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Archives for March 2008
Alltop.com lists Unclutterer as a top life hack blog
Alltop.com yesterday listed Unclutterer as a top life hack blog on the internet. We’re excited and humbled by our naming (currently listed as number five in the category!) and want to thank the site’s creators — Guy Kawasaki, Will Mayall, and Kathryn Henkens. The majority of the blogs listed in this category are what appear in my RSS feed program, the blogs I look to for trends and inspiration, and so we’re honored to sit with them on the site. From Alltop’s about page:
You can think of an Alltop site as a “dashboard,” “table of contents,” or even a “digital magazine rack” of the Internet. To be clear, Alltop sites are starting points — they are not destinations per se. The bottom line is that we are trying to enhance your online reading by both displaying stories from the sites that you’re already visiting and helping you discover sites that you didn’t know existed. In this way, our goal is the “cessation of Internet stagnation.”
Be sure to check out the main page of Alltop to explore other blogs considered by this group of whiz kids to be the top in their categories. They’re fun to explore if you have some extra minutes on your hands or want to take a break and relax.
Posted by Erin on Mar 20, 2008 |
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Wireless iPod streaming
Products that are wireless immediately gain my attention. Monster’s new iSoniCast is now shipping and it allows you to stream your iPod wirelessly to your home stereo. It also makes your iPod into a remote control so you can select what you are listening to on your stereo. From Monster:
The Monster® iSoniCast™ turns your iPod into a wireless jukebox, so you can easily enjoy all your iPod music on your home stereo system. With the iSoniCast, you use the iPod itself to control playback with full access to all the familiar iPod controls! You don’t need to turn on your TV to view menus or use a clunky separate remote to control your iPod. Even better, the iSoniCast is also incredibly easy to hook up and no batteries are needed: the smart low-power consumption lets you listen for extended periods.
I currently use a Y-Cable for my iPod listening needs. It adds a wire to the mess that lurks behind my receiver and it doesn’t allow me to change tracks remotely. This wireless gem will set you back $100, which isn’t bad for a brand new iPod accessory. Additionally, if it gets rid of another cord, I’m interested.
(via Crave)
Posted by Matt on Mar 20, 2008 |
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Environmentally friendly uncluttering — From Planet Green
Jasmin Malik Chua is one of the guiding voices behind the informative and earth-transforming blog Planet Green. I love the site because it provides practical advice about ways to help the environment without being preachy or overly touchy-feely. We thank Jasmin for being a part of our month of sharing, and we hope you take a few minutes to check out her site after reading her motivating words.
If I had a penny for every person I’ve met who has told me “I’ve always wanted to go green,” well, let’s just say that I’d be writing this from the deck of a solar-powered yacht floating on Lake Como, while George Clooney squeezed a couple of organic oranges with his bare, masculine hands to sate my thirst.
You may not always hear it spoken aloud, but one word always dances at the end of that phrase: but. As in, “I’ve always wanted to go green, but.” But what, exactly?
But I have no time.
But I don’t know how to.
But I’m easily overwhelmed.
But I don’t want to appear like a hippie.
But I’m afraid of change.
Just because you’re concerned about the type of world we hand off to our children, however, doesn’t mean you have to live in a yurt in outer Mongolia, strap yourself to a whaling ship, or use yourself as a human shield against bulldozers that mow down old-growth trees. In fact, you’re probably already doing your part to save the planet, even if you don’t know it.
Unclutterers are tree-huggers
A person who abhors clutter — and knows that it saps energy and detracts from the more important things in life — already has the first and most important of the three “R”s down pat. Reducing your personal consumption also reduces the amount of “stuff” you’re contributing to the waste stream. Without all that excess baggage, maybe you won’t need to move into a power-guzzling McMansion to house your worldly goods.
If you’ve launched your own personal blood feud against junk mail, you’re helping save some of the 100 million trees that are felled to produce the 100 billion pieces of junk mail that Americans receive every year, as well as the equivalent of 3.7 million cars in global-warming carbon emissions.
