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…