I have been a little bit preoccupied with a lot of other little things that I have put blief in the backseat lately.
Just to keep you up to date I will briefly run through my preoccupations
Redesigning my office
I am simplifying my office in a way unprecedented in the greater Zimmerman household. I have noticed that I keep a decently clean house at work, papers stack up but they are easily re-stacked. I also keep a pretty clean car, a few junky things appear but they are easy to remove. My office and my garage are utter messes. The one major difference I see between my office and these other places is the volume of horizontal surfaces available for ‘stuff’. When there isn’t any left, I create more so I can stack more.
When the space becomes so choked with ‘stuff’ I am left with two options.
1) clean it up (major undertaking)
2) make do with less horizontal space for more stuff
I invariably do the latter based on the requirements of Major Undertaking.
So, my answer is to redesign my office in a way that minimizes un-necessary horizontal space. My thinking is that if I don’t have a place to set stuff down I will either put that stuff away or throw it away. Hopefully I won’t have to get rid of my floor.
My desk and some limited bookshelves are going to have an industrial look. I will post pics when I start using my new office.
Reworking my resume
It is always a good idea to keep on top of one’s primary means of communication with the job world. Never know when you will need it. I am working on an Information Architect’s resume to show how I apply what I know and feel about information access and usability to my mouthpiece. My goal is to be an Information Architect by the time I am 40. Yikes.
Homeowners Association Newsletter
This is a quarterly thing. I enjoy putting it together and the members of the association are thrilled to have it done by an enthusiast/professional.
All Seattle Web Design
Good source of extra cash. Fun work.
Soccer and Biking
Good physical stress relief.
Getting Things Done
I have recently been introduced to an organizational concept called Getting Things Done (GTD). So far the precepts seem tailor made for the overloaded, 21st century, techno-quasi-geek, family-man, Zimmerman mind. Guidelines, hints, and principles are discussed that may be applied in a number of ways to suit your personal style. There are also some accessories such as the Hipster PDA and the Getting Things Done with Gmail (650K PDF), that I am working on integrating into my own day.
I don’t think that my fundamental problem is that I try to do too much, although I might be swayed, but not likely. I am frequently torn between the time I choose to spend doing things that are fun, things that bring in money, things that aren’t fun, and anything family. I think my priorities are most often in order, but following through with my priorities only leaves the time between 22:00 and 02:00 to get any work done. I am getting too old to sustain many nights on 3-4 hours of sleep so I am in organizational mode.
I will keep you apprised of my progress.
blief 
I admire your resolve to attempt to overcome an (admittedly) Zimmerman trait. However, I fear that you have overlooked a very fundamental aspect in your theory, “my answer is to redesign my office in a way that minimizes un-necessary horizontal space. My thinking is that if I don’t have a place to set stuff down I will either put that stuff away or throw it away. Hopefully I won’t have to get rid of my floor.”
Yes, the floor. Since Newton discovered that apples fall from trees, floors have constituted one of the largest acreages of horizontal space know to man (not just a Zimmerman, either!). Grumpy has found that this otherwise unused acreage does indeed suffice to supplement the horizontal space required to allow postponing of your option 1.)
Here’s hoping you are more successful than your Grandfather (I won’t say, “and Grandmother” — it would cost another ten years of no Lemon Meringue Pies). I will be watching for you pictures.
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Genetics are indeed scary. Years ago while managing the bookstore, reducing clutter was always a challenge in a workplace with sometimes 15 different people using the same space. One of the things I was graded on was store presentation and lack of clutter visible to the customer´s eye. That was exactly when I came up with my theory of diminishing horizontal spaces. I, too, realized that if there was no horizontal space for someone to set something on, then, there could be no clutter in that space as we were prohibited from stacking anything on the floor! So, bit by bit, surfaces began disappearing much to the dismay of the various employees. The resutls were clear however, my boss loved it, and dusting time cut down considerably. I have recently noticed a renewed longing for same theory. Sometimes it just doesn´t translate to home….. Good luck! I wish I had more time to blog so that y’all could know what´s heading down the genetic pike. Maybe it´s best that you not know!
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