I have just got round to tidying my office - once I managed to get in past all the paper etc. I was just wondering how much stuff to chuck away/recycle from all the notes, drafts, printouts etc that i have accumulated. There are some obvious things to keep but when I have just printed out work that I have on my PC anyway, I don't think I need to keep everything I have.
Any views?

you're pre viva so tbh I wouldn't get rid of anything just yet. Completely unlikely that you'll need anything but still...

After my viva I got rid of all printed earlier drafts and bit by bit deleted them from my pc as well - it felt weird but good at the same time! Now, eights months after my viva I am still looking at the hardcopies of lots and lots of articles but am reluctant to get rid of them. However, I do want the shelf space they occupy! I still have lots of notebooks etc which I should really get rid of, given that I hardly looked at them before I submitted and not at all since I finished!

My advice would be wait until after your viva:-)

Keep hold of all your data and notes just incase as you never know when you want to check something or to go thorough something again! I still haven't manage to chuck anything from my Ph.D yet though I'm tempted to delete earlier backups of data as I want the hard drive space! I can't bring myself to do it yet ... maybe after I publish ...

I've still got all my papers as I need to publish but I'm sure I don't need all my papers as I still have stuff I printed out but never read but you know how it goes ... they might be useful!

It's amazing how much stuff you accumulate that I should've a spring clean one day ... ;-)

whatever you keep you probably won't use, but whatever you throw away you will need the week after you have done it!:-)

Oh, that is also a problem for me. I am always wondering which I need to chuck away/recycle, which I should keep. I used to keep all my old notebooks for classes in my office until I need to move. I used a large shopping cart to bring all the notebooks back home and left them in the storage room, not even in my study room as I hardly check them. Guess I have some emotional attachment to those notebooks.

Just wanted to say I agree with Ady and wouldn't get rid of an R&R, you may be grateful you still have notes and resources, etc you can go back to instead of starting from scratch. Obviously, I'm really hoping you'll pass with flying colours but it doesn't cost much to hang on to stuff until that happens...