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FEATURED

Posted on 2014-09-11 by wkmeade@gmail.com
 * Where this blog came from:
   * GTD: My Start, before and after GTD story, Time Lapse - 5 years of GTD
 * Getting Started
   * Getting Started with GTD: The Buddy System
   * Getting Started with GTD 2014 in 28 Steps
   * Simple GTD Startup
   * 3×5 and Manila Folder GTD Startup
 * Restarting
   * Evernote GTD Restart and Restart GTD with Evernote Clearly
   * The Bow Wave
   * Sleep
   * How I restart GTD
 * GTD Technology
   * Number 1 reason GTDers don’t use Evernote … After Installing Evernote
   * Evernote Restart
   * Evernote v. Dropbox
   * OneNote vs. Evernote vs. Dropbox
 * Desks
   * The Perfect Desk Version 1, Version 2, Version 3, Version 4
   * No money down desk


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Posted in 3x5, Desk, DropBox, Evernote, Getting Started with GTD, GTD, GTDFlow,
GTDforStudents, GTechD, OneNote, Organizing Infrastructure, RestartingGTD,
ScanSnap | Tagged 3x5 Cards, Buddy System, Death to Clutter, Desk Makeover,
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RestartingGTD, ScanSnap, What is Getting Things Done?, What is GTD?


SEE THE THINKING

Posted on 2018-04-01 by wkmeade@gmail.com

Source:
http://www.reunitingall.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/thinking_outside_the_box.jpg


INTRODUCTION:

I’m an enthusiastic consumer of cheap book alerts from BookBub.com. One recent
$1.99 Kindle book I am thoroughly enjoying is Every Patient Tells a Story, by
Lisa Sanders MD. Sanders came to medicine by way of covering mostly medicine
news, mostly for CBS (Kindle L274).  Chapter 2 opens with a description of “the
doyenne of diagnostic dilemmas,” Dr. Faith Fitzgerald, working through a
diagnosis in front of a packed conference audience of enthusiastic MDs. When
Fitzgerald does not correctly diagnose the first case in a “stump the professor
session” Sanders asks “Aren’t you disappointed that she got it wrong?” (L660, p.
26) the responses that come back are “No way. This is about the process..” and
“I didn’t come for the answer, I came to see the thinking.”


GTD HOOK:

Seeing the thinking is the best thing about Getting Things Done, for me. The
anchors of GTD:

 * One idea, one piece of paper
 * 2 minute rule
 * Reference filing (Evernote)
 * Next actions
 * A real desk
 * Project lists
 * Mind sweeps
 * Rough organizing

All take the raw materials of thought, and pre-process them in some way.
Allowing pre-thoughts to be captured, tamed, pre-digested, and gradually fit
together. 3×5 cards capture ideas in a way that makes ideas modular.  That is,
easily connected and rearranged with other ideas. Rough organizing allows me to
explore how ideas fit together, seeing both local and global optima, in a
pre-argument form. So that by the time I am laying out arguments step by step,
with a word processor, the “under brush” of local optima, have been cleared. No
more throwing out a laboriously produced draft, because it “has gone out of
focus,” no more writer’s block.

What tricks have you found, to help you “see the thinking” in your work? Share
in comments please?

bill meade wkmeade@gmail.com


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Posted in 3x5, GTD, GTDFlow, JustForFun, Next Actions, Organizing
Infrastructure, Purpose | Tagged 3x5 Cards, Evernote, Organizing Infrastructure


AN UPDATE ON EVERNOTE, AFTER ABOUT A DECADE PART 2

Posted on 2018-03-25 by wkmeade@gmail.com


INTRODUCTION:

Evernote is great. = an anecdote. The plural of anecdote is “data” and purpose
of this article is to analyze the data on my Evernote journey, out loud and
share the impressions of value in use over time.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Member since May 2008 (119 calendar months), but did not start adding notes to
Evernote until July 2009 when I listened to the passage of GETTING THINGS DONE
covered in the previous post. So I’ve been an active user of Evernote for 105
months of the 119 months I’ve had an Evernote subscription. After my “Aha! I
should use Evernote as my reference fling system!” I broke my 14 month string of
zero captured notes. Here is a raw time series:

