Project: Unclutter, clean and set up the evil lab

For a long time allready I have a (very small) room in the house designated for my use. Computers and diy gear hanging around and I never get any work done because it looks like a trainwreck. The plan is to rearrange (something I love to do, maybe to much!) and finally clean up for real and trow away everything I will not be needing again. Making a (pretty) fresh start!

My last post about the spare room unclutter action spurred me into action and I think the evil lab needs more planning then the spare room. There will be more categories of boxes there to allready categorize items which come from there and will need to stay but don't have a designated space yet.

• tools (woodworking, screwdrivers, pliers, etc)
• computergear (usb, pci, etc)
• resources (power, network, etc)
• officegear (stapler, pen/pencils, paper, etc)

The tools have to be organised in a way I can easily grab them and easily put back so I can keep the room organised for a long time and not for 10 minutes like I am used to from other times this has been done. 

My desk, this is the collection area for everything I use and don't put back immediatly which at the moment is everything since I don't have a designated space for most items. It also holds my computer(s) and monitors, which take up a significant amount of space since I use two 17 inch CRT monitors. And last but not least, projectitems related to the project(s) I am working on at the moment and related paperwork.

This room will need to be redone from the ground up and this time I will make a plan and sketch a design beforehand where I will take into account the years of experiance I have now with this little room and the clutter which it holds. You will hear more about this room soon!

//Z

Uncluttering the house

Over the years I have collected an enormous amount of 'stuff' both in psysical and digital formats. I want to make an effort to remedy this situation and begin anew with a 'clean slate' but don't want to just trow everything out since some of the stuff might be usefull afterall.

The last months I have been collecting information about how to go about this in the most efficiently way possible and to have a system in place to not let this happen to me again. From what I read on the topic I have tried to make a list of what needs to be done for every room in the house. The one thing which will give me the most trouble but will be most effective for me will be to trow everything I have not used in a certain timeframe. Most resources put this timeframe at about half a year...I will most likely have enough to trow away when I put this at 2 years at first and make a second pass later while lowering this time.

Start one room at a time, take boxes per room with you labelled: Trash, Sell/Give away and one designated box per room where you can put everything which does not belong the room you are busy. Every item has to be considered and has to have a designated room and spot in that room. 

The first room I want to tackle is the spare/guest room we have. This should be the easiest room since most of the stuff which at the moment is in this room should not be there. We also use this room for doing laundry and I have the annoying habit of not emptying the dryer or emptying it on the bed without folding and storing the clothes. This I have to change anyway but it would also be nice to have a space to fold everything on since atm the bed or the floor is the only space to fold on.

So, the plan is to get every item from this room which does not belong there, put all leftover in boxes with a designation where it is supposed to be and to leave the room as bare as possible. Then I will build/find a table or desk where I can do folding and other clothesmanagement activities.

I will post my progress here and let you know when I will start on the next room, this will be much more of a challenge since this will be the evil lab which is completely cramped with stuff collected over the years.

//Z

And let's see if Flock works better!

A test post from Flock, at least I can enter a title...

//Z

Another test post, online this time (Google Docs)

This time made from an offline program but with google docs, very easy and support for titles..:)

some links:

PinstipedZebra 

(Edit 1) Hmm, well it seems like the title does not come through yet, time for a little googling. 

(Edit 2) +3 minutes: I have the feeling that this function does not work yet. This is a major bummer in my book. I would like to be able to use one central repository for my blogpostings where I can also hold my post-archive and I have to admit, having this online has an appeal since I will be able to reach it from everywhere. And when I have my new Iphone this will be easy done from every location.

//Z

Testpost from w.bloggar v4.02

This is a test post coming from a piece of blogsoftware I found lately. I do not really want to use the web to make posts to this blog so I am trying to find a desktop solution which suits my needs. For first

Clutter Title


hmm not yet totally working, I can't find a way to add a title....

//Z