Remind me next time not to live on the north side of a mountain

I'm tired of living in the shade. Winters in the Love Shack are dim, even when the sun is shining. By all measures, it was an awesome, sunny winter day in the Pacific Northwest—50°, brilliant blue sky, sunshine... it's been a rainless winter so far, not good for next summer's water supply but excellent for the chronic malcontents who prefer to avoid winter weather. However, I'm sad to report that due to my location on the north side of the butte, even my light box can't dispel the gloom. The sun came and went so fast today I barely had time to bask and then it was gone behind the shoulder of Mt. Tabor. Remind me, if you meet me and I happen to be apartment-hunting, remind me not to live on the north side of a mountain ever again. I might as well be living in a cave.

It's possible, though, that my moroseness might be due partly to my ongoing efforts to get organized. It wasn't really a New Year's resolution of mine, but after I found out how many tasks my friend Carlita had completed last year, I got revved up and started a list of tasks I wanted to get done in 2014. Then I signed up for an online class on improving productivity and fell off the deep end into organizing hell.

The system proposed by the instructor is a well known system that everyone seems to know about except me. (I'm always late to the party, what can I say. I'm just not that connected, huddled here in my cave.)

The first step (besides admitting I am powerless over... accomplishment?) is to collect all my undone tasks, wherever they may be. Paper scraps, email, folders, notes in books... I don't even want to think about my journals. Collecting all my undone tasks in one place is a colossal task in itself. I've been at it for the better part of three days and made it through one journal. On the bright side, I've uncovered a lot of hidden gems that still seem shiny and new. However, most of the ideas I scribbled with such enthusiasm even just a month ago are now just dusty words on paper. What was I so enthused about? I can't remember. It's like that dream that seemed so vivid and meaningful at 6:00 a.m. that fades into absurdity after the first cup of coffee.

My physical desktop is almost clear (except for the computer, the external hard-drive, the monitor, the printer, the flatbed scanner, two speakers, a purple basket full of small scraps of blank paper [for writing to-do lists], three plastic chests of drawers full of a gajillion paper clips [for clipping to-do lists into clumps] plus other sundry office supplies... oh, and my tea cup [I am on a hiatal hernia-related hiatus from coffee]). So that is progress, right? I mean, I can see the fake wood veneer surface. That's something. So maybe this new organizing system is starting to work. Now if I can just find my round tuit. I know it's around here somewhere. Wait, let me add that to my list. Find.... round... (hey, how do you spell tuit?)

At the rate I'm going, it may take me the rest of 2014 just to compile the list of tasks I want to achieve. I'm pretty sure that is not the kind of productivity the designer of the organizing system was proposing. I'm fairly certain the point of all this task-collecting is to make it easier to finally get around to getting things done. I guess you could say I'm doing things in order to get ready to really do things. Hey. What do you know. I'm meta-doing!