Getting your paper clutter under control by viewing and paying your bills online isn’t insignificant either. If all U.S. households swore off paper bills, the reduction in paper would save 16.5 million trees a year.
Here are some other ways you can unclutter your life, while giving the environment a fighting chance to support life on earth:
- Get your money’s worth. By choosing quality over quantity, as well as longevity over novelty, we’ll not only be able to spend more for something that is better-constructed and long-lived, but our purchasing habits will also have less of an impact on the environment.
- Live virtually. Avoid creating something in meatspace if you have a digital option available. You can upload files instead of burning them to discs for distribution, for instance, or use tree-free online faxing. With electronic signatures, you can even send contracts through the digital ether, without having to print a thing.
- Be Zen. As previous guest poster Zen Habits wisely preaches, less is more. To live minimally means being satisfied with just meeting your essential needs — everything else is just “stuff.” In other words, simplify, simplify, simplify.
- Just say no. While this mantra applies to accumulating items we want but don’t need, it’s the little things that we need to be aware of, as well. Most of us ask for a printed confirmation, almost by rote, for example, when we withdraw money from an ATM, or purchase a ticket from a subway machine. More often than not, the receipt vanishes into the folds of our already-overstuffed wallets. Multiply that by 8 billion, which is how many ATM transactions happen each year in America, and that’s a lot of unnecessary waste. Review your ATM transaction at your bank’s Web site, instead.
- Get rid of it. Taking inventory of your possessions, and culling what you don’t need by selling or donating those various odds and ends, means that someone else gets to make use of something that was only collecting dust at your home. And, because the recipient of your preloved goods purchased used, no new resources were expended to create something entirely new.
How has uncluttering and green living intersected in your daily living? Feel free to expound in the comments below.
Posted by Erin on Mar 19, 2008 |
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Unitasker Wednesday: Incredibly specific containers
If you or your loved one’s lunch keeps getting smashed or damaged on a regular basis, you may (not) want to invest in some plastic containers to protect the contents. But how on earth do you remember what is in each container? Well, that’s where these brand-specific containers come in handy. Do you need your Twinkies protected? No problem. What about your Nutri-Grain bar? Tired of smashing it when you are on the go? Then go ahead and get yourself a Nutri-Grain container. They come in different colors so you know exactly what flavor you are about to enjoy.
The Tater Tubs may haunt you in your dreams with their googly eyes, but you’ll never experience “crumblage” when enjoying your lunch time potato chips. It is nearly impossible for anyone to find a container to fit those crazy shaped Fudge Striped cookies, but now your prayers have been answered. A perfectly round container is available for you and it looks just like one of those Keebler endorsed cookies! You’ll never be caught off guard again.
Don’t even think about sticking a non-Keebler product into one of these — Keebler elves do not mess around when it comes to lunch time treats.
(I shudder to think of the space it would take to actually store all of these containers!)
**Unitasker Wednesday posts humorously poke fun at the single-use items that manage to find their way into our homes.
Posted by Matt on Mar 19, 2008 |
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Bringing in a pro: What professional organizers really want you to know
I want to start by saying that we are on the verge of launching the Real Simple widget on our site so that we won’t have to write these notifications as separate posts any longer. Look for it to go live tomorrow or Thursday. The amazing community manager at Real Simple set up a personal RSS feed for my writing, which makes the programming a breeze now. Three cheers for Melissa! And, three cheers for the awesome programmers at Unclutterer who are creating the widget. Woo hoo!
Today on Real Simple is an insider’s look at hiring a professional organizer. I had the joy of interviewing some power houses in the professional organizing community for this piece, and was blown away by their advice. It is very educational and I recommend you give it a look:
Should You Hire a Professional Organizer?
photo: Tara Striano
Posted by Erin on Mar 18, 2008 |
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Living while at work: Organizing kitchen utensils in your desk drawer
I’ve always kept plastic forks and spoons in my desk, along with napkins and ground pepper, for those frequent times I need them. Whether it be yogurt from home or a bland soup from a restaurant, I always wind up having a need for some kitchen basics while I’m at work. I’m not someone who lives at work, but I do live while at work.
