I make a living helping contractors organize their businesses.
While my work includes setting up bookkeeping
systems and installing software, it typically begins by reorganizing
the office space itself. Often, when I enter the
office of a new client for the first time, I am faced with yet
another case of Stack Syndrome: Papers cover the desk, piles
of magazines, catalogs, and assorted junk mail litter chair seats
or corners, while heaps of just plain stuff (coats, drink containers,
lunch boxes, a handful of drywall screws) occupy various
horizontal surfaces. Although this can be daunting, it is
simply evidence of a single problem: There is no system in
operation that assigns