Drowning in Paper

"You're really blocking my flow right now."

"Wow. Am I blocking your flow? You sure about that?"

"Yes. I'm pretty sure you hovering over me as I work is not helping me work better."

"So sorry to disrupt you, my queen."

"Hmm," I grunted in response. Liam could be a thorn in my side, and it didn't help that we were both now crammed in our studio and confined to working on the tiny foldout dining table. What made the situation even worse? The fact that Liam easily adapted to working from home. Everything he needed was confined neatly to a thin office folder with cartoon puppies covering its exterior and his Chromebook. Myself, on the other hand? Stacks of reference material in book or article form were strewn about the tiny four-hundred-and-fifty square foot room we called home. The cherry on top of the disaster was my "little kitten" who had taken an affinity to lying on and toppling over the stacks I needed the most. I wouldn't want to say my work is more challenging and more demanding than what Liam did daily, but it is. It definitely is. Liam could draw digital images all day. What would happen if he didn't? No kids would get cancer, and no grandmas would have their water poisoned. I, on the other hand, would definitely have those problems if I didn't do my job. Currently, in the mess that is our world, it's not only the large scale issues like the novel virus that are attacking us. It is also that sweet, dry cleaning man who happened to leave the same barrel of TCE waste out on his lot for fifteen years. How do you just forget about a barrel of toxic waste? That chemical waste is now making its way right into the backyards of some unsuspecting Seattleites. Who's in the way to stop it? Myself and two other newly hired consultants. Now that I've painted the picture that I'm the hero of this story, while also justifying my insanely messy work practices, we should turn back to the issue at hand. The hovering partner, calamity prone kitty, and piles of papers that are inundating my apartment, all of these items are obstructing my workflow.

Task one: Occupy the lover.

"Hey, baby. Could you start planning dinner? It is a bit early, but maybe you could put something nice together if you have the extra time."

"I can check and see what I can throw together. Are you up for a surprise?" Liam slowly started making his way to the kitchenette, inching further from my workspace and table.

"Of course, honey. You always cook the best food."

Task two: Distract the kitty

"Hi, my sweet Mickey." I cooed while picking up the cat. "Let's get something to play with, huh?" I set Mickey down on the end table and opened the drawer revealing catnip and a favorite toy. After filling the toy with catnip, Mickey was off rolling on the floor and batting it across the hardwood.

Task three: Organize those damn papers

With the two beating hearts otherwise attended, I now needed to take my greatest foe—the white sheets, which in some ways dictated my life. I won't lie. My organization hit its peak as I put like articles in the same box and the ones I need asap on the table. It was an improvement, and that's all that matters. Now I could work, for the most part, uninterrupted and unobstructed.