7 ms·

After years of failed attempts I gave up trying to organize everything and started to brutally eliminate most of it. It has been pretty liberating.

by WWKong 10y ago

tonteldoos 10y ago
That is hopefully a few steps further down the line :)
marktangotango 10y ago
I found that my bookmark lists, to do's, notes, personal project plans, everything went stale after a time anyway, if not acted upon. It something wasn't important enough to read, study, or develop, then it really wasn't that important. Thus letting it all go was much more palatable.
- threepipeproblm 10y ago
  Exactly. I see bookmarks as a kind of todo now, which completely changed the way I organize them. (I do have a single folder called "reference" but I almost never go in there).
  - Bartweiss 10y ago
    It's funny - I had the same insight and decided on the opposite solution. Many of bookmarks are an 'aging' zone, where content sits around until I'm bored and interested in reading it, or decide it no longer looks appealing and delete it. Things like speculative HN articles go there, and 90% of them become irrelevant while the other 10% become more appealing. I also have a reference folder for bookmarks, which I treat a bit like old tax returns - things that are rarely useful, but vital if I need them.
    - threepipeproblm 10y ago
      Yes, interesting how the same insight can lead to different approaches. I used to work with a guy whose desktop was a complete mess and he would never try to organize the chaos. He had high screen res and it would take him a minute or two to find something on his desktop but he could do it. Then when it got full he would take the entire thing and paste it into a new top-level folder, called "old desktops". Of course this included his old old desktops folders, recursively. So the old desktops hierarchy became like archeological strata for everything he had ever done.
      - Bartweiss 10y ago
        That sounds like hell to me. But on consideration, I can't judge; with good search features I lose all drive to organize my files cleanly, and only bother locating things I won't remember the name of.
- knz 10y ago
  This was on HN just a few days ago - http://timharford.com/2016/10/theres-magic-in-mess-why-you-should-embrace-a-disorderly-desk/ http://timharford.com/2016/10/theres-magic-in-mess-why-you-s... The short version is use piles to sort and purge the piles regularly. The "good stuff" will rise to the top and you discard the junk. Bookmarks are just another pile...
CalRobert 10y ago
I used to hate getting rid of anything. Then I realized that for most of this stuff, odds were I was never going to look at it again between now and when I die. It's kind of morbid, but makes it easier to get rid of that folder of things I meant to read from 3 years ago, or that box of artifacts from my past that has remained unopened through 3 apartment moves.
- stygiansonic 10y ago
  I've found that moving is a great way to face the reality that a lot my stuff isn't needed. Especially, as you mentioned, the stuff that's remained in boxes from previous moves.
Bartweiss 10y ago
I've taken to using bookmarks as an 'aging' chamber. I used to plan on "going through" my bookmarks, which was an imposition. A this point, I bookmark interesting-looking things I don't want to read presently. If they're still interesting later, they get read. If not - and this is maybe 80% - they get deleted. Storage is easy, so it's pretty satisfying to keep things and just not worry about deleting them later instead of organizing.
BeetleB 10y ago
I'm going through the phase now of simplifying my life and getting rid of stuff. Very difficult. I'm by nature a very nostalgic person. Hard to part with items that brought me so much joy. However, I came to the realization: Those items, while they gave me joy in the past, are literally preventing new experiences, and new sources of joy. Need to make room for the future, and the only way is to throw stuff away.
- crawfordcomeaux 10y ago
  This is literally what I'm doing today with the guidance of Marie Kondo's "The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying."
  - BeetleB 10y ago
    I like the book. However, I wonder how effective it is in the long run. Is it legitimate or is it just selling a dream? A while ago I posted a question on all the top reviews of the book on Amazon: After 6 months/1 year, is their house still tidy, or was it not really sustainable? Very few responses, but I think one person said it was sustainable, and no one said it wasn't.
    - anorakgirl 10y ago
      Read it a year ago, my sock drawer is still tidy...
      - BeetleB 10y ago
        OK, how about the rest of your house? My mess is usually not with clothes, but with tables full of stuff, cabinets full of stuff, garage full of stuff, etc. Did you go through a phase of getting rid of stuff, and then in the subsequent year, managed not to add more stuff to fill in the space you through away? (And how bad was your house/apartment before KonMari?) Honest question.
        anorakgirl 10y ago

