Minimal Computer Living

I have found that a minimalist lifestyle on my computer helps me to stay organized and focused when working on papers, projects, or design work. By getting rid of alot of distractions, I am able to get more done in less time. Here are some tips for minimal living on your computer.

Screen shot of my desktop – Minimal Finder, Use of Menubar, Quicksilver opening my iTunes

Get an external hard drive
Depending on how much work you produce and what you do on your computer should determine what size external hard drive you should buy. Back up everything important to you on the external drive – media, music, documents, school work, photos, movies, resumes, notes, etc. Anything that you use for entertainment, reference, or documents you have created should be saved on the external hard drive. This will free up storage space on your computer and help it run smoother, startup faster, and could avoid future problems without all the clutter.

Clear off the desktop
Minimalism is the essence of cleanliness. Simple. The focus is on the computer, not all of your documents and shortcuts you have on your desktop. Sure, it might seem convienent to have everything you need at one click. But, if you clear EVERYTHING off your desktop, remove shortcuts, file away documents in appropriate folders – you will feel CLEAN. Your production on your computer will increase. You will be less prone to distractions. You will get more done in less time.

Think of it this way, you can have everything on your desktop you need and risk being distracted by wasting time playing a game or reading a random email, or, you can file everything away properly and get rid of the distraction allowing you to get your WORK done faster. This will give you more time to break away from the computer and not be an internet junky.

Run only applications you are using at the moment
Avoid running multiple applications (programs) if you don’t need to. This will rid yourself of distractions and help you to focus on the task at hand. The sense of accomplishment and motivation will also help you become more confident and happy while you are using the computer. You are being productive!

Utilize the power of Quicksilver
Quicksilver is a MAC OS X tool that allows me to open up applications by simply typing part of the application’s name I want to open up. This allows me to keep my desktop simple by having no icons in my dock. I have noticed that since I have removed all desktop icons and applications from my dock (except the Finder and Trash) my computer has been running smoother and faster.

For Windows users, check out these programs which are equivalent to Mac’s Quicksilver:
* AppRocket – functional, but quite resource intensive, and not free.
* Launchy – only just found this, but seems to do 99% of what I need, and it’s free.
* Colibri – I haven’t used this yet – leave a comment if you’re a fan (or not).
* PC-Com – recommended by others. I haven’t used it.

Clean your e-mail inbox
Ok, you probably have a free email account somewhere online. Right? Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, etc. If your email provider enables POP3 service (you can find out in your settings/help section) you can forward your mail to Outlook Express on your desktop.

I use Gmail. It’s amazing in so many ways, but this blog isn’t about that so I will refrain from spilling my guts about the wonders of Google. Anyways, have your mail sent to Outlook Express and ARCHIVE all the mail you recieve online.

Keep you inbox clean. If you have Forwarded mail from a various source, delete it. Unless it’s from your boss. Set up rules in Outlook to file away certain contacts into various folders. For example, my parents and grandparents like to send me random emails about (fill in the blank)…so, I decided to filter their mail into one folder. I have subscriptions to various sites online that I like to read about, but I don’t like them flooding my inbox. So I created another folder to filter all my subscriptions so I can read through them later. I have all my Lee University mail sent to a separate folder because, let’s be honest, the JustReLEEsed spam mail is rather annoying.

The point is, keep you inbox free of stuff that isn’t immediate or needs attention right away. Mail from your parents or newsletters from IKEA don’t need immediate attention. Keep your inbox open for people who need your attention.

Use RSS feeds – free up your bookmark files
Instead of wasting time surfing around the internet reading articles and the latest news, have all of it sent right to you with RSS.

RSS is a simple way to have headlines from multiple sites compiled into one feeder. It may take a little bit of effort to set it up, but every (good) website has an RSS feed somewhere on their site.

I save hours and hours from sifting through sites and reading news daily by using RSS feeds. Do yourself a favor and get a feeder for free.

File things away – the right way
Think of your computer as a big outline, except it is compiled of folders instead of a professor’s lecture notes.

Take an hour of your time and go through to organize your “outline”. Under “Documents” make appropriate categories for things you are working on at the moment. Personally, I have a “School” folder, “Design” folder, and “Downloads” folder. Under each of these folders I have created sub-categories where I place files and documents I am currently working on. Once I finished with a document I then move it over to my external hard drive under similar categories.

This helps to keep my computer clean and my life structured. I know that everything on my computer is a work in progress and once it is complete I can move it over to my external hard drive where it will be saved for all eternity.

Eyesight
While working long hours on the computer, your eyes may become strained or tired. At my last eye exam I asked my doctor what I can do after long durations of working on the computer.

He gave me this tip: Take a few moments to look out the window or find the farthest point in a room and focus on it for a few minutes. Your eyes see depth on a computer screen but you are only looking a few inches in front of you. You eyes can become weak and tired. Give your eyes some exercise and focus far away for a while.

Yes, it really works.