Both our physical desktop and our computer desktop can get cluttered quickly. 

Some of us function well in cluttered environments. Others of us go crazy with frustration.

I once worked with a gentleman whose office was piled from corner to corner with files, books, and rolls of construction drawings. He knew where everything was. I still feel bad for the young intern who thought she was doing him a favor by cleaning it all up one year while he was away on vacation.

In this week’s podcast discussion, web developer Jorge Rosas and I look at these two desktop worlds of wood and pixels, and do some thinking about clutter.

One of the issues in whether we can find what we need. The other issue is whether the cluttered desktops are making it difficult to focus and be productive.

In other words, can you recognize how clutter affects your ability to find things or to get work done?

Listen in.

Just now joining the conversation? Catch up on the entire series here.

I got another angry email from Fred before I had a chance to respond to his first. Why doesn’t Nancy return my calls? Did I really need to receive so much information about Kendra’s breakup?

Choosing to communicate via phone, text, email, or social network is not only a matter of personal preference, but must take into account the recipients preferences as well.

Calling someone who never answers their phone is worse than futile. 

Leaving a long phone message for a busy person is almost a form of cruelty.

A new form of clutter clouds our focus with so many communication options available to us. Not only are there more means of communication than ever before, each person’s communication preferences vary.

In this week’s podcast discussion, web developer Jorge Rosas and I discuss the problem of keeping track of this exploding world of communication options. What used to be a simple conversation can now be anything from a live video chat to an abbreviated text message.

How do you keep track of who responds best to a text message and who responds best to a personal call? How do you know which messages need to be delivered in person and which messages can be published on a public social network?

Listen in.

Just now joining the conversation? Catch up on the entire series here.

Where is that conversation thread? On my phone, my tablet, my laptop, or my desktop computer?

We are surrounded by dramatically new, increasingly fantastic, ever-changing tools. When do the new options propel us forward and when do they confuse, distract or paralyze us?

In this week’s podcast discussion, web developer Jorge Rosas and I take a look at the myriad new technology tools which are available to us.

Each new tool has the potential to create as many problems as it solves.

Some of us thrive with new tools and some of us get overwhelmed.

It wasn’t that long ago that a telephone had a single, very focused capability while a desktop computer had a different capability and purpose.

Now they are almost completely interchangeable. We can surf the web on our phones and talk to family in Asia on our computers.

For some the new tools have dramatically increased our effectiveness. For others the new tools have only increased the confusion and mess.

How many contact lists do you keep for phone numbers, email addresses, messaging user names, and residence addresses?

What are you carrying today? Your phone? Your tablet? Your laptop? All three? 

Listen in.

Just now joining the conversation? Catch up on the entire series here.

Who ever thought we’d experience such a thing as “friend clutter”?

Personal news, corporate offerings, family pictures, and myriad invitations fill our inbox, our friend stream, and our messaging windows.

Contact comes from people we want to hear from and also from many we don’t really care to know so much about.

What’s one to do?

In this week’s podcast discussion web developer Jorge Rosas and I discuss all those social networks and the new form of clutter they can create for us.

How many social networks can one person belong to and still participate in any of them in a meaningful way?

How many streams of information can be flashing before one’s eyes before one cannot see any of them? Talk about potential distractions to someone trying to focus on getting work done!

Listen in.

Just now joining the conversation? Catch up on the entire series here.

Would you believe I lost my notes for this blog post in all the clutter on my desk?

I hope not. While I definitely fall into the seriously cluttered category, such poetic irony is not my lot this morning. But it did make for a fun lead-in sentence.

Welcome to a fresh discussion on clutter.

Instead of simply declaring war on clutter as the arch enemy of all that is good and effective in the workplace, our special guest, Jorge Rosas, web developer and producer of this podcast, and I will think out loud over the next five weeks about how to figure out what level of clutter works best for you.

The possibilities for creating clutter seem to be growing logarithmically, and in order to stay effective we need to adjust quickly.

Not only do we have messy desks, we have messy computer desk tops. We have technology clutter. We have communication clutter. We have relationship clutter.

The disorienting piles in every category seem to grow out of control before we’ve even learned how to use them.

You’re going to enjoy this series. Clutter need not be our enemy. Nor is it a benign growth.

It’s an open question: is clutter your friend or your foe?

Clutter: Friend or Foe?
Week #1: Dispelling Myths About Clutter
Week #2: All Those Social Networks
Week #3: All Those Tech Tools
Week #4: All Those Communication Options
Week #5: All That Stuff On Your Desktop 

Listen in.

Just now joining the conversation? Catch up on the entire series here.