Something on your “to-do list” that never gets done
Every day I tell myself I’m going to clean up the piles of paper on my desk.
Most mornings start with the same small act of optimism: I write out a to-do list and work through what I can. Then the next day arrives and that new list goes straight on top of yesterday’s. Another layer. Another sheet. The piles grow.
I do try to set aside time to sort it properly. I’ll look ahead and think, I’ll do it this afternoon, or after that meeting. But when the time comes, something urgent turns up. It usually matters. So I deal with what’s in front of me, and the desk stays the way it is.
There’s one exception: holidays.
Ironically, I can’t go away with my desk looking like an absolute mess. So the day before I leave I do a quick sweep. I gather everything except the truly important documents and put the rest in a box. The box goes under my desk. The desk looks respectable. I go away.
When I return, the box never gets unboxed.
Not because I’m disciplined—because I don’t miss what’s in it. Nothing falls apart. The place still functions. Life carries on just fine. Eventually I add a new item to the to-do list: Sort through the box. It looks responsible. It never gets done.
Then the next holiday comes and I repeat the ritual. Another sweep, another box under the desk, another note on the list: Sort through the boxes. Still, everything keeps working.
Which leaves me with a question I don’t entirely like: if I never miss what’s in those boxes, why did I think I needed it on my desk in the first place?
The Afterword 
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