Tuesday, February 05, 2008

A Messy MyFax Confession

I have a confession to make. I'm addicted to the Messy Office Contest submissions. I'm not talking about a small addiction where I check them once a day, smile and move onto something else. No, I mean really addicted, like "considering getting a sponsor" addicted.

Have you seen these? (If not, you can view the weekly winners here and all of the submissions at the MyFax Messy Office Facebook Group). I know that some of them are probably staged in hopes of a better chance at winning the $10,000, but I'm sure some of them are real or at least pretty close and that's where my addiction comes in.

I'm a bit of a neat freak, (translation: "outrageous control issues and mild OCD") and the thought that there are actually places like those in the pictures and videos we have received, and people actually spend time in them, has me both horrified and fascinated at once. It's like driving by an accident, or watching that operation show on TV.

And I can't stop myself, I have an alert set up so that I know the instant anyone posts to us. I know it's not good for me, I know I should bow out of the judging. I literally get itchy looking at some of them, I stare at the pictures trying to figure out ways to clean them up. Yesterday I was halfway through an email to one of our weekly winners, asking her "if I could stop by and just straighten up a little", when I realized what I was doing.

It's not just my work that's suffering, I've been going home and doing extra cleaning at my place, hoping to create some sort of "tidy balance" in the world. Now do you see why I say I need a sponsor?

I can't be the only person like this can I? If you're reading this and can relate, make me feel better with one of your own neat freak issues. Of course, if you're one of the "others" and don't have a problem working in chaos, you should take a picture or video of your own mess and send it over to torture me. Here's a link to the entry form.

Only three weeks left to submit, not sure if I'll be relieved or sad to see it end...

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Dear Messy Confessor,

I completely share your neurosis on cleanliness. Although, these high standards only exist in my house. at any given time, you could eat from the floor, puruse a variety of cleaning supplies, or simply breath deep the fresh air.

It is my office that fails to be held to these same standards though. Here, you are just as likely to find an empty coffee cup as a pen, and there are never less than 5 very strategic 'filing piles' within arms reach. I know my space is a mess, but every time I try to do something about it, something more important comes up.

This leaves me with both a comment and a question:
Comment: I must be a total loser to have so little else going on in my home life.

Question: would you like to come over to work and clean my office??

Sincerely,

walking contradiction