“ I know where every piece of paper is located,” I told anyone who commented on the state of my office.

To paraphrase Judah Folkman, “If a cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind, what is an empty desk a sign of ?”

I persisted in this myth for two years.  I never made time to go through the piles, so the piles grew larger.  I refused to see the downside, the time it took to find items and the feeling of being a trapped rat in an ever decreasing cage.

What saved me was a homework assignment from my coach to make a video introducing myself to the new coaching group that I was joining.  I thought that the assignment would be a great opportunity to make a welcome video for my website home page at the same time.

So, I invited a friend who knew something about photography and lighting, we set a date, and two days beforehand, I took everything out of my office that did not belong there on a daily basis. You can tell from the before and after photos below how much stuff I had accumulated:

Computer Workstation Before Cleaning

Desk Area Before Cleaning

I had no clue how much better I would feel after the decluttering, below: 

Desk Area After Cleaning

Computer Work Station After Cleaning

I actually smile as I enter my office now.