OCD

In my defense from yesterday’s post, I need to point out something about Jennifer.

She’s not normal.

She is an Obsessively and Cleanly Disturbing Wife.

Granted, she wasn’t always like this. I cite its onset with the arrival of sub-humanoid life forms within our domain. Though I suspect it was always within her, just dormant.

After I wrote yesterday’s post, I went down into the kitchen and opened the dishwasher. The top drawer was exactly as it appears in the picture.

Who does that?

Granted, it’s not like that every day. But the “Disturbing” element comes in when you consider she *wishes* it was like that everyday.

So to all those of you who live with a spouse like mine, I feel your pain at always being told the thing you’re looking for us right in front of you. And for those of you who have a form of OCDW, while we are grateful for the clean house you ensure, go easy on those of us without your keen eye, sharp color an pattern distinction, and supernatural ability to organize. ch:

Productivity: Face Lift

Clutter. Have any? Maybe it’s the kitchen-black-hole-of-death drawer that’s crammed full of stuff. Maybe it’s the one room in the house you never show on “the tour” when guests come over. But if you’re like me, somewhere in your life, there’s total physical chaos.

Recently my office got a makeover. For those that might remember, I had painted it blue with a black city skyline 360-degrees. It was cool. Then I added my collection of street signs–placement care of those that tuned in during a live broadcast of the event. A table, some chairs. And inevitably, stacks of papers, collectables, gifts, supplies, and an old sandwich.

And then my thread of OCD kicked in.

Inspired by The Lightman Group’s make-believe office from the show Lie To Me, and Apple, I decided to throw nearly everything out, store the rest, and repaint: antique white on 3 walls, royal blue on the ceiling, and a light grey on the back wall.

In less than 4 days, my office went from chaos to clean. And so did my brain.

Many times our lack of productivity is directly tied to our environments. And I found that if both my head and my office were in chaos, work became frustrating. So one of them had to change. My mind always has been and always will be in a state of creative chaos. That’s how I’m wired. No changing there. So my office had to give way.

The result is that I love sitting in this clean space. I can breathe. I can think.

Sure, large canvas prints of my family are on order to fill up some of the vast amount of negative space. And I’ve added one of my antique model sailboats to the top of the bookcase. But that’s it.

Not only do I enjoy my office much more, but it’s caused me to adopt a new habit as well, which I’ll cover in the next post.

So which space do you need to give a face lift to? Go on, we want to know! ch:

[A big thanks to Will Farr for the recycled chairs!]