Physical and Digital Work Environments

[hans]

Moving this from Dewey Decimal System to its own topic. Previously:

Dewey Decimal system

actually, in all seriousness, I want that, but for the opposite reason. I dream of every digital file having a physical representation that I can order with my hands, on a shelf. Not every file, of course, but the entrypoint to each fileset. So when I take a sheet of paper off the shelf and lay it on my desk, an RFID sensor (or overhead camera) identifies it and loads the relevant files on my monitor. Just think, never navigate directory structures with keyboard and mouse ever again. I’d gladly …

Dewey Decimal system

This is a really interesting idea … use the JD ID as this anchor. Have it on the paper thing, scan it, computer reconfigures to present that JDex entry and file system and whatever else you last had open. That’d be really cool.

Dewey Decimal system

So for labeling the documents, a label printer and QR code generator. This is the easy bit. Maybe pasting the label on the back of each document? For reading the label a small Raspberry Pi with its camera? If we want it to be cutesy, maybe even it’s all integrated into some kind of desk paper-clipping mechanism? So the document gets anchored to the reading space on the desk and then the QR code is read at the same time? Finally, the medium difficulty bit, some kind of computer orchestration l…

Cool to hear that this inspires you too. A bit of background:

I got this idea after seeing what Dynamicland is doing ^[1]. Most pertinent, their comuting environment Realtalk which does exactly this bridge between digital information and papers on the desk^[2]. Made me realize that files and folders and text editors and code may be a powerful metaphor, but are by no means the only one, and other ones may be much more liberating.

They, however, seem to want to build a complete new culture to go along with it, before releasing anything to the world. Which I can understand – don’t release your ideas before they’re ready and all – but I want some tools to fight the Internet’s grip on my mind now, rather than later.

@johnnydecimal

computer reconfigures to present that JDex entry and file system

Exactly. This also comes from your principle of ‘an ID is where you zoom in on for focused work, blocking out all the rest of the world’.

I see this as an antidote to the distraction of being forced to see everything else alongside what you’re trying to work on. I am filled with a sense of calm when I imagine a bookshelf with nicely labelled folders representing all the things I need to think about and know. As opposed to the dread I feel when trying to find them in the spacelessness of a hard drive. Even a chaotic desk with messy piles of papers feels relaxed compared to that^[3]. The computer screen somehow sucks us in.

At the same time, the computer is wonderful for being able to store many documents in a space-efficient way, and search and edit them in a time-efficient way. So one day, with the above two inputs in my mind, I had the idea: why can’t we have the best of both worlds?

@clappingcactus

So for labeling the documents, a label printer and QR code generator. This is the easy bit. …For reading the label a small Raspberry Pi with its camera? … Finally, the medium difficulty bit, some kind of computer orchestration layer that takes the RPI output and actually sets up the workspace?

Yes, exactly. And going the other way should be possible too: if you edit the document on the computer, when you’re done you can just print the new copy to replace the old one on your shelf. Or, to edit a diagram you have on the computer, pull out a fresh stretch of sketching roll, draw your diagrams, and the computer automatically saves an overhead image to the workspace.

Ideally, you’d never touch the computer except for actually doing work. So all the saving of recorded work would happen when the index document is detected as being replaced on the shelf. At this moment, the screen goes blank, allowing you to stare out the window while the kettle is boiling instead of getting sucked into your phone^[4].

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1. https://dynamicland.org. Doesn’t their homepage remind you of Johnny Decimal’s garage shelving metaphor? ↩︎

2. Realtalk - Dynamicland archive ↩︎

3. And apparently I’m not the only one for whom apparent chaos can actually work effectively: There’s magic in mess: Why you should embrace a disorderly desk | Tim Harford ↩︎

4. Not exactly the same topic, but related, Nicholas Carr on smartphone screens: Out of the landscape, into the portrait. ↩︎

[johnnydecimal (John Noble)]

@hans

I got this idea after seeing what Dynamicland is doing

Oh wow, this website! It feels really JD. Down to the library at the end! I’ll explore this more over the next few days.

@hans

I want some tools to fight the Internet’s grip on my mind now, rather than later.

I’m still trying out ideas related to my don’t-check-things New Year's Resolutions (2025). With mixed success. But here’s the latest, and I think it’s simple enough that it might stick.

The problem (or one of the major sub-problems of the more general one) is that we can bounce from task to task on our computer with the flick of a key, but that all previous work remains where it was. Like not putting your papers back in the drawer before pulling out the next thing. Apps remain open. Tabs clutter the view. Our brain remains in the mode.

