Unclutter

  • Posted by Shaun on September 6th, 2007 filed in House
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For about a month I’ve been in unclutter mode. Maybe it is the daily bombardment of posts from Lifehacker.com or maybe what I’ve been reading has made a good impression, but I’m definitely doing what I can to keep things uncluttered as possible.

First and foremost are my computers. My new mantra is to keep things as clear and efficient as possible.

  • No icons or files on the desktop. I even removed the default Windows icons such as My Computer and Recycle Bin.
  • I use Launchy to launch applications. This is by far the most efficient way of starting applications. No clicking an icon. Just hit Alt-Space and type the name of the application. Launchy indexes your star menu and is smart enough to learn what you use most often and usually displays the correct app before you type much of the name.
  • Create icons for all my commonly used websites, folders and documents. This is mostly for work, but even at home I have certain folders that I’m in all the time. Keeping shortcuts to each means I can get to them quickly using Launchy. It saves a couple clicks of the mouse.
  • Regularly remove the crap using CCleaner. This one is great. It takes care of removing of temporary files and logs as well as cleaning out unused and/or unreferenced keys in the Windows registry. The purpose of the application is to keep Windows running efficient, but I think that even if performance doesn’t improve just having the crap removed is enough.
  • Remove any applications that I don’t use. This is a biggie for me since I’m always installing something to try it out. Removing them becomes a chore, but with CCleaner things are better. The only applications that I keep installed are ones that I use all the time and
  • Keeping my Windows crappy file system in check by defragging often. I’ve found that JkDefrag does an excellent job. It is a GNU project and it uses the Windows Defrag API more effectively than the Windows Defrag utility. Not to mention you can defrag you disk using a screensaver or schedule the defagmentation sessions.
  • At home I’m consolidating all my files from three computers down to one. This helps out tremendously when trying to find something I need in a timely fashion. I keep most on a WD MyBook.
  • At home and at work I keep all my files in the correct place. At work that means keeping project files on the shared drive. At home that means keeping my important documents together in MyDocuments and my development stuff in a specific folder. Everything else are application binaries.

Next up for a change was how I was using my computer at work and at home.

  • To keep track of my todo list I’ve been testing out Remember The Milk and Task Coach. I like RTM, but seeing as it is online and my internet usage is recorded I chose to install Task Coach, which is a offline task management tool.
  • I now keep my inbox as clean as possible. I don’t get too much email at work (at least at this job) so I attack each as it comes in. If it requires me to do something I add an entry into Task Coach and delete the email. If it is just a notification read it and delete the email. If the email has information I need, but others may use I add it to the wiki I setup and delete the email. You get the picture? Unlike others with 15+k emails in their mailbox and archive I have a handful of email that I keep only for backup purposes. Too many of them came in before I started this so they were not saved like new ones. They’ll go to the trash can in their due time.
  • I keep my gmail account clean too. Nothing sits in their for long unless it needsmy attention. Unlike work gmail keeps an archive for me so I very rarely delete email. Only mailing list emails go into the trash since they are available online. No need to keep another copy when I can google the online archives.
  • Keeping my Google Reader in check. I am a regular blog reader. At one point I subscribed to over 75 blogs. Then I realized how much crap was coming through and how ineffective I was at keeping up. So, I weeded out the less than insightful blogs and keep only a core set. It still requires my time to read through them on a daily basis, but instead of having 100+ posts at the end of the day I have only 70 to go through. I read through the good ones and get rid of the not so good ones. Anything that requires more in depth reading or something I want to keep for later gets starred and then removed from the default view. I semi-regularly go through the starred posts.
  • Bookmarks is another thing that gets out of hand. I use Google Synchronizer for FireFox to sync my work and home bookmark lists and I have a habit of bookmarking things to check out when I have some free time. Needless to say the list gets out of hand quickly seeing as my spare time is minimal, but my interest in things is high. I’ve been doing my best to keep the bookmark list cleaned out. I also don’t bookmark anything unnecessary. At work good sites make their wait to wiki. At home the link may stick around for a little bit, but not many do.

Needless to say all this changing things for efficiency has spilled over to other areas of life. I recently rearranged my work environment. Computer on the floor, ditched the speakers which never get used and got rid of all the clutter on the desktop. I had three calendars, now I have two. Rearranged the pictures so that I’m surrounded by Emelia’s smiling face. I even went through all the desk drawers and got rid of anything I don’t use or plan to use.

At home I’m going through the house looking for things to get rid of. We recently went through all the clothing and donated about 6 garbage bags worth, which sounds like a lot, but it only put a small dent in the actual mounds of clothing. We’re down to six boxes for Sue and I (I’m using probably one of the six) and three for Emelia. She’ blasts through clothing very quickly; Emelia now wears 12 month size clothes.

I’m collecting for a yard sale. The dining room table is mostly full of stuff to sell and I know mom and dad are collecting and thinning out their stuff for the impending move. No need to keep and store stuff they never use. Better to sell it for a quarter than trash it. Let somebody else pay to own your old crap.

It’s made a big impact on the way I do things. I’m more efficient at work and it feels much better to have a clean inbox and clean desk greeting me everyday rather than the piles of paper and dozens of email I was accustomed to seeing. Keeping everything clean and organized takes constant and consistent effort, but in the end the amount of effort and stress is less than before.

That being said there is still more to do. I have paperwork at home and at work to go through. I have a garage and basement to organize and clean. I also have a yard sale to run just to get rid of the crap I’ve decided I don’t need.

A few good sites relating to GTD and de-cluttering your life: