I think we can all agree it makes sense to reset your workspace between projects. This could be cleaning off the kitchen counter after cooking or shutting down your computer when you finish for the day. Rinse off the tools, close the tabs, wipe down the table.
What about in the middle of working? It's still good to get rid of the slow buildup of cruft, but now there's tradeoffs.
People default to not resetting because it's less effort, so we should default to resetting more. However, when it happens to comes up is often not the best time to do so.
A non-exhaustive list of reasons not to reset your workspace right now:
- You'll be right back
- You won't be right back, but it'll be the next thing you do when you do get back
- You don't have the time or energy to reset
- You have time and energy now to reset, but you won't have the time and energy to setup when you get back
- You want to leave open the option of randomly picking up the work later without setting up
- The specific thing you're working on is in too delicate a state to change
- You'll lose your place if you reset
- It's faster to finish than to reset
- You won't finish if the mess isn't there to remind you
- You will fill the space with something else if you reset it
- Someone else will fill the space if you reset it
- Rew
Nightly Notes
While writing this, I was thinking about cleaning up my tabs from a research rush a few days ago. Then I realized half of these reasons apply to making the bed in the morning.
Food for thought.
Anyway. Writing and such.
Due to a typo in my records, I thought I hadn't posted yesterday and was filled with panic. The streak is long enough that I would be seriously distressed at breaking it. That's new. Unsure how I feel about that change, but it does mean the habit is stuck.
Writing-wise, I think I should work on phrasing. I've always tended towards run-on sentences, but I've never made an active effort to work on it beyond a quick editing pass. Paragraph breaks as well, I use them like I use commas. When I perceive a break, not where the break logically should be.
Daily writing makes the flaws stand out real quick.
- Rew