Here are the data by month. October to February is moving time (5 times in 10
years) where I scan like crazy to recycle paper and avoid moving atoms. Bits are
lighter. 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Notes By Month Month Max of EverNotes/Mo Average of EverNotes/Mo Count of Mon
Jan 542 260 10 Feb 906 243 10 Mar 381 192 10 Apr 369 167 10 May 600 187 11 Jun
458 152 11 Jul 637 186 11 Aug 464 174 11 Sep 364 149 11 Oct 1,260 382 11 Nov 808
206 11 Dec 1,173 487 11

In earlier years, before Evernote went to a 10 GB upload limit per month, I
could scan more documents than I could upload in a month. So for 2011 I was
waiting until the end of the month, then uploading as many documents as I could.
Evernote for a while then, allowed me to buy more uploading capacity, and I did
that several times.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Notes By Year Year Max of EverNotes/Mo Average of EverNotes/Mo Count of Mon 2009
464 147 12 2010 1,090 139 12 2011 1,260 328 12 2012 1,177 291 12 2013 238 128 12
2014 906 316 12 2015 222 150 12 2016 808 260 12 2017 1,012 284 12 2018 440 382
12

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Avg. Notes By Month and Year EverNotes/Mo Year Mon 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
2015 2016 2017 2018 Jan 68 542 276 165 113 132 238 370 440 Feb 61 71 110 88 906
216 219 194 323 Mar 53 381 184 117 179 154 255 216 Apr 27 65 118 100 369 208 154
298 May 46 37 120 132 600 138 132 290 Jun 31 68 109 167 458 124 118 140 Jul 165
20 98 637 165 139 142 149 155 Aug 464 15 50 311 94 222 57 120 234 Sep 36 18 137
174 100 364 130 242 143 Oct 10 25 1,260 1,177 238 228 157 160 183 Nov 127 212 56
163 81 127 116 808 167 Dec 80 1,090 1,173 111 84 91 222 522 1,012

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

How to track how many notes you have by Month in Evernote. Expand this image:

Trick #1 is to set the Evernote client to “Snippet view” so that you see the
monthly note totals, and Trick #2, is to type “created:YYYYMMDD” in the search
dialog. Evernote will then show you all the notes since the date you entered. So
to find all the notes since 20100101 (the example above) you type in
created:20100101 and then look at the top of the notes list, for the count for
the month. I regenerated the notes count from scratch for this post (long ago I
could count by hand!) 10 years is 120 data points. Easy.

 * Three “I likes” for Evernote:
   * The web clipper add in for web browser is great, the single most important
     thing for new Evernote users to do, is to install WebClipper.
     * But web clipper does not always work. Internet formats are ever changing
       and WebClipper is always a little behind. But web clipper alone makes
       Evernote worth the investment.
   * Evernote allows reference files to be wherever you have a computer.
   * I love using OneNote and Evernote together. This drives my friends a
     Microsoft a little crazy, but I don’t see Evernote and OneNote as
     competitors.
 * Three “I wishes” for Evernote:
   * Evernote had an imaginative simulated note metaphor.
     * If you’ve seen the HP Sprout demo videos on Youtube, they have an
       interface for graphics that is projector/touchpad based:



and I wish that Evernote had this kind of interface to manipulate notes

 * Three “I wishes” continued:
   * Evernote had a cross between data validation, and hard drive defrag.
     * I’m almost 100% PDFs stored in Evernote, and it *feels* to me after using
       Evernote after a decade, that PDFs have a tendency to multiply like
       rabbits. Cloned rabbits. Multiple copies over time.
     * I have lost notes, and figured out that the notes were lost a few times
       over the past 10 years (the “shepherd’s pie recipe debacle of 2015”), but
       mostly, I just have to trust Evernote.
   * For high quality Android clients
     * Evernote is worth having on a phone so you can capture picture notes. But
       don’t try any heavy lifting.
     * On Kindle Fires of recent vintage, Evernote android app is un-useful.
       Kindle Fires just do not have the storage capacity (even with a 128 GB
       memory card) or CPU speed to manage Evernote.