My problem was that I didn’t think it was very sanitary to toss some random kitchen utensils in a junk drawer of my desk. It also wasn’t very efficient because I always had to dig through the drawer to find what I needed. So I took a trip to The Container Store to find a solution.
I found these modular interlocking kitchen drawer organizers and put them to use the next day. I bought four of the same size – for knives, forks, soup spoons, and regular spoons – and snapped them together. They fit perfectly in my drawer. I even had room for napkins and a roll of paper towels.
I prefer the modular interlocking organizers because desk drawers all vary in size, and moving desks is common in office spaces. Being at work doesn’t mean that you stop living, and a drawer set aside for kitchen items isn’t a poor use of space — especially if its organized.
Posted by Teri on Mar 18, 2008 |
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Simplify text messaging with Jott
Let me start off by stating that I do not text. My wife has recently become accustomed to text messaging and my days of not texting are most likely numbered. My eventual entrance into the text messaging world will most likely involve Jott.
Jott is a hands free mobile e-mail service that allows users to send a text/e-mail to a contact by simply calling the Jott service and dictating a message. Jott then sends an e-mail and a text to the contact that you requested. No need to fiddle around with learning how to type on those annoying little keypads. There is a simple How-to page available on Jott’s website. You can also send reminders to yourself and hit your Twitter account with updates if that is your cup of tea.
There are also quite a few third party web services that can be used via Jott. Among those is I Want Sandy. This service allows you to call in reminders, appointments, to-dos, contacts, notes – even look things up – right from your phone using just your voice.
Hand held devices are becoming more common, and services like Jott are bringing us one-step closer to a paper-less world. If Jott isn’t the exact service for you, check out their competitors before discounting the concept completely.
Posted by Matt on Mar 18, 2008 |
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Month of Sharing: Unclutterer all over the internet!
We hope that you enjoyed Elysa from GenPink’s earlier guest post on our site. Now, head on over to GenPink to read our guest post! Elysa is doing an amazing ABCs project (we’re “O” for “Organizing”) with 26 guest writers, and it has been great fun watching each letter unfold. So stop making excuses and get on over there! Go on, go!
Don’t let your web surfing stop there, however. Unclutterer also appears today on Planet Green’s website discussing environmentally friendly alternatives to sticky notes. Planet Green will have a guest post on our site on Wednesday, so be sure to stay tuned for it.
And, while I still have your attention, here are a few more random items:
- Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
- Check out this article from the Wall Street Journal on why the size of your computer monitor affects your productivity.
- Read about the Ultimate Unclutterer here. He’s selling everything in his life — house, job, belongings, friendships — on ebay after a bad divorce. He wants to start over with no ties to his past.
- Happy birthday to my sister-in-law referenced in the GenPink article!
Posted by Erin on Mar 17, 2008 |
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Possessed by possessions
We’ve had several requests to give the documentary Possessed some notice. It is a fascinating look into four different individuals and their struggles with hoarding. If you have 20 minutes to spare, take the time to watch this short documentary. Hoarding is a terrible psychological affliction that can render someone trapped in a extremely cluttered home. Martin Hampton does a great job in documenting the extremes of these four individuals.
To see these people talking about their problem puts a personal perspective on this condition. The subjects of this documentary obviously know they have a problem, but find themselves powerless to overcome their addiction to accumulation.
For more on hoarding, here is an article that was recently featured on MSNBC.
