I have never made serious resolutions although I do
have an ongoing checklist of things I need to get better at or at the very
least find a better way to do. The sudden (yes it took me by surprise) arrival
of 2014 gave me little time to think about making positive changes for the year
ahead so here I am almost two weeks in just getting around to determining that a few writer-home-office resolutions might be in order.
Combine my enthusiasm for the onset of another year
with a list of my favourite things to help make that happen and the outcome is
the following version of the famous Oprah-style ‘my favorite things’ minus the
free giveaways and car. Although some of my noted faves here include freebies
you can access so it is not all sad that the Oprah giveaway shows are gone like
the Detroit balanced budget.
One of my key resolutions is to be somewhat more
desk-organized. A home office and way too many ‘jobs’ can wreak havoc on
limited space combined with the hoarder-need to surround myself with all my
favorite things that give me inspiration. My small but efficient office space (okay
yeah it spills over to other rooms) is home to a wall of hundreds of books
antique and new, 6 inch thick old hard cover dictionaries, a typewriter
collection displayed around the antique inkwells, pens, paperweights, vintage
office collectibles, an antique brass and glass claw piano stool resting spot
for an antique autoharp, mouth organ, and
a guitar resting along side, vintage wooden letter trays, oak library
card drawers and paper sorter, and even
a giant two foot tall 3 inch thick hard bound newspaper morgue volume of the original
December 1940 The New York SUN (don’t
ask). Around all this is my tools, phone, recorder, cameras, printer,
scanner, iPod doc, desk lamp (green glass banker of course), a few lap tops, iPod,
iPad, iPhone, and then add to the mix my many many magazines both sorted into
file boxes, clips binders and piled around (as I write magazine fortunately
this is both an allowable obsession and a true write-off expense). Now kick it
up a notch with the all-writers-have-it unhealthy addiction to stationery,
paper, notebooks, journals, file folders
(orange), note cards, markers, pens and pencils, and things can get a little tight
in a small space.
My 2014 plan is to continue to love all the things I
love and to finally use all those things I have been saving earmarked as too
special to use - leather journals, good pens, fancy paper, monogrammed paper
clips and even coloured printer ink when the mood hits me. My favourite
things/get organized resolution starts now. Feel free to check out any of these
faves and let me know how they stack up, or if I am missing out on something
more FUN-ctional you might want to let me in on.
1.
First up on the use it lists has to be my many
decorative (Paris themed) colourful storage
boxes piled around the room – with the addition of cute custom labels these
will be handy to file away some of the clutter of colured index cards,
stickers, business cards, overflowing pencil piles and so much more.
2. My pens
and pencils might seem out of control to a non-writer but on the flip side
might seem lacking to a writer but keeping dozens of my favourite pencils on
hand and sharpened to a point at all times is a must with my pick being billed
as the world’s most comfortable, the Dixon
Tri-Conderoga HB2 with a triangular shape perfect for endless doodling
writing.
3. On the
list of too special to use journals and notebooks check out the Moleskin
Evernote SMART Notebook combined with the Evernote app to take your hand
written notes to your computer files in a snapshot.
4. No
writer’s office is complete without at least one or three vintage typewriters, one of my favourites being the classic minty green (not the actual famous
Jack Kerouak) Hermes 3000 –
a gem and types like new. A little much for a coffee shop writing-date when my iPad
and keyboard cover suffice.
5. My new favourite (as in free) software tools
to organize my writing life have proven to be invaluable this past fall when
life cranked up my work life in a good way. For accounting simplicity, web
based, easy invoicing and simple bookkeeping check out Waveapp – the free version
is more than enough power to drive a home office.
6. The other
great free software tool that has cleaned up my act in a big way is the project
software insightly.
This powerful free tool not only lets me break down my clients into simple
project lists it then keeps track of all my assignments, task at hand,
scheduling and lets me attach all the emails related to each project with a
simple send out of any email.
7. My lust
for leather and my need for a functional briefcase/knapsack has sent me looking
in a million directions for one serviceable bag – of the way many collected
over the years none seem to serve well although my now vintage favourites have
always been my Queros collection (yes I
have had a few) – so on my list of 2014 things to own is a new, as in from this
millennium, Queros leather bag (or two) … currently considering a combo of
small briefcase
and one great messenger
bag purse or maybe a knapsack.
8. Not to
take away from the love of reading an actual book but surprisingly one of my
faves that has me reading way more simply because it is so simple to always have a
library in my pocket is the lovely little KOBO
MINI. Not as fancy as its more expensive bigger versions but it is a perfect
time and space saver for an easy ongoing reading and anything that lets me read
more when I step away from my desk is a good thing.
9. Not
that footwear has much to do with writing but for those who work from home and rarely wear shoes (let alone pants) I have a new best, will own them forever
and travel with them always fave that is really the slipper of boots. PAKEMS are designed by a brilliant woman in Colorado
with end of the day comfort in mind for skiers or hikers, but these après-ski
booties are the best ever not-shoes a writer can own. High top or low and plain
or print the design is amazing and my pink-plaid
Pakems make my feet smile.
10. Lastly,
limiting my picks to ten, is my goal of not so many hard copy magazines
underfoot in files and a commitment to read more of my magazines on my iPad.
Many apps are out there to help bring them into your e-reader fast so I will
check out the few recommended such as Zineo, the Kobo magazines app, and
more – if you have a favourite one please do let me know and help me save about a
zillion trees from my office recycle piles.
So whatever works for your home office embrace it and remember
to quit saving all those oh-so-special goodies for an occasion – the occasion
is now, 2014, the year of using all your favourite things. As one of my dear
friends says, “Gotta use your stuff!”
Happy New Year!
Michelle
Michelle
Ps … one
addition that has nothing to do with organization and resolutions but
everything to do with New year’s celebrating, no matter what time of year, is
my favourite find beverage of Writers
Tears Irish Whiskey. Folklore has it that when Irish writers cry they have
tears of whiskey. If you truly want to embrace this writer’s drink of choice
there is even a Writers Tears
Writers Club.
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