 students in each class (and he likely gets more than that) that’s $3000 every time he teaches a session, which is, you know, not that bad around these parts. How much does the guy even have to write after raking that in? But he does write, he writes a lot. And he has a system that he teaches others for a nominal fee.

I do find that admirable.

Maybe I should take that class. I know myself though. I’d just lose the how-to-organize-your-writing instructions in one of the piles of papers I have stacked all over the house. In fact, I’d lose them almost immediately. Then, I’d spend at least twenty minutes tearing through everything I own every time I needed to find them, cursing like a truck driver the whole time, and then, once I did find them, I’d throw them across the room in a fit of rage because I’d realize it would take me at least four days to do the things on the list, and that by thing #4 I’d be distracted by something else and forget what I even set out to do in the first place.

Why subject myself to such torture?

No, I’m not A.D.D. I’m PAM, and at 55 I’ve learned that it’s incurable. I have learned to live with it though. My ’system’, such as it is, would not impress anyone and will not work for everyone. But I’m more than willing to share it.

(And thank you for asking!)

Eight Things I Actually Do to Stay Organized

1) Bookmark Everything in Folders

I keep separate bookmark folders on my browser for all the writing sites I visit, all the photo sharing and illustration sites, all the financial sites, all the social networking sites, and so on. I also use Firefox instead of the other Microslop browser, because it’s ever so much more user-friendly, and you can keep multiple tabs open without opening another browser window. Plus I think Bill Gates is kind of a dick. (You love the guy or you don’t, it’s just that simple.)

2) Ditto in Email

I save emails from clients and so forth in separate folders and make sure I put their names and relevant info in my email address book right away so I remember how to get in touch with them and why I might want to. This seems to be going ok so far.

3) Hire an Accountant

If you’re going to be making more than a couple thousand dollars without any withholding, hire an accountant. It’s worth every penny. Don’t try to understand US tax law on your own, or you’ll end up in Gitmo. It’s hard to write hanging by your thumbs with a wet towel over your face.

4) Save Purchase Receipts in Envelopes and Published Work in Files

I have a dozen or so manila envelopes, and every time I spend money on anything that could remotely be construed to be business-related, like software programs, books, paper, ammunition, whatever, I write on the back of the receipt what it was for and throw it in the envelope. The contents will be dumped on my accountant at tax time. Accordion folders work well for this too.

I also save all published work in a file and note the date and place of the original publication.

5) Keep Track of Money Earned

Most of the websites I use keep a running tally of this figure, so I don’t have to do much work to see where I am, but I also deposit everything into a separate account so I don’t have to go searching all over for my earnings each quarter. I can just add up the deposits each quarter.

6) Download a Desktop Calendar or ‘To Do’ List

Sure I could use Outlook pop-up reminders, but remember how I feel about Bill Gates? Screw Outlook. I keep a running list of what I’m working on each week and when it’s due, and cross projects off as I complete them.

7) Keep Writing Work and Household Bills Separate

While most of my meager organizational skills utilize browser functions and email, I find it really incredibly important to keep all of this separate from the rest of my home life. I have a separate desk where I keep bills to be paid for our household and write personal correspondence and so forth. If I didn’t do this, I’d forget to pay anything. I pin the bills in order due to a bulletin board above my personal desk, and each week I take down some and pay them. I’ve been doing it that way for as long as I can remember.

Purge When You Can No Longer See Wood

When my desk starts to look like an illegal trash pile, I will (eventually) spend an hour sorting through everything until it looks like a clean desk again. I’d say I do this maybe once a month or so. For a day or two I feel really brilliant and on top of everything, and then after that the cycle begins all over again.

Try to Enjoy Yourself

Every so often I take a break and just don’t write anything at all. Just this week in fact, I took two days off of work and totally indulged myself in stereotypically female ways that are completely politically incorrect. I bought summer clothes and shoes. I got my hair cut at a nice place and bought what I believe is referred to as ‘hair product’ to give my new hair a sort of punk appearance. That was fun. Then I watched really cheesy ghost stories on TV while mainlining Klondike Bars.

I’m working on turning a loft we have here into a writing office. The staircase is more like a ladder, so, being old people, we don’t use the loft for much, but it’s lovely. It has skylights and lots of windows looking out onto our acre of wooded property and our new vegetable garden. I can hardly wait until that is all ready, since right now my PC is in the basement. I do have a laptop too though.

Life is messy and short. I do what I can to change both of those things but I have to tell you in all honesty, I’m only semi-successful. I wish you all the best in your endeavors, and I welcome any ideas that you (or anyone else) might have on this topic.

I could use some help.