Karl Edwards presents Working Matters

Tag: organization

  • Tip the Desk: Simplifying the Cathartic Way

    A fun gift the less organized among us should give ourselves occasionally is to “tip the desk.”

    Not only is it a lot of fun (yes, I have indulged), the combination of a clean desk and the catharsis of acting out so dramatically makes for a powerful attitude boost.

    A bit impractical you figure, until, of course, you realize that your piles could not become any less organized on the floor than they are already on top of your desk.

    After prudently removing breakable items like the computer, telephone, and paper-clip sculpture your son made for you, plant your feet firmly, hold your back erect, and lift the desk to that precise angle where the mountains of paper go careening onto the floor.

    As you set your perfectly clean desk down and settle back into your chair, you will notice that those unseemly mounds now lie conveniently out of view.

    After reacquainting yourself with its sleek, smooth surface, step around the desk, select one item from the “differently organized” piles on the floor, and return to your seat to enjoy an uncluttered, focused effort.

    On your side,

    – Karl Edwards

    The Simplify Journey

    Cheryl Smith hosts a wonderful blog over at CultureSmith. If you aren’t a regular visitor start today.

    Today’s post is in response to her “The Simplify Journey” column and call for contributions.

    Join the conversation.

  • Listen In -> Technology… When Less is More #3: Getting Organized

    Are you buried underneath your own organizational system?

    Do your categories, folders, tags, and lists confuse more than direct? When do all your organizational tools merely become your next mess?

    Organizational software can become the next mess to tend. As if you didn’t have enough to do already.

    When is it more work than help to add another tool to the tool chest?

    The answer is different for each of us depending on our working styles, relative affinity for technology, and our specific practical needs.

    Join Jorge Rosas and I as we discuss how to think about the interface between technology and getting organized.

    Listen in.

    Joining this series mid-stream? Catch up on the entire series here.

  • Loving Monday: Bright Open Spaces

    loving_mondayThe wind-swept skies jump-start my morning with their radiance. Amazing how powerfully beautiful they shine in their crystal clear bright blueness.

    My imagination wanders to images of those blistering winds sweeping through my office. Piles of clutter, stacks of minutiae, lists, books, files and forms go flying away.

    Instead of the chaotic and overwhelming blur of stuff obscuring my vision and oppressing my spirit, there is only the sleek clean lines of my desk. There is open space in which to maneuver, to pace and think, maybe even to dance.

    What if…

    Why not?

    And so I grab three boxes. One I label, “Clutter.” One, “Delegate.” And the last one I label, “Tackle.”

    And being the wind god that I am, I don’t waste time pondering over the labels, but with broad strokes of my forearm I sweep across the ravaged surfaces of my domain and watch as the piles delightfully disappear into the “Clutter” box.

    Once in a while I notice an important item go flying from being lost on my desk to possibly being lost in the “Clutter” box, and I pause.

    It is practically impossible to hold onto, the wind is pounding so hard. The gale forces of this wind god’s focused fury insist that these important items be released nonetheless. And thus the “Delegate” box gets a small portion of this office’s hoard.

    Most rarely of all, as the storm continues, is the item so important that it can neither continue being lost nor be passed on to another. And any matter so exceptional and crucial can only be placed in the “Tackle” box. There is nothing to be done with these items except to do them. Right now. Before doing anything else. Tackle them.

    Now it’s time to step into your bright and refreshingly clean workspace…

    …and dance.

    – Karl Edwards

  • Question of the Week

    What has been sitting on your desk so long, that you may as well throw it away and recover the space?