Here’s a change to the Clean Desk Challenge. I get to write while someone else takes the photo. We get the treat of a good camera tonight–no PDA style photo for clear desk #9, nope! And we’re shaking it up with some B&W action. Who is this mysterious “we”? My dear friend Mark who just got a new digital camera.

Update on my digital camera-less state. A friend took it and said he’d try to fix it. No luck there. What he did have luck with was finding a discussion board leading to the information that Nikon knew that model had a bad Sony sensor and did a recall. It’s sounding like they might replace the camera!
[2/13/08 update - this is Nikon's "service advisory" page my friend found]

Clean desk challenge #8 (photo at end of post). I can’t believe the “77% cocoa content Chocolove” hasn’t been devoured long ago. This clean desk thing has got to be boring by now (and we’ve three more weeks to go!) so I think I’ll use it as a push off point for other subjects. And I don’t just mean the fact that the table top needs to be wiped down!

The table has been cleared of papers and files except for the magazine, Fast Company, which has a fascinating article on “diesel-spewing bacteria” by Elizabeth Svoboda. I never thought I’d be a fan of a completely genetically engineered product, but you heard it here first, I could be a big fan of this stuff. As I wrote last summer, I traded in the ole 2001 Toyota Prius hybrid for a 2003 VW Beetle diesel so I could fuel up with bio-diesel.

Since then, I learned how destructive the bio-diesel industry can be if the material isn’t coming from recycled, local sources. (Acres of forest and food-farm land are being converted to mono-crop fields of bio-diesel material in other countries.)

So. Back to diesel in a petri dish. They wouldn’t need to harvest any new materials to make it which is super cool. I’m not clear, however, if they’d be able to modify it to be clean burning. They haven’t made it in any kind of quantity to get into market yet–and who knows if it would pass regulations regarding genetically modified organisms. They also don’t know, at this point, if they’d be able to scale it up to a size that would be cost-effective to produce. Fascinating concept though, and worth keeping an eye on!

Clean desk challenge #7. Booya! Need I say more?

Quick report on day #6 of the Clean Desk Challenge.

I’m tired and ready to hit the sack, but I keep forgetting to write about the opportunity a friend gave me to talk about the upcoming workshops on her radio show last Saturday night. It was a little odd–she had a smooth thing going on her show called “Bohemian Groove” on KVMR, and then we came on at 11pm for a short interview/promo about the workshop. Kind of funny really. I’m trying to imagine what her listeners thought. Unfortunately, there was something wrong with the phones so she couldn’t take incoming calls.

As promised last night, this table looks a little better. I still don’t know what to do with the ball of yarn waiting to be knit into a square that will join 11 other people’s squares in a baby blanket for a friend’s baby due in April.

I gave myself the day off yesterday (Sunday) and didn’t post a photo. Didn’t work in the office so there wasn’t any accomplishment at the end of the day, anyways.

I haven’t always been in the habit of clearing my desk off every night (even though I love coming in to a clear desk in the morning). I tell ya, posting a shot every night turns the heat on–but it hasn’t taken more than 3 minutes to get everything back where it belongs, which is part of the purpose here–it can be easy!

So I’m turning the heat on and taking a shot of the table behind my desk to up the ante a bit. Now that one isn’t looking great, as you see below. Should be better tomorrow evening.

Yes, that is a Chocolove 77% cocoa content–my current favorite bar o’ chocolate.

Except for the mug rings on the glass… we’ll call it super clean!

(Worked at a cafe today, not the office so tonight’s clean desk was a piece of cake.)

This was evening #4 for the Clean Desk Challenge which is going on for the month of February.

Knowing I’m going to post a photo of my desk sure is a great motivation to clear it off at the end of the day!

Here’s evening #3 of the Clean Desk Challenge:

The thing in the foreground is my journal that is, in fact, allowed to live in the prime real estate of zone 1 (link is to newsletter #55 in which the Zonify article was published. The article hasn’t posted in the articles section yet, hint hint Lance.)

On the wall you can just barely see a piece of paper. On it is a quote by Zig Ziglar sent by a friend today:

“I don’t care how much power, brilliance, or energy
you have, if you don’t harness it and focus it on a specific
target, and hold it there, you’re never going to
accomplish as much as your ability warrants.”

The reminder comes at a good time. Even though I understand the power of focus, I’ve let myself take on a lot of (too many??) projects this past year. Energy and attention scattered, I haven’t made the progress I’d have liked on the book, new speaking gigs, and a couple of other areas.

A while ago, I worked with someone who had umpteen projects going on at once. While this made for interesting days, not much actually got accomplished.

There’s a place between letting things happen as they will and active movement that I can feel being just the right pace. The primary way I know I’m there is that things happen without worry and stress.

Let things happen… There is such gentle power in the idea of “let” and “allow”. They are accompanied by patience and trust to the magnitude of, let’s just say, super big. I suppose the word that says it all is: surrender. Not all that easy to do, but wow, does it feel good when it’s flowing this way!