billm


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Posted in 3x5, Ever-noteCards, Evernote, GTD, GTechD, JustForFun, Musings,
OneNote, Organizing Infrastructure, Paperless, WebClipperClearly | Tagged 3x5
Cards, Abomination of Deskolation, Evernote, Evernote Web Clipper, Getting
started with getting things done


AN UPDATE ON EVERNOTE, AFTER ABOUT A DECADE PART 1

Posted on 2018-03-24 by wkmeade@gmail.com


INTRODUCTION:

I’ve been a member of Evernote since 2008/06/29, so just shy of a decade. I’m
24,407 notes into the Evernote roach motel. And I’m a pretty happy customer. The
purpose of this post is to take a look back on my Evernote use, and reflect a
little, and make some wishes for Evernote in the future. I’ll keep each post in
this series under 700 words, and then append new posts as I dredge more insights
from analyzing data and memories. My next post will update the historical
monthly note count graph. In this post, I want to start slowly with popcorn
reflections.


REFLECTIONS:

 * Very big grin as I reflect on my first exposure to Getting Things Done in
   2008, (thanks again @Ian Watson!) listening to the unabridged audible version
   of GTD.Total class that David Allen reads the audible version himself!!! I
   *still* think the best way to start GTD, is a bike ride, audio book, listen
   to the first three chapters. But I digress. Looping Evernote back into this
   story, about 10 miles into a 20 mile bike ride, where David Allen said:

“THE FILING SYSTEM IS THE FIRST THING I ASSESS BEFORE BEGINNING … IN ANYONE’S
OFFICE. AS I NOTED IN CHAPTER 2, LACK OF A GOOD GENERAL REFERENCE SYSTEM CAN BE
ONE OF THE GREATEST OBSTACLES TO IMPLEMENTING A PERSONAL MANAGEMENT SYSTEM, AND
FOR MOST OF THE EXECUTIVES I HAVE PERSONALLY COACHED, IT REPRESENTS ONE OF THE
BIGGEST OPPORTUNITIES FOR IMPROVEMENT.” P. 96 KINDLE 1619

I was crossing under a bridge on Boise’s green belt, and I had to stop audible,
stop bike riding, and soak in this sentence. “Wow!” Then, I re-listened, and
thought “Oh, Evernote should be my reference filing system!” This was the
strategic tectonic shift in my brain that got me on the rails of GTD to stay.
Evernote = GTD Reference Filing.

 * Evernote makes reference filing:
   * Stored out of sight - GTD p. 39
   * Fast, functional, and fun - GTD p.96
   * < 1 minute to file a document - GTD p.97
   * Keep general reference files at hand - GTD p.98

Best of all Evernote does not constrain office space or organization. Getting
rid of filing cabinets with Evernote and my trusty ScanSnap allows me more
degrees of freedom. For the most part, I have shifted the space taken up by
files, into a larger conference table sized desk. Evernote allows a bigger desk.
Hmmm. Interesting!