Posted by Matt on Mar 17, 2008 |
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Unclutter your calendar and your social life — From GenPink
I left my 20s years ago, but that doesn’t mean I turned my back on those currently laying claim to that generation. There are many talented, up and coming writers who are producing quality content, and many of them call the internet home. One of these gifted writers is Elysa at GenPink. As part of our March month of sharing, I have asked her to be a guest columnist today. Please give her a warm welcome and check out her wonderful website afterward.
As a twentysomething, I am quite connected to the technology world. I have an iPhone, an iPod and two computers. Consequently, I keep most of my life organized with one or more of these devices.
Recently, my former college roommates and I were trying to set a date for our next gathering. We sent numerous e-mails back and forth debating on a date that would work for the five of us to get together. I never knew how complicated it would be to coordinate five people’s schedules. As soon as we’d find one date that worked for four of us, the fifth one would write back and say “Oh, yeah, my husband has such and such.”
One night while talking to one of my former roommates, the solution came to me. We should resort to one of my favorite resources in the world – Google. I am convinced that the internet (more specifically, Google) can solve all the world’s problems.
How can Google help five very busy girls make time for each other? The answer is quite simple — Google Calendar.
We each set up a Google calendar and shared it with each other. In a moment, I can now look and see what date is free for all of us. I also now know when my teacher friends have spring break, and I have no excuse to forget my friend’s husband’s birthday.
I also think this is a great solution for extended families to keep birthday’s organized and to schedule family reunions. The best part is I can set my calendar to send me text messages or e-mail me reminders for events.
After we set a date, our goal was to find a place that would work for all of us. Fortunately, I already knew how the internet could solve this dilemma for us. Give Google Calendar a try and see if it can help unclutter your calendar and social life.
Posted by Erin on Mar 17, 2008 |
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A year ago on Unclutterer
- Cut down junk mail
An easy way to get rid of junk mail is to avoid it altogether. Here’s how to get off the mailing lists for credit card offers and other junk mailings.
Posted by PJ on Mar 15, 2008 |
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Organize and follow tracking numbers with TrackMyShipments.com
I’m a fan of ebay. In the past three weeks, my husband and I have sold a guitar, a mandolin, and bought two books through the site. This type of traffic is normal for us, since we are always looking to get rid of things we don’t use.
Additionally, we buy our coffee online and I’ll trade yarn frequently with other Ravelry users. We know our UPS and USPS carriers well.
Tracking shipping numbers is a regular part of our lives. And, thanks to reader ABennett27 who sent us a link through del.icio.us, we now know of a service that helps you store shipment orders in one, organized place and observe their statuses. The service is TrackMyShipments.com. It looks very helpful, so I thought I would pass it along to you:
Forward all your ‘We Have Shipped Your Order’ emails to track@trackmyshipments.com and TrackMyShipments automatically tracks your shipments with all the major shipping companies and keeps you up to date (via email and/or SMS text messages) on each shipment’s status, location and any delays.
In addition to the e-mail service, you also can manually enter your tracking numbers. So, if you’re an avid unclutterer through ebay, TrackMyShipments.com might be a worthwhile service for you.
Posted by Erin on Mar 15, 2008 |
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Stop printing webpages and start using del.icio.us
In January, when we wrote the post Share your links with Unclutterer, we made the incorrect assumption that everyone knew about del.icio.us and how to use it. Since that time, we have received numerous e-mails asking us to explain what del.icio.us is and how to use it.
Del.icio.us is a website that allows you to:
Keep links to your favorite articles, blogs, music, reviews, recipes, and more, and access them from any computer on the web. Share favorites with friends, family, coworkers, and the del.icio.us community. [And] Discover new things. Everything on del.icio.us is someone’s favorite — they’ve already done the work of finding it. So del.icio.us is full of bookmarks about technology, entertainment, useful information, and more.
Most importantly, del.icio.us takes away the need to print out websites you’re afraid you’ll never find again. Instead of printing and then filing the paper, just save the URL to your del.icio.us folder and tag it so that you’ll easily find the website again.
