Smallist

If you want to see an efficient workspace, visit a jeweler and watch him do a repair. I live near Manhattan’s Diamond District, and I’ve had to take the odd watch or necklace in for a quick fix. I’m always amazed at how everything the jeweler needs is within arm’s reach. Light and magnification are focussed where they need to be, and all the most commonly used items are laying in plain view.

Here’s a few tips I’ve gleaned from observation:

• Neatness doesn’t count for the basic office supplies that get used every day. Your most commonly used items will organize themselves, ad hoc, based on what remains out. And if there’s only a finite number of items like this (checks, stamps, pens and pencils, stapler, etc.) they’ll do fine in a top drawer or some other unorganized bin. But make sure they’re out of your central work area. Which brings us to…
• Have a clean writing area. The jeweler always has a central space to work on his current project. The biggest problem with computers is that they almost always occupy this key space. Make sure that to one side of your keyboard, you keep an area clear for this purpose. (I’d also say this is the key flaw of the file / folder metaphor for computers: there should something akin to a workspace, so that you can switch contexts completely instead of having to change the working directory in a bazillion programs.)
• Imagine a hemisphere of space around your immediate work area, and maximize it. This means both vertically and horizontally. Arrange things so that the farther out you get the less likely you are to need the item.
• Make sure that it’s REALLY EASY to throw stuff out. Recycle bin and shredder right at the bottom of that hemisphere.  If you have to think about it, you’ll be tempted to leave it on your desk.
• If you don’t use it for work or during work, get it out of your workspace.  It took me a while to realize this, but what I really envy about the jeweler’s workspace is how it’s completely dedicated to the trade.  It seems there’s always a dusty radio at the edge of that hemisphere, but besides that, it’s all about the jewelry.  The desktop equivalent might be turning off email auto-notifications so you can get an hour of actual work done.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 13th, 2007 at 12:25 am and is filed under Tips. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.