Archive for the ‘techy stuff’ Category
So the shiny new Apple iPad has been released. Sorta.
This message appears at the tail end of a video trailer from Apple describing the wonders of their new product and in an rather anticlimactic close suggests that FCC approval for the device isn’t quite in place yet. As a customer (or potential customer) this felt like a bit of a buzz kill, right after a drinking the big-gulp sized cup of Apple hype. From a business perspective however, it makes complete sense. I mean, really, is there anyone out there that believes they won’t get the approval? Sometimes it’s better to get the momentum started and worry about the finishing details later.
By odd coincidence, as the announcement came through this morning, I was watching this video presentation by Seth Godin on the merits of shipping, getting your product to market, and fast. His commentary on productivity revolves around hashing out details in the beginning of your product development and then rejecting the impulses of what he calls “the lizard brain”, the little voice in our heads that resists success in the long term.
In essence, he’s describing the concept followed by countless successful companies and entrepreneurs which is, ship, then bug fix. Perfection it seems, is a long lost concept. As a company this makes you more marketable (not to mention solvent) but is it good for clients to receive an imperfect product for their hard earned dollars? Or do they even care? What do you think?
People use their computer desktop in countless different ways. My uncle uses his to store shortcuts to all of the applications that he uses regularly. Several of my friends prefer to keep theirs entirely barren, preferring instead to work out of folders buried somewhere deep in the computer. I had a manager once that insisted all of the files and folders on my computer should be arranged alphabetically..
Personally, I’ve always treated the desktop as a work area and tend to group files contextually or by project. Having groups of files directly in view helps me keep tabs on what I’m trying to accomplish and keeping them grouped logically significantly simplifies the task of finding them when you need them.
The Achilles heel of this system though is when things get busy and I stop organizing my files.. This is when I know I’ve taken on too many projects. If you experience the same thing, this article is for you..
The last several days have been complete and utter bedlam for me, and this evening I realized why. Upon a quick review of my desktop I found this unmitigated disaster; full of files and snippets of partially completed and stalled projects. In a word, unmanageable.
So, what to do about this?
The obvious answer is, finish a few projects. But what if this isn’t possible?
- Start by deleting any unnecessary files
- File anything that you don’t need immediate access to in your ‘documents’ folder
- Organize the remaining files in to logical groups. This will be different for every person, do what works best for you whether it be alphabetical, chronological or by color of icon.
- Create a desktop background in an image editing program like PC Paint or Adobe Photoshop (or Pixlr) with dividers between which you’ll store your working files and folders. I use smaller boxes to limit the number of files I can store for a particular project (thus limiting the amount of unfinished work I will allow for each). Label each box to enforce a place for everything and don’t forget to leave yourself a sandbox where you can place files throughout the day while you’re dealing with them.. I try to ensure that my sandbox is empty at the end of the day to make my life easier the next morning!
On occasion, if I know I’ve got a few ongoing projects that need to be organized I’ll take one additional step that helps keep me in check.
A few additional notes:
- To find the size of your desktop
- In Windows: right-click the desktop and choose properties and click the settings tab to see the screen resolution
- On a Mac: Open the displays preferences panel and click the display tab to find the resolution for your current monitor
- Consider creating multiple desktop arrangements for different groups of tasks or additional screens
I’d love to hear your thoughts! How do you organize your desktop, and does this system work for you?
