Get Organized: Shaping up my Desk and my Work Ethic

For what seemed to be millennia and millennia, my desk was a complete mess. Piled high with papers and games and scraps, I thought that it would take an eternity to clean. Luckily, with the help of my mother, I was able to straighten up my desk and my work ethic this weekend.

Before I dove into this cleaning project, I was horrified at the sight of my desk. Work buildup from what must have been three years was sprawled across it, and I never even imagined cleaning it. While it may seem minor, this disorganized lump of junk took a toll on my work habits.

Without a clean, defined place to work in my house, I have always found myself moving off-task and constantly getting distracted while doing work. I definitely recognized this problem, yet I was too lazy to change my attitude and clean my desk.  I am the type of person who needs to have a rigid work structure. I do very well with organization and habit, because I enjoy being in my comfort zone while doing work. For this reason, I was unsuccessful in a lot of my work before I cleaned my desk.

This weekend, with my mom’s help, I finally decided to shape up and start cleaning. I was surprised and disgusted at all of the garbage that I found. Most shocking to me was the sheer number of empty soda cans; there was close to fifteen piled in my garbage can by the time I had finished cleaning. I felt as if I was staring into the stresses of my past when I threw away those cans. They reminded me of all of the sleep that I had lost freshman year, mainly over trivial matters. Nonetheless, I was beginning to feel cleansed.

In finishing the cleaning process, I remembered how in eighth grade I would do all of my work in this desk, with the bright lamp shining directly in the middle of the stained wood workspace. I felt somewhat nostalgic of my old work habits; I was once the master of organization. After I threw away the last of the random papers, I knew that my habits needed to change if I was going to be successful in high school.

I am now so relieved that I have a specific place where I can focus on nothing except what I need to do. My brain has missed a place of solitude like my desk, and now it is so much easier to think. Without pointless distractions, I am now able to finish my homework in much less time. More importantly, I feel so much better now that I have a small intellectual haven in my room.

If I continued my cycle of laziness and never cleaned my desk, I would have never known how wonderful it is to have a little corner to myself. This project has taught me to be more open-minded about change, because my switch from the living room couch to my stained wood sanctuary is helping me in ways that I am only beginning to realize.

Blogging Around: Workalohicism and Making a Difference

Hannah Schiller
I commented on Hannah's post, "Captured Thought: Life is Short. Make a Difference." In her post, she focused on the idea that we can all make a difference in this world, and Steve Jobs is a perfect example of this. She also stated that we do not need money to make a difference.
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Hannah, I really appreciate your idea that we can all make a difference. Sometimes I find myself stuck in what I think is a meaningless trance of school and homework and sleep to the point where it drives me mad. When I found out that Steve Jobs died, I was also shocked and humbled.

Just like you, people like Steve Jobs give me hope that my life means something and that I, too, can change the world. I don’t mean this to sound arrogant, rather it is meant to be optimistic. Looking back at all of the incredible things that Steve Jobs did for our society in 56 short years is uplifting and exciting. You could not have put it better when you explained how he has helped so many people. Someday, I hope to make an impact as well.

I love how you stated that we do not need to become billionaires to make a difference. I struggle with this idea every single day. Society often tells us that we need money to be successful. I define success as personal satisfaction with your life, so if changing the world is my idea of personal satisfaction, then I most certainly do not need to be a millionaire. Millions of people have reached their own personal goal of success without heaps of money.

As you said, we can change lives in our own communities, or in a way that does not involve money. Last week, we watched a presentation about the Invisible Children in Africa. Three college students changed the world just by creating an organization and fundraising. All of this was not-for-profit, and most likely thousands of lives have been saved because of these people.

I often forget that money is not everything. Steve Jobs changed the world with his parents’ garage and a dream. I completely agree with you; he was a great man. I’m so glad that you reflected on his life, because it has really helped me understand what we are all capable of as long as we have a goal and a vision. 

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Matthew Bondy

I also commented on Matthew's post, "An Inconvenient Truth: Twenty-Four Hour Days." In this post, Matthew elaborated on the sad truth that we do not have an infinite amount of time each day. Knowing this, he claimed that we need to budget our time and use time effectively in order to keep ourselves healthy and sane.

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Matthew, let me just start off by saying that I could not agree more. In today’s competitive world, workaholicism (as you put it) is definitely an issue. Often times I find myself overwhelmed to the point where I can no longer function. I think of this as the “paradox of overworking.” Working hard is sometimes the exact same thing as hardly working, especially when we are exhausted from a long day at school.

Since I was in Romeo and Juliet with you this fall, I can most certainly relate on the topic of ridiculous rehearsal schedules for high school theatre performances. On top of Romeo and Juliet, I was also a part of GBN’s production of Shakespeare’s Shorts earlier in the school year. I was consistently at school until 10:30 for four weeks while both productions were preparing for performances. During these weeks, like you, I encountered a time issue.

You could not have phrased it better when you said that we cannot accomplish everything under these harsh time constraints. But I always have a problem with this truth. What should I work hard at and what should I let slide?

For me, it boils down to what I can afford to lose and what I cannot. Sadly enough, this often reverts back to grades. If I have a higher A in a class, then I will most likely abandon that subject for a few days while I focus on more “important” matters. I put quotations over important because I understand that this is not true. It is just the reality of grades in our world of workaholicism. 

Just as you did, I also need to accept this inconvenient truth of time efficiency. Trying to everything is futile. In doing so, the paradox of overworking takes charge and I end up getting nothing done out of pure exhaustion. I am the type of person who loves to feel accomplished in a class and who wishes that he had all the time in the world. When I look to grades for how I ration my time, I am saddened and annoyed at myself. This is indeed an inconvenient truth; overworking is a reality and we often need to sacrifice in order to stay healthy.