 * Least favorite Evernote attributes:
   * Chaotic product strategy. Evernote is a unicorn that kept having new horns
     grafted all around its body. Then management cut off all the grafted horns,
     and has injected growth hormone into the original horn to make Evernote a
     business horn that is bigger than a Buick.
     * Whatever, I can still do my reference filing so all the grafting and
       cutting have pretty much not affected me. I’m a little worried that the
       unicorn-holes in Evernote management will screw up reference filing. But
       Evernote is the best alternative I have seen.
   * Crappy OCRing. When I first started scanning documents into Evernote, I
     could trust that the documents would be scanned. No longer. If I must needs
     have OCR access to the document, I now scan and OCR it myself. I’ve even
     purchased a stand alone OCR package to scan my legacy Evernote documents as
     I find them (2017 was a very bad year for Evernote OCR).
     * And yes, I did ask for help from Evernote like five years ago, when
       Evernote’s tech support was in its haughty “Isolated case of bad user
       attitude” adolescence.
   * Laughable searching. Where to begin on searching in Evernote? It sucks
     because:
     * When you type in an Evernote search the computer comes to a full stop.
       Like the processor just lost all interrupt lines.
     * Then, results
     * ….. begin … to …. trickle to
     * … the screen … first telling …
     * you …
     * The number of hits … then … after … a … while showing the results.
     * If you search using the web UI, you get bonus uniformly distributed
       random 10 second delays thrown in on top of the native app craptastic
       delays.


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PERFECT GTD DESK V5.0 UPGRADE! - PART 3 BACK OF THE IMAC

Posted on 2018-03-22 by wkmeade@gmail.com


INTRODUCTION:

> GTD Desk 5.0 with 2017 iMac

The first post on this blog, 2011/12/31 GTD Desk 2.0, had as its centerfold, a
2008 24″ iMac on a monitor arm with a hideous array of accessories mounted out
of sight. Flashback:

2008 24" iMac on VESA adapter (anyone want the VESA adapter?)

The purpose of this post is to update post 001 (today’s post is 185) over seven
years, and two iMac generations.The previous two posts on GTD Desk 5.0 covered
desk resurfacing, and a sit/stand upgrade.

However, in addition to these upgrades, I have also graciously accepted Apple’s
offer to take my money for a new iMac (first full iMac refresh in 6 years!) when
I bought a 2017 iMac. It's worth mentioning that the iMac has become a popular
choice for individuals who enjoy playing casino games and exploring online
casinos, including en çok kazandıran casino siteleri. The powerful hardware and
sleek design of the iMac makes it an ideal platform for an immersive gaming
experience. The 5.0 update adds an external DVD drive on the left, with a 4 port
USB hub, a board which allows speakers to be mounted to the iMac stand, and kept
for the most part, out of sight.

Finally, on the right is a cardboard box that holds blank 3×5 cards to keep one
piece of paper, available to capture ideas. The entire iMac back, remains
a hideous melange of cables, cables, cables. But, I don’t care, I don’t have to
look at them. Out of sight, out of mind … like water. :-) 
The best innovation of GTD Desk 5.0 is mounting of speakers up behind the iMac
screen, angled down, to bounce sound off the desk almost invisibly. Step 1 bolt
the speakers to board, step 2, tack the board to the iMac stand with two wide
headed screws. 
Step 3 mount audio control on the base of the iMac, to make practical use of the
impregnable iMac stand. Alas. But, mount a sound control on the base, and you
can at least get SOME use out of it. 
Why not use the stand integrated into iMacs? Simple, because I need a desk, not
a giant monitor stand. If you don’t have your monitors floating free, you don’t
have a desk that can do rough organizing.

The final upgrade to GTD Desk 5.0 is the addition of the Jabra 510 speakerphone
to the lower left hand corner of the iMac. With Google Voice and the Jabra, I
have at long last recycled my office phone. More clear desk space!

bill meade


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Posted in Death to clutter!, Desk, Double-Sided-Sticky-Tape, Getting Started
with GTD, GTD, GTDFlow, GTechD, JustForFun, Organizing Infrastructure | Tagged
3x5 Cards, Death to Clutter, desk, Desk Makeover, Getting Things Done, gtd, GTD
Desk, GTD Desk Makeover, GTD Tech, GTechD, Just for fun, Mac, Organizing
Infrastructure


PERFECT GTD DESK V5.0 UPGRADE! - PART 2 SIT/STAND

Posted on 2018-03-07 by wkmeade@gmail.com


BEFORE:

Fixed Height Desk - (Modified) Galant Conference Table from IKEA

After: 

https://www.standdesk.co/

After starting a new job in January 2017, I discovered the awesomeness of
sit/stand desks. And since I was moving, and had the Perfect GTD Desk V4 in
pieces, I decided to replace the fixed height legs with a sit/stand mechanism.