To set up a del.icio.us account, go to the How to get started with del.icio.us page and follow the instructions. Then, if you come across a site that you think would be great for an Unclutterer post or Unitasker Wednesday column, mark it “for:unclutterer” (without the quotes). We’ll receive a copy of the link and your description to view.
Posted by Erin on Mar 14, 2008 |
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Workspace of the Week: All about zen
This week’s Workspace of the Week is Normaniac’s zen office:
Filling his space with greenery and glass, Normaniac’s office is tranquil, free of clutter, and awe-inspiring. This office looks like a place where it would be easy to keep your mind focused on the big picture and calmly move from task to task. A space like this makes working from home a very appealing option.
Want to have your own workspace featured in Workspace of the Week? Submit a picture to the Unclutterer flickr pool. Check it out because we have a nice little community brewing there. Also, don’t forget that workspaces aren’t just desks. If you’re a cook, it’s a kitchen; if you’re a carpenter, it’s your workbench.
Posted by Erin on Mar 14, 2008 |
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‘Tips to maintain focus while you organize’ over on Real Simple
We are still working out the kinks with the permanent Real Simple badge in the middle column of our site. The amazing Unclutterer programmers keep saying things like “not enough data in the RSS feed to do what you want” and “can’t sparse by author name” and “Erin, your idea is crazy” and a number of other phrases I have chosen not to comprehend. So, until we get everything ironed out, I present to you a good ol’ fashion post.
If you haven’t checked them out this week, please head over to RealSimple.com for the following articles:
You also can subscribe to the RSS feed here.
Posted by Erin on Mar 13, 2008 |
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Managing Computer File Clutter
Frequent readers of this site know about all the most clutter-prone areas of the home. Closets, flat surfaces, and spare bedrooms are magnets for clutter, but there’s another area that doesn’t get quite as much attention — your computer. Additional digital storage space is clutter-enablingly cheap these days, and it’s easy to thoughtlessly drag ‘n drop your way to a mess of disorganization. Nobody will ever know about it except you, but it can be costly in terms of productivity, and sanity.
If this sounds like you, I’ve got a few tips that will help. I use a Mac, but these tips will work for you on any modern operating system.
Digital Bankruptcy
If things are really out of control, start over. Take all those random files strewn about your desktop and My Documents folder, and put them all in a folder called Archive. It’s a good way to get a fresh start without losing any data. The files are still there if you need them, but they’re out of the way.
“Delete”: The Ultimate Productivity Tool
The internet revolutionized the way that data moves in the world, and made an incredible amount of information available just a mouse click away. Resist the temptation to archive all of it on your computer. If you found out that a friend was saving every newspaper they bought for the last 25 years, you’d be very worried. Just because the bits on your laptop aren’t going to squeeze you out of your living room, doesn’t mean they can’t sap your productivity. Delete anything that you don’t have a good reason for keeping, and cannot find somewhere else if you need it again.
If you find that you download a lot of articles and reference materials that you need to keep, there are some really great personal database programs that will help you keep those organized (more on that in a couple weeks).
If you’re maintaining your own personal archive of LOLcats, well I finx we can’t halp U, kthxbai.
Folders That Mirror Your Life
There are files that you cannot delete. I typically save files that I create, pay software that isn’t readily available for download, and information sent to me by clients. In addition to work, I have a number of hobbies that generate large amounts of digital data. I’m into photography and songwriting, and those image and audio files take up a lot of space. It’s important to me that I be able to find what I’m looking for when I need it.
Because I have one computer for work and personal use, I actually divide my Documents directory into WORK and PERSONAL.
WORK contains a file for each client, and each client folder contains a RESOURCES, INCUBATOR and PROJECTS folder. INCUBATOR is for ideas that don’t fit into a particular project. Each folder under PROJECTS is descriptively named and contains RESOURCES, WORKING FILES, and FINAL.