After years of failed attempts I gave up trying to organize everything and started to brutally eliminate most of it. It has been pretty liberating.

by WWKong 10y ago

After years of failed attempts I gave up trying to organize everything and started to brutally eliminate most of it. It has been pretty liberating.

tonteldoos 10y ago

That is hopefully a few steps further down the line :)

marktangotango 10y ago

I found that my bookmark lists, to do's, notes, personal project plans, everything went stale after a time anyway, if not acted upon. It something wasn't important enough to read, study, or develop, then it really wasn't that important. Thus letting it all go was much more palatable.

threepipeproblm 10y ago
Exactly. I see bookmarks as a kind of todo now, which completely changed the way I organize them. (I do have a single folder called "reference" but I almost never go in there).
- Bartweiss 10y ago
  It's funny - I had the same insight and decided on the opposite solution. Many of bookmarks are an 'aging' zone, where content sits around until I'm bored and interested in reading it, or decide it no longer looks appealing and delete it. Things like speculative HN articles go there, and 90% of them become irrelevant while the other 10% become more appealing. I also have a reference folder for bookmarks, which I treat a bit like old tax returns - things that are rarely useful, but vital if I need them.
  - threepipeproblm 10y ago
    Yes, interesting how the same insight can lead to different approaches. I used to work with a guy whose desktop was a complete mess and he would never try to organize the chaos. He had high screen res and it would take him a minute or two to find something on his desktop but he could do it. Then when it got full he would take the entire thing and paste it into a new top-level folder, called "old desktops". Of course this included his old old desktops folders, recursively. So the old desktops hierarchy became like archeological strata for everything he had ever done.
    - Bartweiss 10y ago
      That sounds like hell to me. But on consideration, I can't judge; with good search features I lose all drive to organize my files cleanly, and only bother locating things I won't remember the name of.
knz 10y ago
This was on HN just a few days ago - http://timharford.com/2016/10/theres-magic-in-mess-why-you-should-embrace-a-disorderly-desk/ http://timharford.com/2016/10/theres-magic-in-mess-why-you-s... The short version is use piles to sort and purge the piles regularly. The "good stuff" will rise to the top and you discard the junk. Bookmarks are just another pile...

CalRobert 10y ago

I used to hate getting rid of anything. Then I realized that for most of this stuff, odds were I was never going to look at it again between now and when I die. It's kind of morbid, but makes it easier to get rid of that folder of things I meant to read from 3 years ago, or that box of artifacts from my past that has remained unopened through 3 apartment moves.

stygiansonic 10y ago
I've found that moving is a great way to face the reality that a lot my stuff isn't needed. Especially, as you mentioned, the stuff that's remained in boxes from previous moves.

Bartweiss 10y ago

I've taken to using bookmarks as an 'aging' chamber. I used to plan on "going through" my bookmarks, which was an imposition. A this point, I bookmark interesting-looking things I don't want to read presently. If they're still interesting later, they get read. If not - and this is maybe 80% - they get deleted. Storage is easy, so it's pretty satisfying to keep things and just not worry about deleting them later instead of organizing.

BeetleB 10y ago

I'm going through the phase now of simplifying my life and getting rid of stuff. Very difficult. I'm by nature a very nostalgic person. Hard to part with items that brought me so much joy. However, I came to the realization: Those items, while they gave me joy in the past, are literally preventing new experiences, and new sources of joy. Need to make room for the future, and the only way is to throw stuff away.

crawfordcomeaux 10y ago
This is literally what I'm doing today with the guidance of Marie Kondo's "The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying."
- BeetleB 10y ago
  I like the book. However, I wonder how effective it is in the long run. Is it legitimate or is it just selling a dream? A while ago I posted a question on all the top reviews of the book on Amazon: After 6 months/1 year, is their house still tidy, or was it not really sustainable? Very few responses, but I think one person said it was sustainable, and no one said it wasn't.
  - anorakgirl 10y ago
    Read it a year ago, my sock drawer is still tidy...
    - BeetleB 10y ago
      OK, how about the rest of your house? My mess is usually not with clothes, but with tables full of stuff, cabinets full of stuff, garage full of stuff, etc. Did you go through a phase of getting rid of stuff, and then in the subsequent year, managed not to add more stuff to fill in the space you through away? (And how bad was your house/apartment before KonMari?) Honest question.
      - anorakgirl 10y ago