I was inspired by a recent gradhacker post to use this break between semesters to reorganize my work space, including my computer. My files are a disaster somehow. I have a million folders, but files never seem to be where I expect them to be on my computer.
I need a better workflow. I have all these tools - like Dropbox, Evernote, Devonthink, Orchestra, Zotero, Wunderlist, and I'm sure there are more that I'm forgetting - but, for some reason, I can't seem to incorporate them into my daily workflow. I spent the weekend rewriting a book review because I couldn't find the final draft. I lost so much time because of this and I am furious. If I'm going to finish my dissertation this year (and I am), I need to do something (well, probably lots of somethings) to increase my productivity and efficiency.
I'm feeling overwhelmed by all this technology, though, which, as a digital humanist and even just as a human being, is not a good thing. I'm at the point where technology might be hindering rather than helping. I think I need to spend a few hours going through all my tools and focusing on learning them better and learning how to incorporate them into my everyday use, too. Everyone goes on and on about how great Evernote is, but I just don't see it. What am I missing? I feel like it does the same thing as all the other things I have and don't use. It must be me. I need to play around more and familiarize myself with the programs I don't use as much. Maybe I'll use them more or I can get rid of duplicates. Either way, streamlining will help. That's my goal for this week. Streamline, streamline, streamline.
An even more basic organizing plan for my winter break: Clean my office! I realize that I never, ever work there, but always on the living room couch, because it's become a dumping ground and is so cluttered that it's impossible, e.g., to vacuum, so it's pretty dusty and uncomfortable to be in, plus there's the fact that the desk is piled high with who knows what. So that's my goal: Clear out the crap, vacuum the heck out of it, and then actually start working in there.
ReplyDelete(And I too have never gotten the allure of Evernote.)
I think it's hard to use more than a couple of helpful programs, so streamlining seems like a great idea!
ReplyDeleteI use Dropbox, but just have it set up to automatically back up everything. I used to use MacJournal and DevonThink for notetaking, but ended up just making documents in Scrivener for notes (I like one doc per article/book, rather than individual little notecards. I need to context.). But I still haven't transfered my notes from the other two. I use BookEnds for bibliography (it's not my fave, but it's too late to change now). And I use OmniFocus intermittently for to-do lists when I'm feeling stressed out.
I've got WhatNow?'s org. plan this break as well. I did a quick desk clean up a couple weeks ago, but I haven't worked to make the office comfy again. With no insulation, it gets pretty chilly, but I think I can probably do something to make it more inviting.
I just cleaned and organized my dumping-ground of a desk at home. I seem to work on my couch all the time, too, never at my desk because I didn't like how it was set up and I don't have bookshelves nearby (having moved back into my parents' house to save money while finishing the diss, my space is very, very limited). I rearranged things to at least get the most urgent books on my desk and in front of my face, so I can't ignore them. I also now have space to, you know, actually do work at my desk.
ReplyDeleteI've had the same problem with DevonThink - I like one document for notes because I like the full picture, not just a little notecard. It breaks it down too much, I think, for my purposes. I thought I could set up reader feeds into DevonThink, which seemed like a good idea for the academic ones, except that I must have done it wrong because it's not working.
Evernote is still perplexing. It drives me nuts. I'm going to give it another good effort and then I'm getting rid of it, rather than feeling guilty or stupid for not using it!
I'm also going through all the files on my hard drive and USB to reorganize in a much more basic system...while watching Big Bang Theory. Those nerds will be my inspiration, bless their little hearts!
ReplyDeleteI hear you on needing to organize. I lost my home office when my older son came home, not that I am complaining, mind, especially since he came home to go back to school.
ReplyDeleteWhat is it with working on the living room couch? I think desk chairs are massively uncomfortable unless they cost hundreds of dollars--and the last is only a guess.
My electronic files are an overgrown maze of files from the old day job computer, the old home computer, the new day job computer, the new home computer, and a bunch of flash-drives that I swear reproduce at night. I am hoping to pull them into some sort of order while things are briefly quiet at the day job in the next two weeks.
If you find Big Bang Theory helps, let me know--I'll gladly do a marathon!
Tech is good when it lets you do something better than you could do it before. I think you either need a specific thing that you can't do the way you want, or just to be in the right headspace. My husband raved about Evernote for about two years before I even bothered to look at it, and then I just didn't see the point... until about two months ago when all of a sudden it fit how I was thinking, and now it's the greatest thing ever. But that doesn't mean I was missing out before; it just didn't fit my needs.
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