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   #[1]Christopher Butler ☼

   [2]Christopher Butler ☼

[3]Archive

[4]Info

[5]Now
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Organization — Office

After the kitchen, the office is the most used room in our home. This is how
we keep it organized.

   [eaf01f24-61dc-4bef-8166-2f08c81b856a.jpg]

   This is the office.

   My wife and I work here, Monday through Friday, 9 to 5. Our children
   play and create in here just as often. It’s where we maintain several
   workspaces, store supplies, house a portion of our library, and keep a
   guest bed. To make things even more complicated, I also exercise in
   here nearly every day. All in this 10’ x 12’ space with two windows.
   Since we began working from home, I estimate that we’ve spent around
   8,000 hours in here.

   Organization — at an almost obsessive level — is what keeps this space
   a functional and enjoyable place to spend time. Minimalism, though, is
   not. We have a lot of gear in here. Most of it gets used every single
   day.

   I’m about to share an unnecessary amount of detail on what makes this
   space work. I’ve divided this into three main sections:

    1. On and Under the Desk
    2. On the Walls
    3. In Books

   At the end of each section, I’ll include a list of all the gear that I
   have either mentioned or captured in pictures.

On and Under the Desk

   I prefer to keep my desktop as free from infrastructure as possible.

   My general rule is that if I need it within reach, in view, or audible,
   it’s on the desk. If I don’t, it’s under the desk. That means that my
   desktop is still not as free of things as I’d like, but there is an
   impressive amount of gear running my day-to-day underneath it.

   [9b3325cc-7028-4d54-b0c0-9000877e3c2b.jpg]

   [745ee5c9-f738-4677-b266-ff5708036077.jpg]

   On the desk is:
     * an [6]LG 32” UltraFine 4k HDR10 Ergo Display mounted on an
       [7]Ergotron LX Single Monitor Arm rather than the arm it ships with
     * an [8]Elgato Key Light
     * a [9]Sure SM7B Microphone mounted on an [10]Elgato Wave Mic Arm
     * a [11]Sony A7C Full Frame Camera with [12]Sony FE 35mm F1.4 GM lens
       mounted with a [13]ULANZI Camera Desk Mount Stand
     * a pair of [14]Audioengine HD3 speakers
     * the [15]awesome lamp I made twenty years ago by duo-tac’ing a strip
       of wax paper onto an industrial plastic tube and placing a
       trash-picked light inside — it still holds up!
     * the desk is a [16]Floyd dining table. I added a [17]sliding
       under-desk drawer.

   Underneath the desk I use a simple rack on wheels to stack two
   computers, an input hub, three different external storage drives, an
   audio interface, a battery backup and even my old minidisc player. All
   of it is humming all day, but out of sight.

   All the lights, knobs, and buttons are irresistible to my nearly
   two-year old son, so I made custom covers out of half-inch black foam
   board that slide in between the rack’s supports and the shelf contents
   to keep him from exploring. You can see how they look on the right side
   of the split image below — covers out on the left, in on the right.

   [58507484-e94a-4aa0-ad71-72c58427649c.jpg]

   While I’m here, let me take a moment to urge those who have not to
   acquire an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) system.

   We have two [18]CyberPower CP1500 backups running in our office. Each
   has six battery backup and surge protected outlets as well as six
   additional surge protected outlets, network inputs, and USB inputs.
   (It’s the thing on the bottom shelf peeking out a bit from behind one
   of my covers.)

   Just this week, we had a freak storm descend upon our city and in the
   span of just 35 minutes knock out power for hundreds of thousands and
   fell more trees than any other storm I’ve experienced in the time I’ve
   lived here. Because I do my work on a Mac Mini, having a UPS that kicks
   in when the power goes out saves me from losing work. But it can also
   keep the lights on, fans going, music playing, the works.

   Keen eyes will notice that the cables behind everything are relatively
   tidy. The thing about cables is that the greater they are in number,
   the more difficult they are to tame!

   [1e9e3fa0-247a-421b-b63c-34229c2fcad3.jpg]

   Rather than completely hiding them — and making it more difficult to
   access or alter them later — I prioritize labeling. I coil and bunch
   any excess cable, but I don’t clip or enclose them. I do label them at
   both ends so I can easily identify what’s what no matter where I’m
   looking.

   Every time I find myself writing a label with sharpie on blue tape, I
   know I’m doing my future self a favor.