In an effort to be more deliberate, I’ve set up a series of tasks. I use Things, but whatever.

Start it

What is it that you’re about to do? Actively begin, as in, don’t just start. Think about it.

My canonical example is a trivial one, but it bites me in the ass all the time and is symptomatic of all other problems. I’m about to go to the shops, but while out I need to return a library book. Most of the time I grab my bag, head out, and realise later that I didn’t bring the book. Even though it’s by the back door.

But this works just the same with computer tasks. If I’m about to write a blog post, I should make sure that this is what my computer is configured for. Is a bunch of other crap open? Am I in the mood? etc.

Do it

There are no details here. This is just a reminder that I am currently in doing one task mode. So if I wander off, hopefully this brings me back.

I have the Things widget on all my devices to remind me which state I’m in, and am still using Timery as per the stalled YouTube series.

Finish it

Don’t just stop and walk away. Tidy up. Put things away. Often this means I engage the ‘untracked time’ timer.

Make things ready for the next thing you start.

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I’d like to get to a stage where I’m only starting a task on, say, a quarter-hour. Because this strategy is helpful, but there’s nothing enforcing it. It’s still too easy to flick between tasks.

I wonder if enforcing a minimum block of 15 minutes might help. If you finish a thing early, just chill out. Or clean up! There’s always something to put away. Sort the browser tabs you opened. Switch back to a blank window. Close the apps you were using for the previous task.

Work in progress…

[johnnydecimal (John Noble)]

@hans

Dynamicland

Okay this is amazing.

[hans]

I know, eh? I was walking around in a bit of a daze for a day or two after reading that. I especially liked the application where he designs a book with a mix of a tablet computer and paper on the desk.

A similar project, undoubtedly inspired by: https://folk.computer

[hans]

I love it. I think I’m going to try this.

I immediately think of a compare/contrast with non-computer work. When doing construction or building furniture, I’ll stop to make coffee, and sit down with my cup, and then an hour later I see my cup standing there cold because something ocurred to me and I stood up to do it without thinking. This thought could have been a solution to the problem I was working on, or, if I had reached a stage of closure, some other unrelated task or idea to try out.

My point is: while it’s annoying and arguably not ideal from a creative point of view to go through the day never taking a good break, I never felt totally drained on days like that. The coffee break was an interruption to a flow state which my brain politely declined. Whereas sitting in the office all day, fighting distraction, is so exhausting. I’m sure it has to do with the environment. And lacking better computer interfaces, I think your kind of checklists might be a good approach.

One other thing occurs to me. To anticipate: there’s something about creativity and getting things done which seems to thrive on sneaking up on the things. I think Mark Forster with his methods for structured procastination is really on to something: I’ve tried those and they really worked for me (for a while).

I think is the active ingredient in his techniques is: you write down something you need to do but don’t want to, then you allow yourself to do other things first (though in a disciplined manner, it has to come from a list), and meanwhile your subconscious is processing the idea of working on that, and suddenly later in the day you find yourself doing it, because your subconscious got the message and removed the psychological blockers.

So: advanced version of working in a one-thing-at-a-time mode would recruit the subconscious like this too. Maybe by defining the active task as a meta-task that could include several ones …? Or simply by activating the checklist whenever you pick something from the list to work on?

[clappingcactus (John)]

I’m wondering what the minimal possible iteration of all of this is. Sticky notes with to-dos filed in a binder? The binder has a QR code that orchestrates the computer space when necessary? Just trying to think of something that can be hacked together in a weekend that accomplishes 99% of the point, so the work starts on a bookshelf not on a computer.

@hans

Mark Forster with his methods for structured procastination is really on to something

I usually combine that idea with Tony Hsieh’s Yesterbox. At the beginning of every morning I list 3-5 e-mails that should take an hour to get through in order of fastest to deal with to slowest. That’s my ramp up of productivity. Works for me every time.

[hans]

@clappingcactus

something that can be hacked together in a weekend that accomplishes 99% of the point, so the work starts on a bookshelf not on a computer.

Excellent!

I’m thinking one Magazine file box per Area, with a folder per Category, with a sheet of paper per ID – or probaby one or two sheets with a paragraph per ID. The table of contents of the Area is printed on the room-facing side of the magazine file, that of the Category on the front of the folder.

I think the minimum thing that would work would be to skip the QR codes for now, and have a prompt to enter the code by hand (otherwise what are we going to use to scan the QR codes – our phones ??? defeats the purpose). Even just a fuzzy finder or

frecency navigator (e.g. zoxide which I just started using today, several years too late) lets you jump to the directory simply by entering the JD ID.