Most important = lift capacity of the mechanism, second most important = cost.
Searching the internet while the moving van was crossing the country, I found
StandDesk which has a 350 pound lifting capacity, and cost $429 delivered. I
ordered my StandDesk from Amazon.com but alas, Amazon no longer sells StandDesk
mechanisms.

Fear not, StandDesk sells the bases now for $399 without top. The telescoping
mechanism is different, but no worries, the lift capacity increased from 350 to
400 pounds.

Why does lift capacity matter? Because I hang a 27″ 2017 iMac from an arm, iMacs
weigh one pound per diagonal inch of screen size, so the iMac with USB hub, Bose
speakers mounted hidden, along with the floor tile re-covering of the desk,
Scanner on the desk, and heavy computer building projects, make me want max lift
capacity.


AFTER AFTER:



The work surface has a minimum height of 24.5″ and a maximum height of 50″ which
is way more flexibility than my at-work sit/stand desk.

Next post will be “Perfect GTD Desk V5.0 Upgrade! - Part 3 Back of the iMac”
where I reveal how I finally moved my speakers out of sight, without impairing
sound. You can also find how to buy it with Bitcoin and the benefits of
purchasing with bitcoin. If you choose a well-known platform like eToro, you can
make your crypto purchase effortless. Check out eToro Test Kryptoszene to know
more about it. Two bolts, four screws, one piece of wood, and ZAP, sight-lines
clear.

Bill Meade

 


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Posted in Desk, Getting Started with GTD, GTD, GTechD, JustForFun, Organizing
Infrastructure | Tagged Abomination of Deskolation, Death to Clutter, desk, GTD
Desk, GTD Desk Makeover, GTD Tech, Mac, monitor arm, Organizing Infrastructure


BACK ON THE WAGON WEEKEND: 55 NEXT ACTIONS

Posted on 2018-03-05 by wkmeade@gmail.com

Tried a new format of GTD inside Evernote. A single page that has the following
sections:

Next Actions Page

Today:

 1. sssssss

This Week:

 1. yyyyyy

Eventually:

 1. uuuuuuuu

Waiting for:

 1. jjjjjjj

Shopping For:

 1. Amazon.com
    1. Thing 1
 2. Home Depot
    1. Thing 2
 3. Thrift store
    1. Thing 3 (or 2 or 1 if they have it)

Mind Sweep:

 1. Project 001
 2. Project 002
 3. Project 003

Done:

2/25/2018

 1. Next action completed 1
 2. …
 3. Next action completed 55

I’m loving this format. When I catch myself worrying, I mind sweep the worry out
of my head into the section above. When I feel a shift from writing down, I
indent next actions underneath the projects, for example:

 1. Project 001: Get Cable Internet into Church
    1. Call cable company to research whether they will want to come in under
       ground or from a power pole.
    2. Figure out the best entry point for ground or pole
    3. Meet R. and plan out where the modem/router will go.

Then once I feel like I’ve got all the next actions I need for the project, I
cut the next actions from the mind sweep, and paste them into Today or This week
or Eventually.

On the weekend of 2/25/2018 I was able to burn through 55 next actions. And I’m
really back on the wagon!

Bill Meade


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Posted in Evernote, GTD, GTDFlow, GTechD, HowTo, JustForFun, More With Less |
Tagged Evernote, Getting Things Done, Just for fun, Organizing, Organizing
Infrastructure


PERFECT GTD DESK V5.0 UPGRADE!