HOME is structured similarly, but rather than a folder for each client, it contains a folder for each interest. But each interest is similarly divided into INCUBATOR and PROJECTS, and so forth. There are a few exceptions, such as finances, that don’t really follow my project-centric model, but for the most part it works for me.
Of course, no organization system is going to be a perfect fit for everyone. All that matters is that you find a folder structure that fits well with your life.
Use Descriptive File Names
If you follow only one of my suggestions, follow this one. The days of eight character file name limits are a distant memory, but I see computers these days filled with nested UNTITLED diretories full of vaguely named NEW DOCUMENTs. If you need a file badly enough to save it, give it a name you’ll remember later. Some people find it useful to include the date, their name (if the file is intended for someone else), or other “meta” data in addition to a descriptive file name. Include whatever will help you identify the file when you need it again.
Temporary Folders
Most of the files that I see cluttering up people’s computers are files that should have been temporary in nature. Let’s say that a coworker sends you a Word document that you need to make some changes to, then send back. You’re only going to use the file for a short time, and you have good reasons to keep it until your coworker has accepted the changes, but after that it should be deleted. Your computer’s operating system has a way of dealing with these types of files, and so should you.
I keep a file in my user directory called TEMPORARY that contains folders named for each week. For example 20080303 contains files for the week that I didn’t immediately file away or delete. At the end of the week I go through the folder and file, delete, or leave each of the files in the folder. If I don’t delete or move everything, I have to repeat the process on that same folder next week. If I do clear everything, I can delete the folder. If I have more than 4 weeks or so of folders in my TEMPORARY folder, I need to reconsider why I’m temporarily keeping it for so long.
Think of this process of churning much like hanging your clothes with the hangers facing out, and putting clothes back with the hangers facing in. It’s a reality check on what you really need to keep.
Shortcuts
Shortcuts, or Aliases, are one of the most useful, yet underused, organizational tools for an uncluttered computer. they’re like magic portals that allow your files to break free from the constraints of spacetime and exist in multiple places simultaneously. Ok, not quite. But they’re tremendously useful. Suppose I have a project that requires the use of a certain variation of a client’s logo. Of course, I have a copy of all the client’s logo treatments in the client’s RESOURCES directory. I could copy the logo from the client RESOURCES directory to the project RESOURCES directory, but then if a change is made, I have to remember to update two files. Instead, I create a shortcut for the logo file and place that shortcut in the projects RESOURCES directory instead. The same file is now effectively in two places at once.
I hope you find these tips useful in your mission to make your digital life as uncluttered as the rest of your life. As always, if you have tips of your own, please post a comment!
Posted by Brian on Mar 13, 2008 |
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A year ago on Unclutterer
- A place for everything. Seriously.
Without organization, you can’t be productive. As trite as it sounds, organization is having a place for everything and making sure everything is in its place.
Posted by PJ on Mar 13, 2008 |
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Bluelounge’s SpaceStation helps with cable clutter
Cable clutter is a scourge all to its own. The tops and back sides of desks are usually wrapped in a web of cables and wires. Here at Unclutterer we have a whole category dedicated to this pesky problem.
Bluelounge has a new product which tackles the wires and cables on the top of your desk. The SpaceStation creates a nice tidy area to confine this desk top mess. From Bluelounge:
Hovering just 5mm above the desk, cords are free to enter or exit the hub at any point – on the side to connect a scanner, the front for an iPod, the back for a laptop or camera. An internal 4-port USB 2.0 hub will keep all peripherals connected. One USB plug exits the station right where needed to connect a laptop. Just tip the front of the SpaceStation up to access the hub and cords.
And here are before-and-after photos to see what the SpaceStation can do for your workspace:
Before:
After:
Posted by Matt on Mar 13, 2008 |
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Neat freak or just an unclutterer?
