The Junk Drawer of Your Mind

(Originally published at Medium.com, June 6, 2013.)

You know the “junk drawer” in your home? Oh, c’mon, everybody has one – it’s generally in the kitchen, but could be the office (actually my desk has one, too) or garage. Wherever yours is, it likely contains the little odds-and-ends that come in handy and are a pain to find if they were in their rightful place. Utility scissors, scotch tape, a couple of tacks, matches, zip ties, a small hammer, batteries, rubber bands … sound familiar?

I just realized that I also create a daily “junk document.” Yep, this very article began with thought fragments on a junk document.

Do you open a new page in your word processor and just start dumping things onto it? I do. Generally first thing in the morning as I peruse news headlines, or as the coffee kicks in; but I can be half way through my day before anything of interest pops up that I’m not immediately sure where to store, expand on, or disseminate.

I may not know what I’m going to do with the information or thoughts; but they’re more than mildly interesting and too important to be fleeting. (And all of my thoughts are fleeting these days, if I don’t write them down!)

“Thought flies and words go on foot.” ~ Julien Green

Throughout the day I travel around the ‘Net and roam through my mind, picking up bits and pieces, links and notes, and if I deem them appropriately interesting, but not specific to what I’m working on that day, they find their way to my junk document … a sports link about the most recent MLB drug charges for John; an article about the NSA’s data collection from Verizon for my Facebook friends (love the opening line, “Can you hear me now?”); a reminder to call my sister-in-law; ditto, my kids; another few inspirational words for this article, and a couple marketing ideas.

Every time I add a link or a thought to my junk doc, I review the other items on the page. Sometimes I act on one – review the link’s site, or make notes for future reference, or send it to a friend. Other times I expand on my thoughts, such as now.

At the end of the day, often I’ve copied and pasted some items to other documents. What’s left gets another review. Hmmmm, I need this for reference – I find a new home for it in a file or folder already hosting that subject, or create its own document; ah, this isn’t as interesting as I thought it was this morning – delete; and sometimes I copy and paste to a new page simply to print, then purge it from the computer.

“I must create a system, or be enslaved by another man's.” ~ William Blake

I find that my junk documents help me throughout the day, to be somewhat organized without sticky notes obscuring my view, and to exercise restraint to “keep everything.” At this time in my life (past 60) I am trying to streamline with an eye toward discarding all that is absolutely unnecessary. Not because I want to, but because … well, without becoming fatalistic … why keep it?

Oh, all right, I have to admit, there are times I simply can’t decide what to dispense with and what might be needed at a later date. (Mom, that’s your fault!) If there are more than two or three items of this nature left at the end of the day, I save as a file by date with a cryptic few words that are supposed to trigger my memory later, and toss it into my “Daily Junk Drawer” folder.

ARGH! It’s true – even my computer has a junk drawer. Sigh. However, the junk drawer of your computer serves a purpose just as the one in your home. There are times I’ve decided I need some information that I know is saved and if not found in a standard file, I head to the Daily Junk Drawer. I can generally locate it by approximate date, if not by my obscure topic file name.

We complain about clutter and even pay experts to help us de-clutter. But now I know there is clutter and “stuff” not only in our physical lives, but lurking in our minds as well. Free your mind for the important things … chuck the extraneous in a junk drawer.

“I don’t know about you-all, but I need a place to put my ‘stuff.’ ~ George Carlin

 Cheers!