Posted on 2018-03-04 by wkmeade@gmail.com


BEFORE:



The converted Ikea Conference Table GTD desk has been looking ragged, ever since
I plugged the pre-cut trap door cut-out. I’ve been meaning to recover the desk
for years, but three moves in three years = no veneer. Instead of veneer, I
decided two weeks ago, I was sick of being in a GTD slump. So I went to Home
Depot and found an inexpensive peel and stick solution. Bricolage, does not look
cheap, but was = $30.


AFTER:



What I found was 1′ x 2′ sheets of flooring, peel and stick flooring. And in an
afternoon I re-covered the Ikea table with industrial stone.



I cut 3/4″ x 12″ pieces of flooring to edge band the desk, and nailed the strips
on with finishing nails to insure adhesion. The floor tile has added about 50
pounds of weight to the desk, and made it more stable. A surprise.

The flooring is enough tougher than wood, that I do not have to flinch when I
put a heavy object on the desk. I liked the look so well that I bought a second
box of tiles and have been resurfaced my side unit.


SIDE UNIT BEFORE:

The top of the side unit actually looked more like the moon surface, with
drywall screw craters where the previous configuration of organizers were
anchored.




SIDE UNIT AFTER:



The stand at top left is an inverted iMac stand, with the flooring trimmed
around the footprint. This will be a table for my label printer in the current
evolution of the perfect GTD desk.

Bill Meade


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Posted in Desk, GTD, GTechD, More With Less, No Money Down GTD, Organizing
Infrastructure | Tagged Desk Makeover, GTD Desk, GTD Desk Makeover, Organizing
Infrastructure


GTD IN OVERCOMING ADVERSITY

Posted on 2017-01-22 by wkmeade@gmail.com


INTRODUCTION:

Came across an awesome post on overcoming adversity on Hacker News
(http://news.ycombinator.com) this morning. Here is the original question:



And here is the first response up when I looked at this thread:



Wow, I wish I’d written this! I’ve touched up against the edge of saying this
before (About Fear, Scroll down to Stations, and GTD System Notable). But when
you read the above answer, and think “What would David Allen think of this?” to
my mind *ka-ching* I think “David Allen would emphatically agree!”

bill meade (from Traverse City, MI)


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started with getting things done, Just for fun, Organizing Infrastructure, What
is Getting Things Done?, What is GTD?


WHAT IS “CLEAR WORKING SPACE” ON A DESK? INVOLUNTARY CLUTTER MAKEOVER FOR
RANDSINREPOSE.COM

Posted on 2017-01-16 by wkmeade@gmail.com

Source: RandsInRepose.com’s CAVE ESSENTIALS


INTRODUCTION:

I’m still reflecting on RandsInRepose.com’s CAVE ESSENTIALS post. And while I
think Rands has the perfect idea about the job of a desk:

“A desk’s job is to build productivity, and for me, it achieves this by first
providing an immense amount of clear working space.”

I don’t think Rand’s desk meets his criteria. Why? Because:

 1. Rand’s desk is neither clear
    nor
 2. Immense


WUT?

Here is a close-up of Rand’s desk:




THE ELEMENTS OF A DESK BEING “NOT CLEAR”

Clutter is the STRATEGIC enemy desk productivity.  It is impossible to remove
all clutter, but the more you remove, the less brain energy wasted. For example,
I think facial pictures are “the queen mother” of all clutter. Why? Because our
brains are hardwired to recognize faces. Whenever a face is in front of your
eyes, part of your brain is concentrating on an infinite decode loop (“Who is
it? Who is it? …).

One of my MBA students heard me say facial pictures are the queen mother of
clutter, and moved her daughter’s picture from next to her monitor, to out of
her peripheral vision to the left. The pic is still there, she can look at the
pic whenever she wants, but she is not burning energy decoding the picture when
she’s trying to work. The result:

“I can’t believe how much less tired I feel at my desk.”