Then the final trick, to maintain the illusion that the bookshelf is controlling things and not us, is to have an exit command which cleans up every window. Stackoverflow suggests that on Linux there are ways to do that which will allow confirmation/save before closing. Back to your desktop background, which should be a photo of your bookshelf to remind you to look there next

@clappingcactus

I usually combine that idea with Tony Hsieh’s Yesterbox.

Interesting. I’m envisioning something like coming to the office and having the yesterbox and your running task list lying in the printer so you can start the day offscreen …

[hans]

@hans

an exit command which cleans up every window.

I did this for linux/xfce with this script: xorg - How can I close all opening windows with a script? - Ask Ubuntu bound to ctrl-ESC.

And my distro even had a wallpaper handy of bookshelves:

The script asks for confirmation if windows have changes. Although this does NOT work with my current terminal emulator, alacritty. I haven’t decided yet if this is a bug or a feature. I have other features inside my terminal environment which save open work, so I think I’ll be ok.

Meanwhile, on my wall I have a map of my system. No space on the bookshelf yet for magazine files, so this will be my starting point for now.

And now for some ctrl-ESC … bye …

[obsidian_starcaller]

@johnnydecimal

Finish it. Don’t just stop and walk away. Tidy up. Put things away

@hans

have an exit command which cleans up every window.

These remind me of mise-en-place—the idea that every tool has a specific place and is immediately cleaned and put back after each task. Frequently resetting to a known state keeps the workspace tidy and efficient.

[johnnydecimal (John Noble)]

What an interesting analogy. Our kitchen is like this: I often wonder whether I could cook blindfold. I can lay my hand on every tool by intuition.

I never just finish breakfast and leave stuff out until lunch. Never, ever, not one time have we done that.

[hans]

There have been times when my tools were like this. When never, ever, did I leave the jobsite, or even finish a small household repair, without all my tools being back in/on their own drawer, sleeve, or nail.

My kitchen – half the time.

I’ve been pleased with my little hack described above. Yesterday I got sucked in too deep to things again. Need to regroup a bit and figure out where it’s going wrong.

[hans]

A few thoughts on the mise-en-place idea:

@johnnydecimal

Finish it. Don’t just stop and walk away. Tidy up. Put things away

@hans

have an exit command which cleans up every window.

cleaning up when you’re done something is good, but I think that

@obsidian_starcaller

Frequently resetting to a known state

is something subtly different. It’s taking a break before closure, taking a moment to reassess and let diffuse mode thinking wander over the topic and come up with new ideas. It’s making a statement to yourself that you’re disciplined, and that you trust yourself to not lose the train of thought. Makes me think of the stories of famous writers who always quit at a certain time, even if they’re in the middle of a sentence.

It also goes totally against the grain of neurochemistry when you’re in a flow state. Your brain is awash with chemicals for maintaining focus and that’s a really expensive state to be in and to switch in and out of. I wonder if people who are good at this can learn to appreciate the pain. I know this is what I find hardest.

Paul Sellers, who blogs very often about the importance of the frequent tidying up ritual, also emphasizes that he makes no excuses for the mess in his shop when he’s right in the middle of something. I guess it depends on the type of work, the task, the phase, and a lot of other things …

But I, for one, am coming slowly to the realisation that my main deficiency is organising time not space. Routine is what I need to keep organised.

Really appreciate the analogy, btw.

[johnnydecimal (John Noble)]

I’m trying this. These are Timery widgets. The first two columns start saved timers, which I’ve configured at the category- or header-level. An ID is too specific for this. These are the buckets of ‘work’ that I (currently) do.

I’ll replicate this on my iPad home screen if it proves useful. The idea is that, on realising that I’m about to context-switch, I minimise everything and just gaze at the desktop for a minute. Then switch to the next thing, and gaze at it for another minute. And then go and do it.

[Don_F]

Part of my work on better organizing the office has been purely physical. We have a large set of shelves with field tools (cameras, tape measures, flashlights, boroscopes, gloves, rubber mallets…) that are now all in identical bins (sold as DVD storage) and labeled.The fact that the ten people using the tools have been returning them to the proper bins without prompting is, to me, a sign that the layout makes sense.

Of course, this thread has me thinking I need to somehow digitize this, and that’s an urge that is probably best resisted.

[hans]

@Don_F

The fact that the ten people using the tools have been returning them to the proper bins without prompting is, to me, a sign that the layout makes sense.

hopeful – maybe when I install some properly labeled bins, I’ll also return things to them without prompting