MSNBC has an article up on their site that examines the extremes of organization and cleanliness. While just about anything can be taken to an extreme, the article questions how much is too much when it comes to organization and decluttering. Obviously, obsessive compulsive disorders can factor into making ones life miserable. Hoarding and cleaning, while at opposite ends of the spectrum, can have a similar affect on one’s life.Our very own editor-in-chief, Erin Doland, has a few quotes in the piece and sheds some light on her personal transformation:
Erin Doland, editor-in-chief of the blog Unclutterer and a contributor to RealSimple.com, was once an amateur hoarder, saving everything from college T-shirts to ticket stubs, until her husband laid down the law. “I started purging, and it felt so good I kept going,” she recalls. “I went from one extreme to the other. Everything went.”
Here at Unclutterer we try and find a balance and process to keeping your living space organized and clutter free. I certainly don’t consider myself a neatnik, but I do abhor bringing items into my home just for the sake of a “good deal.” Go ahead and read the article and come back here to tell us if you think that being organized is getting a bad rap.
Posted by Matt on Mar 12, 2008 |
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Creating a minimalist workspace — from Zen Habits
We are delighted to have Leo Babauta of Zen Habits as a guest columnist today. Please give him a warm welcome and check out his awe-inspiring website afterward. We thank Leo for being a part of our month of sharing.
How minimalist is your workspace? An uncluttered workspace is a thing of beauty.
I write a lot about minimalism on Zen Habits, including guides to creating a minimalist home, minimalist housework, and beating clutter entropy.
On Unclutterer, my favorite feature is the Workspace of the Week, with its cool setups.
Today, I thought I’d share my pretty minimalist workspace, and share some thoughts on how to go about creating one of your own.
What’s a minimalist workspace?
That question will have different answers for each person. There can be no single definition. The ultimate minimalist workspace, I think, would be to have no desk or papers or computer or anything of the kind — just yourself. You’d think, and talk, and maybe sit on the floor.
Of course, that won’t work for most of us, so it’s more useful to look at our minimum requirements, and focus on creating a workspace that addresses these essentials and nothing more.
So the first step is for you to consider your requirements for working, and what’s essential to your workflow. If possible, streamline and simplify that workflow and those requirements. Then, once you’ve got that down to a minimum, see what the minimum setup would be for those essentials and your workflow. Eliminate everything unnecessary.
What are your requirements?
It’s interesting to note that what you think your requirements are might not be the minimum. They might just be what you’re used to doing.
Taking myself as an example: I used to work with tons of paper, files, sticky notes, and all the usual office tools (pens, pencils, notebooks, pads, stapler, hole puncher, whiteout, calendar, personal organizer, etc.). But then I realized that it’s possible to work without paper, and I’ve eliminated the need for all that stuff. In fact, as I’ve eliminated paper, I’ve eliminated the need for drawers.
Now, you might not have that luxury, and I’m not saying you need to go that extreme. Your needs may be different than mine — but the point is to see if it’s possible to change the way you work, so that you still get the essentials done, without all the same requirements. It’s worth some thought at least — and if you make changes, as I did, you might find that changing things in small increments is better. I didn’t do away with paper altogether. I did it in steps, eliminating different needs for paper one at a time.
My Minimalist Setup
Basically, I have an iMac and a table. No need for papers, files, drawers, other tools.
I work from home these days, and I do everything online. I do have a phone (elsewhere in my house, so it doesn’t disturb me) and a cell phone (also elsewhere), but I don’t have a PDA, an iPod, a printer (though my wife has ordered one for her needs), a scanner, a fax machine, or anything like that. I don’t print anything and I don’t use fax (an outdated technology).
On my computer, I mostly just use Firefox, as I do nearly everything online. I also use text programs for writing (TextEdit, WriteRoom mostly) and a couple other utilities such as CyberDuck for uploading files, Quicksilver for everything, and GIMP for photo editing.
All my organizing needs are taken care of on the computer: Address Book, Gmail, text files for to-do lists and errands and ideas and projects, Gcal for scheduling.