 1. Monitors are not on arms that would:
    1. Lift monitors clear of the work surface to allow the work surface to be
       used … for work!
    2. Allowing monitors to be effectively removed from the desk when one is not
       being used
       1. 
    3. or both are not being used
       1. 
    4. Allowing use of the desk space now taken up by the base of the monitor
       stands. Rands barely has space to lay down 3 3″x5″ cards, let alone to
       try to arrange cards to hot-boot a project.
       1. As my go-to hot-boot project methodology is Rough Organizing with 3×5
          cards, this is a major defect in my eyes. *Note* Rands probably does
          not organize with 3×5 cards like I do. To each brain, it’s own
          organization scheme.
    5. Allow monitors to be precisely aligned/arranged
       1. 
    6. Prevent the instinctive piling up of clutter on monitor bases
 2. Visible clutter on the desk
    1. What is visible clutter?
       1. Anything not being used to work, that is within the eyesight envelope
          of the person working.
       2. Take the above picture, and make the 0 degree line perpendicular to
          the center of each monitor, and then you can construct the full
          “clutter envelope” of a desk.
       3. I recently had a work desk that had 180 degrees of isolation when I
          was sitting. Action shot:
       4. 
       5. Here is the close up of the work surface
       6. Sitting at this desk, the walls of the alcove were just long enough to
          shield my peripheral vision from any motion. And having all motion and
          clutter removed from peripheral vision is FANTASTIC!!!
 3. Wires, wires, everywhere.
    1. Can’t tell if Rand’s mouse is wired, but the keyboard looks wired.
    2. I switched to Apple’s Magic Keyboard 2 and Magic Trackpad 2 this summer
       and both are “Meh” not great, but they are … wireless and minimally
       increase clutter.
    3. *Note* that I have a Jabra 410 talking hockey puck speaker phone which is
       wired, mounted on the lower left hand corner of my iMac.
       1. I just recently discovered Velcro with “Rogue Adhesive” which allowed
          me to get the Jabra 410 off my desk surface, and removed 1 wire’s
          worth of clutter.
    4. Pay me now, pay me later.
       There is no such thing as a free lunch. I have just as much wire clutter
       as Rands, I just insure that I can’t see the wires when I’m working. Here
       is the back of my iMac:
       
       
       
       1. 
       2. From left to right I also have a USB hub/DVD ROM driver,
       3. an extra Apple cable to charge my (Meh) Apple Keyboard and Mouse.
          Tucked in at top center under the Apple.
       4. And a 3×5 card/pen reservoir
       5. And last but not least, I have a low intensity under-counter LED light
          attached to the bottom of my imac so I can work in the dark on my
          (meh) keyboard and still see the letters.
          1. 
       6. 1.E.i. above show the clutter seen when working
          1. 


THE ELEMENTS OF A DESK NOT BEING IMMENSE

Rands’ desk looks like it is 2.5’x5′ which in inches is 30″x60″ which is not bad
by today’s standards. But … the I would change about Rands’ desk is to make it
deeper. Like a foot deeper. My IKEA conference table desk is 43″ deep, and 73″
long.  Rands likes having his couch super deep, he needs to do the same thing
with his desk.


SURFACE TO ARM RATIO

After using my IKEA conference table work surface for a year, I felt like I was
not able to use enough of the desk surface, so in true barbarian style, I slid
the work surface far forward on the support frame. This made the front overhang
off the support by 15.5″ and allowed me to cut a 15″ diameter hemisphere out of
the desk front.

I can now roll my chair all the way into the hemisphere and reach both the far
left (with my left hand) and far (with my right hand) right corners of the desk.
So the surface to arm ratio for me on this desk = 1.


