If you’re a collector like me, your office is full of stuff. Papers, books, old gadgets and drawers full of unnecessary supplies. After accumulating about 20 years worth of junk, I thought it was time to clean out. With only about one hour’s work, I managed to eliminate about 90% of my junk. Here’s how I did it.
1. Move to a vacant office
When a colleague down the hall retired, I claimed his office. From him I inherited a desk, a chair, a computer desk, two book cases and a file cabinet. To this I added only daily necessities:
- Computer and accessories
- A few pens and pencils, tape, paper clips, etc.
- Office fridge
- The textbooks for my current courses (I’m a college professor)
- Other textbooks and materials that I will need for future courses.
I left everything else in the old office.
2. Over a fixed period of time, get whatever you need from the old office
For the next two months, I went back and retrieved necessities from the old office. Then I found places for them in the new office.
3. Then pay someone to throw everything away
Honestly, I couldn’t resist doing a one-over of the old digs to make sure I didn’t forget anything “important.” This is when I retrieved my shelf full of old tchotchkes and other memorabilia. I had someone else throw everything away so that I wouldn’t be tempted to keep things that I didn’t need.
Freaking Important 