Or maybe it’s just my desk that is a mess.
Sometimes I think that’s the same thing. If I could just tidy up my desk then maybe I could sort out my life too.
Honestly, every day I intend to tidy it up. The desk, not my life. But there’s always something else that needs doing first.
Like writing.
I am a writer, after all, so the writing bit is actually kind of important. It’s not like I sit down at my desk and think, you know what, I don’t fancy tidying my desk today so I think I will waste some time writing instead.
If I was squirrelling my way down virtual rabbit holes on Facebook and Twitter, yes that would be a waste of time and I would be better off tidying my desk.
But I’m a writer. I HAVE to write!
And really, does my messy desk make it harder to write? On those rare occasions when I actually get around to tidying it up, am I then struck with inspiration and do the words start pouring from my fingertips as soon as I sit down to write?
The answer to both of those questions is a big, fat, resounding, NO.
So why, when I look at the devastation that is a pathetic excuse for my workspace, do I feel the need to sweep everything to the floor?
What’s this thing with obsessing over a lack of clutter?
I suppose it’s not the clutter that’s the problem.
It’s the lack of organisation.
See that pile of receipts in the corner, about ready to spill onto the floor? Yep, they’re the records for my accounts.
That open book, Characters and Viewpoint? (Underneath it is the Routledge Creative Writing Coursebook if you’re interested.) I left them there from when I was preparing to lead two creative writing workshops last Saturday.
Coffee cups? Of course. What writer doesn’t have empty coffee mugs littering her desk? In fact I’m sort of feeling rather inadequate at the moment only having two.
The human skull?
Don’t ask.
I genuinely do not have an answer.
Still I can always justify my messy desk by pointing you to this quote:
“If a cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind, of what, then, is an empty desk a sign?”
Nobody knows, really.
Anyway, that’s it for me today.
I’m off to tidy my desk.