   Under the desk is:
     * an [19]IKEA KORNSJÖ side table
     * two Apple M1 Mac minis
     * a [20]CalDigit Thunderbolt Station 4 hub
     * two DIY External SSDs — using [21]ACASIS 40gbps Enclosures, [22]WD
       1TB NVMe SSD Solid State drives, and [23]4’ Thunderbolt 4 Cables
     * a [24]LaCie 2big RAID 8TB External Hard Drive
     * a Cloud Microphone [25]Cloudlifter
     * a [26]Focusrite Scarlet 2i2 audio interface
     * a [27]Sony MXD-D40
     * a [28]CyberPower CP1500PFCLCD UPS System

On the Walls

   My wife and I keep a lot of books and magazines. We’re by no means at a
   hoarder level, but we do like our printed media and that takes up
   space. We have most of our library in another room, but in here, we
   have many magazines, all our design books, and all my books about the
   paranormal and other weirdness.

   To keep them organized, we need shelves. I have found that the best
   shelves are the ones you create yourself.

   Other than the racks under our desks, all the shelves in this room —
   there are many — were made by measuring and hanging custom rack or
   ledge shelving. It’s inexpensive, very strong (by god use a stud
   finder), and requires very few tools. I made mine with steel racks,
   half-inch poplar, a hand saw, a level, a pencil, and a few different
   straightedges.

   [4e6fc669-65a5-45e9-bbe6-fde0ef2a7d78.jpg]

   [32d1e14f-eb6c-46b9-bf52-31c8b5d90e93.jpg]

   I strongly recommend [29]library-grade bookends, which you can see at
   the edges of the shelf pictured above. These are the kind that won’t
   tip over, won’t bend, and won’t slide off the edge of floating shelves.
   They are very, very good.

   Most of the stuff we keep on the shelves needs to be easy to retrieve.
   The best way to do this is to create kits. Find a container that works
   best for you in multiples and gather like items, put them in, and label
   them clearly. (I like the [30]iDesign 29847, which was designed to hold
   toilet paper.)

   [65617d4c-8d78-4a6a-b71d-6141f6a2b5b1.jpg]

   The shelf pictured above has nearly every frequently used office or
   creative supply in our home. Each box is large enough to hold quite a
   bit, but small enough to be manageable by our kids.

   This room also has a closet. I lined it with shelving to store
   household supplies, paper, tools, and emergency equipment and to make
   it easy to retrieve anything without having to root around. Most of
   this stuff is also in kits stored in [31]IRIS USA Weatherpro latching
   boxes. We are ready for a disaster!

   [7b5fb987-19be-43c3-8e59-abbcdf37baec.jpg]

   I’m particularly pleased that I can store a collapsible exercise bench
   on the inside of the door.

   Other exercise equipment, like my kettlebells, sit under the supply
   shelving on the left — I even rigged up cables to hang rolled up yoga
   mats under the bottom shelf. 👌 It’s the little things.

   [5909fae1-cc3b-462c-b1f0-142aa56e322f.jpg]

   [7f8971b1-0e00-4699-8e16-af9bad1dfa7b.jpg]

   I keep my dumbbells in a neat line under the sofa/guest bed.

   Good organization optimizes for storage and retrieval. These things are
   all very helpful:
     * [32]Floating Ledge steel shelves
     * Proect Source [33]double track strips and [34]brackets
     * [35]The Library Store Bear Hug bookends
     * [36]iDesign 29847 storage bins
     * [37]IRIS USA Weatherpro latching boxes
     * [38]Craftsman Tradestack tool chests
     * [39]Viesso Dublexo Sofa Bed

In Books

   I’m as obsessive with how I organize information as I am objects and
   spaces. At this point in my life, I’ve tried dozens and dozens of
   digital organization tools. While I used some of them for a long time —
   I used Todoist for several years — none have ever felt as useful to me
   as pen and paper.

   I’ve kept a notebook of some kind — as a sketchbook, an art journal, a
   log — for decades. I mostly maintained one at a time, and so there was
   always a mixture of things in it: notes and lists on one page, drawings
   and collages on the next.

   But over the last few years, I’ve been formulating a more intentional
   and systematic use of my notebooks. Now, I maintain two books at the
   same time: one for visual exploration and the other for note-taking and
   list-making.

   [6ea49f4f-861b-408d-85eb-f8c9d7e1c95f.jpg]

   [3d557cb6-2c42-48c3-84ed-950cbafee775.jpg]

   [bd52173f-ef6c-4bb7-a15f-a99cefb63011.jpg]

   Just having two books helps, but the key to making this work as a
   productivity system is to maintain a specific habit of use. While I do
   find writing to-do lists on paper inherently better — for me — than
   using some kind of digital app because I can focus on the information
   outside of the digital space, it’s how I use them that makes them
   actually deliver results for me.

