Do you ever sit at your desk, looking at the piles of papers or business cards or unlabeled CDs and flash drives? Just looking at them can not only be disconcerting but also a bit painful. Knowing exactly where to start or jump in is a trick in and of itself. A place for everything and everything in its place. That's a magical trick for me these days. A trick I have yet to master.

When I worked for someone else, my desk was always neat as a pin. (How neat is a pin exactly?) I would arrive in the morning, set my search records out (anyone ever use "access" software?), align my pens, clean my phone, adjust my headset, review the parameters of each search with which I was involved, check my calendar, then attack my email. My morning's purpose was happily fulfilled as I was eager to hit the phones and make hash marks on my call sheet, an archaic reporting system instituted by the firm's managing director.

That system gave way to a new telephone software that reported outbound and inbound calls for each line, along with minutes per call. Interestingly enough, the Managing Director still required that we fill out a call sheet, even though, every morning, we received the previous day's digital report on our desks. The system was flawed because we, as employees, felt distrusted and micro-managed. How many call-reporting systems do we need?


Leaving that environment to set up my own department was quite refreshing and thrilling. I did away with reporting and counted resumes received and candidates in play as the real metrics. There was one point when I had 27 open requisitions. My weekly reports to the CEO and VPs consisted of excel spreadsheets declaring the status of each recruitment. Clear and concise dissemination of the information meant a clear and concise understanding by the parties involved. Neat and orderly. Spic and span.

Fast forward two years. Today, I look at my desk and wonder what happened. How have I fallen so far? The clutter hides the clutter. And yet I know exactly where everything is and why it is there. I claim busyness because it is true. I am busier in my work now than I have ever been and I have never been poorer. And yet, I have the freedom to make my own rules. Rule #1? The Golden Rule. Rule #2? Well, let's just say, "The cleanup begins today."

I'll keep you posted...





by rayannethorn


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