No, I am not referring to a vascular anal canal problem. (I never realized, until I looked it up, that we all have hemorrhoids- they don't become a problem until they turn into piles. I'll bet that qualifies as "too much information", so I'm dropping the topic right now.) The piles of which I speak are something altogether different- much to your relief, I am confident.
Part of my "creative/productive" process involves filtering and setting priorities. I suspect that I am revealing nothing newly earth-shattering to most readers. The manner of effecting said methods will obviously vary from person to person, but I am only prepared to address how I manage it. I usually start by sorting into little piles. This is not necessarily a conscious effort on my part, but if you walk into my office on a busy day (which has been far too infrequent as of late- however, it's getting better), you will bear witness to my scheme, accidental or otherwise. Distributed about my work space are small stacks of papers, generally relating somehow, within each individual collection, to each other. Not very sophisticated, I must admit, but it's by far better than one big pile, right? Anyway, whether you agree or not, it's my way, and I suppose I'll stick to it. With all that stuff segregated by topic and thus separated, I can then establish what is most important and urgent to address (see my post of 8.30.2010 for a quick and easy visual aid to that specific process), thence commencing to disappear those little piles one by one.
I've heard from various interior designers and space planners a general rule, to wit: the more flat spaces you make available (in, say, a design studio- or a kitchen, maybe), the more one tends, in the process of doing our daily activities, to fill them up. This conjures in my so-called mind a vision of vast layout boards and countertops stacked high with paperwork and such- intimidating if not overwhelming. This is, I know, an extreme example, but it justifies to me the practice of not providing too much "clutter space". The older I get, the more I seem to adhere to this, and I want to believe it is wisdom that comes with age, and not my anal-retentive tendencies coming to the fore. (How did we get back to that anatomical vicinity? Insidious, ain't it?)
Trust me, I have had ample opportunity recently to practice what I preach, as my new residence/work space is about half what it used to be. Despite this fact, I seem to be better organized and better able to prioritize. You don't have to downsize to try it, but in my case, it was a fortuitous necessity, and I'll heartily recommend it.
For those of you who just look at the pictures, here are a couple I enjoyed:
These dumpsters are desk-sized miniatures:
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