MAKEOVER SUGGESTIONS FOR RANDS’ DESK

 1. Two VESA monitor arms + iMac VESA adapter
    1. If your two display devices are vesa, two $30 single monitor arms are the
       way to go. I’ve tried the dual monitor arms and they don’t allow enough
       freedom to arrange the monitors.
    2. If you like Rands, have a recent vintage iMac without VESA support, then
       you’ll need the $100 MacSales.com VESA adapter. 
       1. 
 2. Larger desk surface
    1. Deeper by at least 12″ is a must
    2. Wider would be nice too
    3. I would look for a larger desk surface at IKEA’s clearance area. There
       are lacquer panels in blood red that might do nicely while costing next
       to nothing.
    4. Try mounting the new surface over the top of the existing surface. Height
       change will not be too great. Chair goes up and life goes on.
    5. Rands probably does not need as much desk space as I do because it looks
       like 300 3×5 cards are not a big part of his thinking life.
    6. So Rands won’t need the 15″ hemisphere cut out either.
 3. Clutter (pictures, polar bear, etc.) moves left until it is out of
    peripheral vision while looking straight at the left-hand monitor.
    1. There seems to be a credenza at left, I would move that 3′ into the room
       perpendicular to the front of the desk (to get stuff out of peripheral
       vision), and put the clutter on the credenza.
       1. Idea = Minimal change and clutter eliminated.
       2. As David Allen says, you want “just enough” organization.
 4. Wireless keyboard/mouse/trackpad
    1. I switched to a track pad because I move my right wrist less on a track
       pad, and less movement has led to zero wrist pain.
 5. Twist ties or cable ties to hide all the wires from view while working at
    the 2 monitors.
 6. ScanSnap iX500 next to the printer at right.
    1. Scansnap is the digital on-ramp to
    2. Evernote to go paperless
    3. Printer is the digital off-ramp


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Posted in Clutter, Death to clutter!, Desk, Double-Sided-Sticky-Tape, GTD,
GTDFlow, GTechD, HowTo, More With Less, No Money Down GTD, Organizing
Infrastructure, Paperless, ScanSnap, What is Getting Things Done?, What is GTD |
Tagged 3x5 Cards, Death to Clutter, deathtoclutter, Desk Makeover, GTD Desk, GTD
Desk Makeover, Just for fun


OFFICE ENTELECHY

Posted on 2017-01-14 by wkmeade@gmail.com


 * INTRODUCTION

I’m mid-job-search right now. Decompressing from a 27 month stint at a startup
with 60-100 hours a week. Received an awesome job offer last week that reminded
me of a Rands In Repose post.

Scan down to “Deliberate Want” and the part about Michelle. My Michelle is
Rachel, but I digress.

Decompression allows this thing, reading for fun, that it has been a while since
I’ve engaged in. While in startup mode, I read for survival, not fun. But while
I was finding Michelle in the post above, and sending the post to Rachel, I
started reading more Rands posts.


 * DO THIS IMMEDIATELY!!!

And a post on CAVE ESSENTIALS jumped out and hit me so hard, I’m pointing you to
it. I’m pointing you to CAVE ESSENTIALS right now! Do not walk, run to CAVE
ESSENTIALS and experience organizational ambrosia via the written word.

Entelechy is a fancy way of saying “soul” Rand’s post is the soul of office
organization. The elements of Rands office entelechy:

 1. Self-pleasing environment design (red walls that nobody else can understand)
 2. Telling people “The door… it’s right there.” at criticism of your office.
 3. Your “forever desk” …
    “A desk’s job is to build productivity, and for me, it achieves this by
    first providing an immense amount of clear working space.” There is an echo
    in this blog!
 4. Deep leather couch (so deep that when you put your back against the couch
    you are in a new time zone).
 5. “Lovingly curated bookshelves” (14)

Highly recommended!!!

Bill Meade


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Posted in Getting Started with GTD, GTD, GTDFlow, HowTo, Organizing
Infrastructure, Purpose, What is Getting Things Done?, What is GTD | Tagged
desk, Desk Makeover, Getting started with getting things done, gtd, GTD Desk,
GTD Desk Makeover, GTD Flow, GTDFlow, GTechD, Organizing Infrastructure, What is
Getting Things Done?, What is GTD?


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