   Here’s how it works:
    1. I end the day by making a to-do list for the next one.
       This is probably the most important work/life hack I can offer to
       anyone who doesn’t already do this. It’s a great idea to start your
       day with a prioritized list of the things you need to do. But I end
       my day by making that list so that I can also use it as a tool for
       clearing my mind and letting me make a meaningful mental break from
       work. I have also found that when my days are very busy, if I don’t
       end them with making a list for the next day, I am likely to forget
       details by the next morning. This is especially true if I let my
       inbox determine my day; if I don’t have a to-do list, my inbox
       becomes one.
    2. I mark my to-do list with a bright, yellow sticky note.
       This is a very small detail, but it lets me shut my notebook and
       set it aside. The next morning, I can open it directly to the day’s
       list. Then I move the sticky note to the next page. When I am
       stressed, tiny investments in my future self really pay off. Giving
       myself an immediate sense of place is one of them.
    3. If a task is longer-term and has many sub-tasks, I create an index
       card to contain it.
       I might transpose some of the sub-tasks from the card to my book so
       I can keep track of things in one place throughout the day, but
       doing this lets me think through how I’m going to achieve a larger
       goal over a longer period of time. I keep these index cards in a
       small box on my desk.
    4. There are no analytics, and that’s a feature.
       Back when I used Todoist, I found its analytics intriguing and
       motivating. I initially liked being able to pore over my
       productivity statistics. And Todoist set it up to “reward” you as
       you completed more tasks. Ithink I worked my way up to some absurd
       number of tasks complete, which the app always displayed front and
       center, and some ridiculous classification like “Master Overlord”
       or something. It worked for me, until it didn’t. Analytics in this
       context create their own layer of stress. I’d find that if my
       numbers dropped, it felt wrong, even if that was because I was less
       busy — which is probably a good thing now and again! I found that I
       was thinking about my “performance” as often as my productivity. I
       didn’t need that.

   [2e6d6ea8-930f-4297-9662-d55905f31808.jpg]

   This is what works for me. I’d never assume it would work for everyone,
   or that everyone would have the same trouble with an app like Todoist
   that I eventually did. But if you’ve tried apps of various kinds and
   still don’t feel the benefits of organizing your work, I’d suggest
   taking it offline. One point of a system like this is to help you get
   things done. The other is to help you feel more at ease.

   Now, this doesn’t mean I never use a computer for notes and lists. If I
   write a note or have an idea that I want to transpose to a digital file
   so that it can become something else — like an article or a message to
   someone — I use a blue post-it note to mark it and keep it there until
   I’ve copied it over. (Many of my blue bookmarks are for dream entries
   that I like to store digitally so I can search them later. Maybe I’ll
   write something on dream journaling some day…)

   [0bc93018-95c3-4df0-9185-f89156dcbd19.jpg]

   These timeless office supplies are very useful to me and I don’t want
   to live in a world without them:
     * [40]Stillman & Birn Epsilon sketchbooks
     * [41]Pilot G2 pens
     * [42]Electric Yellow Post-it Notes
     * [43]Oxford Blank Index Cards
     * binder clips — you can get them anywhere

Why, though?

   I am on a continuous quest for organization.

   For most of my life, order has been something of an obsession.
   Everywhere I look, I see chaos and entropy creeping in. I see a new
   surface and anticipate wear and tear. I see a functioning system and
   look for where it will break.

   That may sound like an exaggeration and more than a bit unpleasant, but
   I’ve come to understand that it’s neither. Life is, paradoxically, both
   order and disorder.

   The very possibility of life presumes order — the coherence of biology
   at the atomic level — and yet, the act of living tends toward disorder.
   As we live and breathe and move about this world we and it push and
   pull against one another; words against wind, towers and tides, edifice
   and erosion. Given the broadest and longest view, all created order is
   futile. We simply don’t live long enough to maintain it.

   But zoomed in, at the closer range of living day by day, created order
   is, literally, the fabric of functional living. Roofs are order.
   Clothing is order. Order puts food on the table.

   I find the challenge of creating and maintaining functional systems,
   well, kind of fun. It is a creative act. And, it never ends. No system
   can last forever, and no system should. Situations change, needs
   change, we change. So the things we depend upon to exist well need to
   change, too. That means we have to continually look for things to make
   and ways to optimize them. That sounds good to me!
     __________________________________________________________________

Written by [44]Christopher Butler on August 18, 2023,   In [45]Essays
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References

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