Confessions #01: Paperwork

"We can lick gravity, 
but sometimes the paperwork is overwhelming."

Wernher von Braun 

Cyndi Lauper - "Girls Just Want To Have Fun"  

Oh the infamy! Yes, it is confession time. From the title it is obvious what the subject of this confession is. Something everyone loathes and hates, unless they are totally nuts. From the picture you can see what I have been putting off my paperwork. This is just the tip of the iceberg,

So how the hell did it get to this state of affairs? Well I don’t need to file tax returns. I do not pay taxes to the government, due to my particular place of gainful employment. Now before you get manically excited, wanting to know exactly where I work, and how does one find employment there, I do pay an internal assessment. This assessment is equivalent to a tax. It contributes in a round-about way to what my country would pay as part of its’ global commitment to the organisation where I work.

Given the above, I therefore look at my mail, open it and toss my personal paperwork on the pile. Whether it is at home or in my desk draw, I can’t help thinking, "file later works, as girls just want to have fun!" Well most of this pile at home dates back almost five years, to the last time I did all the paperwork. Back then it took me a whole week to do and saw my father’s living room floor strewn with piles of paperwork. It was eventually sorted into some order. That episode left me with the resolution “NEVER AGAIN!”

Two very useful words, “never again”, when you listen to them. As you can see I obviously failed to. These words also run across many events in my life, but the paperwork is the confession of the day. Worst is, the pile featured in the picture is not a resent. It has been like this for nearly two months and still growing. Oh joy! Oh bliss! Part two of this confession is, do I really want to hoe into this weekend, or could it wait for another one. Maybe, I could go as far as to consider indulging in it next year. One more year really couldn't hurt! ;)

I can’t believe I have so many excuses to get out of it. If it was classed as a dereliction of duty, I would probably have faced a firing squad by now. I have been trying to analyse why I keep putting it off. I think comes down to two primary causes:

1. Getting it into order, which is work; and
2. Not having to pay taxes paying taxes, which makes it unnecessary. 

When I remember living in Australia, the filing had a more simplistic sense of order and purpose. It was never an issue. Even the paperwork, I amassed in Germany was easy. Maybe it was due to the fact that I was obliged to file tax returns in these two countries. Working where I do now, it has not been a necessity, hence chaos reigns in that pile of ever growing paperwork.

Maybe it was that I had a once had a better sense of how I should order the paperwork. I had a system, which I now have been procrastinating over for the last year. I don’t think the current one works as well as I would like it too. Contemplating a new system of order, is taking time. More so because I must admit, I am not working on one. ;)

So what is this saying to me? I am procrastinating on something that should be so simple. When one considers that at the workplace I am known for my planning and organisation skills “par excellence” to the point about being pedantic, the paperwork should not be such a demon. Even without taxes, putting my personal paperwork into order would be useful.

As I see it I have two of choices for the weekend:

1. First choice, and what the Angel is whispering the message: "It has to be done this weekend." 
2. Second choice, and what the little Demon is whispering is a totally different message: “Girl’s just want to have fun” 

My final word is, no matter whether the angel or the demon wins, is: Paperwork is CRAP! So who do you think I will listen to when Saturday comes around? The Angel or the Demon?

*****

"I have so much paperwork. 
I'm afraid my paperwork has paperwork."

Gabrielle Zevin,  'Elsewhere'