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Click into place

By on July 1, 2012
Everyone seems to be walking around with an iPhone, Blackberry, or other smartphone these days, and while Angry Birds, Facebook, and other diversions are a big draw to these devices (looking cool is another), there is also the great possibility to organize one’s affairs (I meant business affairs, though I suppose potentially romantic ones too). The same goes for computers. However, having such a device does not mean that you will automatically be organized – just as a certain degree of hygiene is required to keep a physical space functional, so too does a digital environment require focused attention and housekeeping.

I love how they call the main interface with your computer the ‘desktop’, as it is quite literally the digital equivalent to how you access things in a physical workspace – and like their physical counterparts, computer desktops can be disorganized and chaotic. I often see people who have this screen littered with icons for individual files, multiple folders, programs, and the like. Unfortunately, the nervous system responds to both cluttered desks and messy computerized interfaces in the same way: overwhelm and a desire to tune out. When you have that much vying for your attention in a small space, you cannot clearly see what to do next, and your efficiency will be negatively impacted.

The fact of the matter is that your desktop doesn’t need to be crowded – it’s all about management. We all have lots of things coming in all the time – we need to be able to organize things so that we can deal with them appropriately. This means setting up some temporary folders on the desktop so that you can file things and know where to find them. I like having a ‘This Week’ and ‘This Month’ folder that I go through at the end of those periods and place things in their more permanent folders.

For example, this article that I’m writing is in my ‘This Week’ folder (I have subdivisions in that folder, but there need not be). At the end of the week, if I have finished the article, I can move this document to my folder where I keep my Feng Shui articles (I have a particular folder for the ones I have written for Tokyo Families). Of course I can also move the item from the temporary folder once the task is complete, saving time at the end of the week. The same thing gets done at the end of the month. Photos you copy from Facebook, interesting articles you have downloaded, documents that you are working on… all of these can be classified in appropriate folders at a specified later time. Saving them initially to a temporary folder helps your desktop to immediately be more organized in the moment while still having current items readily accessible.

Clutter can accumulate in files and folders just like they do in real life. It is useful to go through your computer periodically to cull unnecessary items. For example, we usually dump all of our digital photos in a download but then seldom go back to them. Have you noticed how we look at pictures much less than we did when we used to print them? We seem to be satisfied ‘knowing they’re there’ – but if that’s the case, we probably don’t even need a lot of them if the memory of them is so gratifying! Especially with the high resolution in everyday devices like iPhones, photos can become a memory hog on your computer (and can also take up mental and spiritual bandwidth too if you hold onto too much from the past). By all means keep valuable photos and the like – but if you still have unedited albums filled with unflattering photos from previous downloads, it might be time to review them and just keep your favourite. (That’s my secret to looking good on Facebook: only post the flattering photos. Destroy the rest…) The same goes for documents, emails, and other files. Review your folders every few months so that you can minimize digital clutter and maintain appropriate storage space and organization.

That said, you should always back up your devices if you have valuable (financially or emotionally) material on there: have portable hard drives that you copy things to every week, preferably located off site. They are so small that you could carry one with you in case you need to access it in an emergency. (One should be kept in your earthquake kit by the door.) It takes a lot less time to back things up than it does to recreate them. If they are worth keeping, they are worth backing up – regularly.

May your technological devices be well used and serve you well!

Mark Ainley is a Contemporary Feng Shui Consultant and Emotional Stress Consultant living in Vancouver. A former 5-year resident of Tokyo, Mark consults with clients internationally to help them design living and work spaces in alignment with their goals. He also provides consulting in emotional stress management, as well as in the connection between facial structure and innate behavioural and communication patterns. He can be reached through his website: www.markainley.com

About Mark Ainley

Mark Ainley is a Contemporary Feng Shui Consultant and Emotional Stress Consultant living in Vancouver. A former 5-year resident of Tokyo, Mark consults with clients internationally to help them design living and work spaces in alignment with their goals. He also provides consulting in emotional stress management, as well as in the connection between facial structure and innate behavioural and communication patterns. He can be reached through his website: www.senseofspace.com and www.markainley.com.