Uncluttering

It is either particularly ironic or quite apropos, depending on how I look at it, that I find myself writing about uncluttering at a time like this: While our move to Boston has presented us with an ideal opportunity to unclutter, our schedule has, so far, permitted only halting progress towards that goal. Progress freezes, for the most part, once again this afternoon.

But we are making progress. (No, Bill, I haven't forgotten to post pictures!) And the big advantage of using the techniques of distributed cognition is that interruptions at least don't completely derail you.

Yet a post on "10 Uncluttering Things to Do Every Day" over at Unclutterer struck a chord with me because of its use of a thought-provoking phrase: "time clutter." I'm either falling victim to that this morning or it seems that way to me because of the cumulative effects of -- deep breath -- having moved so recently, taken an intensive course immediately after showing up, traveling out of the country soon after that, slipping in and out of OCON for a few days, taking a beating on the office equipment front, and now, heading out of town (again) for the weekend. I have been busy, and, as a result, really have not gotten to establish a routine. This constantly feeling off-balance has got to stop.

So that -- establishing a routine -- will be my next goal. The phrase "time clutter" somehow made it click for me sooner rather than later. Despite having finally moved, I am in a transitional period, and that's bad for a creature of habit like myself. On that score, I suspect that a further part, elaborating on Step 3 ("Plan Your Perfect Day") will be a big help. Part of my "perfect day" on Sunday will be revisiting those posts after considering in general what a "perfect day" will be has percolated in my mind a bit -- not to mention what my own two additional steps might be of the "10" referred to by the title of that post. (The post actually lists eight steps. The comments to that post may be helpful, and if you feel inclined, feel free to make your own suggestions here.)

I suspect that I found the idea of "time clutter" so thought-provoking because the analogy to physical clutter reinforced the notion of having a set schedule as a kind of "time scaffolding" on which to organize my days.

That said, it's off for the weekend again, after I negotiate the rest of today's slightly treacherous timescape!

-- CAV