Tips for Creating Your Own Minimalist Workspace
You won’t need to have my setup, but once you’ve determined your minimum needs, here are some tips for making your workspace as minimalist as possible. Not all tips will work for you, so pick and choose which ones will work best for your workflow.
- Have one inbox. If paper is a part of your life, keep an inbox tray on top of your desk and make sure ALL papers, including phone messages and sticky notes, go into this tray. You might have to train your co-workers if they’re not already used to this. Don’t leave papers scattered all over your desk, unless you’re actually working on them at this moment. You might also have a “working file” folder for papers you’re working on but not at this moment, but put this working file in a drawer, so that it’s out of the way. Clear out your inbox each day — nothing should go back in there after you process them. It’s not a storage bin, but an inbox. Read more on clearing your inbox.
- Clear your desktop. Aside from your computer, your inbox tray, your phone, and maybe a nice photo of a loved one, there should be nothing on top of your desk. No papers (again, unless you’re working on them), no notes, no stapler or pens or other junk. Clear as much of it off as humanly possible. If you want to include a couple other essentials, you should, but be sure they absolutely must be there. Keep it as clear as possible, as a clear desk is a relaxing workspace.
- Get rid of knick-knacks. This goes with the above item, but many people don’t even think about all the little trinkets they have on top of their desk. They’re usually unnecessary. Toss ‘em!
- Clear the walls. Many people have all kinds of stuff posted on their walls. It creates visual clutter. Get them off your walls. If it’s a reference guide, put it on your computer and set up a hotkey so you can call the guide up with a keystroke when needed.
- Clear your computer desktop. Many people also have tons of icons on their computer desktop. It’s the same principle as a real desktop — clear it of everything unnecessary, so you can have a nice simple workspace. Keeping icons on your desktop is usually inefficient. It’s hard to find them among a jumble of files. If they’re necessary to open many times a day, file them away and use a hotkey to call them up. Quicksilver for Mac or Autohotkey for Windows are my favorite programs for this.
- Re-examine your paper needs. I started doing this a little over a year ago, and one by one, I realized I could eliminate my different needs for paper. I stopped printing stuff out to read (duh!) and just kept it on the computer. Yeah, that’s obvious. I also stopped keeping paper copies of files I had on the computer, as they just took up more space. Also fairly obvious, perhaps. I also asked people to stop faxing me stuff, and to email it instead. That should be obvious, but I think a lot of people ignore this step. I also asked people to stop sending me paper memos, and use email instead. Stop circulating documents by paper. I stopped bills and notices coming in by paper that I could get online. I stopped catalogs and newsletters coming in by mail. I still get some mail, but for the most part I toss it. You might not be able to eliminate paper, but you can probably reduce it.
- Eliminate unnecessary tools. Think about each tool you have in your desk, in your work area, and even in your office. Do you need a stapler and hole puncher? Do you need all those pens? Do you really need a fax machine? Or a scanner? You might not have control over all these types of tools, but if you do, eliminate the ones you don’t really need, maybe one at a time.
- Simplify your filing. As mentioned above, it’s unnecessary to keep paper copies of files you have on your computer or can access online. Back stuff up online if you’re worried about losing them. Having stuff digitally makes them searchable, which is much better than filing. Just archive, and search when necessary. If you do need paper files, keep them alphabetically and file immediately, so that you don’t have a huge “to be filed” pile. Once every few months, weed out unnecessary files.
- Go through each drawer. One drawer at a time, take out all the contents and eliminate everything you don’t need. It’s much nicer to use drawers if you can open them and see order. Have a designated spot for each item and make sure to put those items back in that spot immediately, every time.
- Use a minimalisk desk. As mentioned above, I just use a table, as I don’t need drawers. While you might not want to go to that extreme, you can find desks without too many drawers or contraptions or designs. Simple as possible is best.
- Clear the floor. There should be nothing on your floor but your desk and chair. No files, no boxes. Keep it clear!
Posted by Erin on Mar 12, 2008 |
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