So, here it is, April 30. I completed my counter-clearing goal on April 13, more than two weeks ahead of schedule, but I must admit, I was hoping for more progress between the 13th and the end of the month. But, life threw me a couple of curve balls (good ones, mostly) and I spent less time working on the counter than I had planned.
At first, I was annoyed. Why hadn't I eked out some time to do this? But then I re-focused, zooming out and looking at the big picture: I had already achieved my goal and the clear space had remained clear.
So, now, as May sneaks up on me, I'm facing Phase 2. Buoyed by success, I want more - counter space, that is - and so in May I will forge ahead.
I'm not sure how I want to set my goal, though. Do I aim for more clear space on the counter, wherever that happens to be? Do I choose one area and focus on that? Do I set a time goal - a minimum of three hours this month, for example?
Time was harder for me to lasso in April, though, and I want to set a goal I can reach. I also want the flexibility of following new organizing ideas wherever they might lead.
But there is one pile at the left hand side of the counter - the "main" pile, as it were - the one where 85% of the "stuff" has landed. Clearing that would make everything look so much better, but it's daunting. I've skimmed through that pile's contents enough times to know that at least half of the papers in it are homeless, and so that stack is not as innocuous as it seems.
So its footprint will be my May goal. Clear that stack and I achieve my goal. Pick away at the smaller spaces on the counter and I can still get there, but it will be tougher.
That stack takes up roughly 144 square inches - so that is my May goal. And since going public worked to nudge me forward in April, I am going public again, 29 days later, with a new goal in my sights.
And this time, there's definitely a Pandora bead at the end of the road - um, counter.
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