Organizing your workspace
A coworker came by my office recently, stood at the threshold and said, “Your office looks like an iPod.” It was the nicest thing anyone’s ever told me!
Over the next few weeks I’d like to write a bit about office organization. The trick to it is the same as for organization in any other part of your life: reduce the clutter. Offices can be awash in papers, files, supplies, and trinkets. A messy desk, however, will keep you from concentrating and being effective. Here’s what I do.
I don’t keep any papers I can have electronically on my computer. In my line of work, almost all the documents I use can be found as PDFs or web pages. I use Yojimbo to store electronically the papers I need. When I’m working on a project, I will often need paper copies of documents for easier reading, highlighting, and shuffling around. But as soon as I’m done with a project, I throw out the printed copies. What’s the sense in keeping a physical copy taking up space when you have an electronic, searchable copy?
Because I haven’t accumulated much paper, I haven’t had a need to turn paper-only documents into electronic ones, but if you want to get rid of your paper files, check out Erin’s posts over the past few weeks.
After decluttering, the second part is having a place for everything and everything in its place. I use a rough version of a process Merlin Mann explained a while back. Basically each project gets a file folder and all materials related to the project go in it. Since you can only work on one thing at a time, you only pull out the one folder you need. Feel free to spread the papers out on your desk and make a mess while you work–that’s what work desks are for. But when you’re done working on the project (whether for good or just for now), put all the materials back in the folder and put the folder away. Don’t pull out another project folder until you’ve cleaned up from the previous project. Always clean up at the end of the day, and have an attractive spot to keep all your active projects. I use a simple file rack:
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Posted by Jerry on May 4, 2007 |
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9 comments posted
Posted by John Zeratsky - 05/04/2007
It’s certainly uncluttered. But doesn’t looking at that wall drive you nuts?
Posted by Kate - 05/04/2007
Do you have something for yojimbo that you’ve heard of, or even better, recommend that works for PC (or, ideally, both PC and Mac as eventually I want to make the switch but that’s not for a while)?
Thanks!
Posted by Erin - 05/04/2007
Kate — In my second post on curbing paper clutter, I suggested using DevonThink Pro, DevonThink Pro Office or Yojimbo for a Mac, and One Note for a PC. Also, if you read the comments to that post, some people made some additional suggestions for similar types of programs.
Posted by Jerry Brito - 05/05/2007
John, Until I finagle an office window I’m sure what alternative I have. If you have any suggestions, let me know. The weird thing about my office, which you can’t tell from the photos, is that it doesn’t have right angles. The architecture of the building I’m in is insane. It’s basically round and the far wall of my office curves so that you can’t place anything flat against the wall. The other walls are at weird angle to it. Very disconcerting. I tried putting the desk in the middle of the room, but it made the office feel very small. This way there’s tons of room in the center of the office and it feels airy.
Posted by John Zeratsky - 05/05/2007
Jerry, I hear you. I have the same problem in my home office. (I’d take a photo, but I’m out of town right now.)
Even with a small, windowless space, I always make it my #1 priority to make sure I’m not facing a wall when seated at my desk. Ideally, my desk is touching at least one wall and I’m not directly facing the door.
Here’s a rough diagram of my current office layout: http://johnzeratsky.com/dump/office.png
Posted by Matthias - 05/07/2007
I’m wondering how you combine these two topics:
> [...] need paper copies of documents [...] easier reading, highlighting [...]
> [...] an electronic, searchable copy? [...]
When you scan your printout again using OCR, you will loose your highlighting. On the other hand scanning as a picture based PDF keeps you highlighting but is not searchable.
For my work I have to read a lot and this question keeps me away from saving everything electronically.
Posted by Mark - 05/07/2007
Matthias:
Why not scan it twice and combine the image PDF with the OCRed PDF?
Posted by Jerry Brito - 05/07/2007
Matthias: I used to fret about losing my highlighting. I would keep paper copies only because I had highlighted important bits. What I’ve discovered is that the highlighting I do is useful only for the project at hand (usually writing a paper). Once that project is complete, I don’t need the highlighting any more. I can always find the useful bits again, especially because if they were truly useful, I cited them in a paper, etc. I keep the documents electronically for future reference, but I throw away the print outs — even if they have highlighting.
Posted by PJ Doland - 05/09/2007
You can save a PDF as an image with searchable OCRed text embedded and hidden. This is the way I would suggest scanning all documents.
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