Well, November has come and gone. My lofty goal of 50,000 words has also come and gone.

On the plus side, I did get about 5,000 words written, which is way more progress on that book than I have made in the past. And it was a big, big learning experience on how I manage my time. That really means, of course, that I don’t manage my time. Even more obvious is the fact that I don’t manage my clutter. My time is eaten up with trying to find things, both for work projects and personal items. It’s a huge waste of time, and for the work projects, a huge waste of money because I don’t charge clients for the time it takes me to round up the paperwork and notes I have scattered around my office.

So December is dedicated to clearing the clutter and making sure I can find what I need.  Years ago, I went to a women’s conference hosted by the company I was working for at the time. One of the speakers was Barbara Sher, who had written a book called “Live the Life You Love”. One of the chapters in the books was “Clear the Decks for Action.” There has been a lot written about how clutter will hold you back, but that chapter was the first that really resonated with me, and the chapter title really says it all.

This is probably going to mean re-organizing my office, including re-arranging all the furniture to make the filing system more accessible so I actually file papers instead of throwing them in a pile because the “good” file cabinet is across the room and the little file cabinet I use every day (because it is a 2-drawer cabinet that fits under the window by my desk) is flimsy and the drawers are hard to open when it gets full. Like now, because it is the end of the year. I’ve been avoiding this project because it’s going to be a big project, but after spending a lot of time dealing with an inefficient layout, I’m going to have to bite the bullet and get this done.

And then, on to both writing and riding!