it is never possible to have too many sticky notes

i've often wondered if i should buy stock in sticky notes.  i'm not a real big believer in the stock market or investing my money into something that isn't going to give me instant gratification (don't tell my dad or grandpa - they might make me go to another investment talk with our financial advisor), but seriously - i think i personally keep the company afloat.  don't believe me?  check it out for yourself below.

[note: this picture is far from staged as is evident by the completely embarrassing disarray that is my desk. hope you enjoy your glimpse into the life of a graduate student with final projects due within the week.]

it looks neater when i'm not up to my ears in projects.

to count there are 24 active sticky notes on my desk (25 if you count the registration sticky note that i can't bring myself to take down due to it being my last registration ever ... if you're confused, you'll understand after reading this), 10 packs of sticky notes available for use (not including general notepads - only sticky backs made the cut), and 4 decorative sticky note rectangle packs that are good for marking places in books.

don't get me wrong. i'm a fan of using scrap paper, reusing old notes, and various other earth friendly ways to make notes (except the sticky notes you can put on your computer screen - that doesn't do it for me), but you obviously wouldn't know it due to my sticky note obsession.  maybe to counteract my addiction in the eyes of mother earth i'll shorten my showers by a minute.  that has got to improve my earth karma, right?

anyways, all of these notes have important things on them.  it's not like my desk is filled with notes that say "you can do it!" or "the world is your oyster!" or any other variety of encouraging phrases to keep me going through the bleakness that is grad school.  no, far from it.  the sticky notes include such things as semester-long assignment reminders, important dates for the fall semester for planning purposes (ie: first day of class, fall break), impending deadlines, phone numbers of people to call in case of emergency, passwords to all of the different accounts i've been forced to get in grad school, etc.  obviously, all of the notes are important.

while i'm sure some, if not most, of you disagree, i don't think it's ever possible to have too many sticky notes.  sometimes i have so many that i run out of room and sticky notes get covered and forgotten, but they always find their way back to the top as i complete tasks.  and once on top, they continue to serve as the beacon of light directing me to my next assignment.

i owe my successful (almost) completion of grad school to sticky notes.  or maybe they owe me a ceo position for keeping them in business all these years.