Operation {Re}Organization: Behind the Scenes

Remember this mess I showed you last week during the "gather and purge" stages of my office reorganization?

I thought it would be fun (and possibly a little embarrassing) to share some behind-the-scenes info about the process. Alternate titles for this post could be: "The {Un}Glamorous Side of Organizing" or "Chaney: Pen Hoarder Extraordinaire." This post ain't pretty, but in the spirit of keeping it real, I figured it would be worthwhile to share. As we all know, organization isn't all that glamorous - until you get the part where you get to use things like washi tape(!) to label things.

As I was cleaning out, purging and grouping my office supplies, I started making a list of all the things I found - mostly for my own amusement, but it did make me realize a few things about myself. For one, I hoard office supplies. I admit it. (That's the first step, right?) Especially pens, tape and paper. And I can't bear to throw away things of monetary value or that are tied to a memory. To demonstrate some of these hoarding tendencies, I took a few of the photos from last week's office post and labeled them with my finds.

Four. Separate. Pen. Collections. Really? That apothecary jar is full of sharpies and markers, which aren't really pens, but for the sake of calling myself out on my hoarding tendencies, they fall into the "pen" category. What can I say? I love writing implements. I did realize I needed to consolidate though. No one needs access to that many pens on a daily basis. So I tested every pen to see if it worked (yep, every one), and put my ten favorites in a pen cup. The rest of the working pens were relegated to my box of extra office supplies.

Also pictured is my extensive tape collection. Double-sided and regular scotch. I probably don't need to say anything else about this except that I don't need to buy any more tape. Probably for like, five years. Seriously. 

Onto the next photo!

First of all, 42-cent stamps? Stamps now cost 46 cents. They cost 42 cents waaaay back in 2009. I looked it up. In order to use that stamp, I would have to add 4 one-cent stamps to the envelope (yes! I can do math!). It would cost me more in gas to get to the post office and buy those one-cent stamps than that 42 cents that stamp is worth. My solution? Hold onto the stamp - maybe I'll need it for extra postage on a larger envelope. Is that ridiculous?

Notepads. I have a size to fit any note-taking need. Need one for a grocery list? Got it. To-do list? Check. Note to the dog walker? Not a problem. Again, probably won't need to buy another notepad for about five years. Maybe ten.

Notecards. Three sizes. Straight to storage since no one is in school or studying right now.

Onto the last photo!

I discovered a small collection of postcards from a trip to Barbados I took in middle school with my family. How in the world these traveled with me all these years I have no idea. Some of them are even duplicates! Though I have good memories of this trip, I have no emotional attachment to these cards, so they took a trip to the trash. And yes, all the rest of the stationery you see there stayed. I have a vast collection. Slightly embarrassing. I'll try not to buy any more of that for awhile. Try.

Whew! That was fun. Hope you enjoyed this behind-the-scenes look. On a positive note, in the midst of this little organizational exercise I did find $21. Yessss. I love finding cash in unexpected places!

Anyone else have some fun discoveries recently while cleaning out closets/baskets/drawers?  

--------

This post is a part of the series "Operation {Re}Organization." To see other posts in the series, click the tab at the top of the page.