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My life and work are full of data that must be kept for legal and pro reasons as well as personal ones. And I must grow, so a range of data feeds, and newsletters and online study things are there.
I have my own domain, and love the software...the built in organization and options are "pretty good".
I created half a dozen email boxes to automatically organize things in general.
I upload last year's priority data to storage at my site, and make backup.
And my small art gallery seldom overwhelms in the current year.
Still, last fall my computer began to breathe its last and so I got months behind a lot of my online tasks due to the slowness of the machine.
Work mounted up and clutter happened....for such times:
prioritize...carefully pick out and move the top priority things to their folders, close your eyes and toggle all/ delete!
I am not being silly....doing such a move at least once a year is a great mental health move...puts it all into perspective, and puts me in charge of it and not drowning in it again...you'd be surprised at what's really vital and what's not.
The exhilirating surge from the nice instantly clean in-box is not to be missed!
I am an artist and if I give in to frantic, I cannot draw a straight line, so a long time ago, I found that thinking through ANY philosophy that WORKS was essential...then following it.
Still, some people, and few of my favorite people, serve the whole world somehow,with piles of everything everywhere...I don't ask them to be like me, or vice versa.....and it alllllll works!
happy valentines day!
e
Editors' Notes Weblog: Share your clutter-cutting tips
MultiQuote
#30
kabing 
- Member
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- Group: Members
- Posts: 16
- Joined: 09-July 06
Posted 02 February 2007 - 06:51 PM
For e-mail, I have a batch of rules that preprocesses a lot of what I receive, dropping them into the appropriate folder. Then I have a Smart Folder titled "Unread Messages." That lets me see my new messages easily, even though they've already been filed. I have my spam filtering set so that anything from addresses that are not in my address book nor a previous recipient get dumped into the trash; I scan the trash regularly for "false positives." That brings my "Unread" folder to a manageable size. I don't process the remaining e-mails in my inbox or my sent box as often as I should, but doing so is much more manageable with so many things "prefiled" for me.
As a Mac user since 1985, I've long had a structure of folders for my documents that's moved from computer to computer. I still keep it up, even with Spotlight's good searching. I have a "Favorites" folder with aliases of my frequently used folders. The Favorites folder and a few other folders appear both in my Dock and my Sidebar. I've given each of them a unique icon, so they are easily identified. Particular documents I use frequently (a long distance phone log, frequently used NeoOffice templates, a list of books for my daughter's reading program, etc.) are stashed in Butler's "This Mac" menulet. Using the Dock and Butler this way lets me maintain my folder system while at the same time making it easy for me to quickly get to the things I use the most, even if they are buried 5 folders deep.
As a Mac user since 1985, I've long had a structure of folders for my documents that's moved from computer to computer. I still keep it up, even with Spotlight's good searching. I have a "Favorites" folder with aliases of my frequently used folders. The Favorites folder and a few other folders appear both in my Dock and my Sidebar. I've given each of them a unique icon, so they are easily identified. Particular documents I use frequently (a long distance phone log, frequently used NeoOffice templates, a list of books for my daughter's reading program, etc.) are stashed in Butler's "This Mac" menulet. Using the Dock and Butler this way lets me maintain my folder system while at the same time making it easy for me to quickly get to the things I use the most, even if they are buried 5 folders deep.
#31
pdeboer
- Newbie
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- Group: Members
- Posts: 1
- Joined: 04-February 07
Posted 04 February 2007 - 03:06 PM
I'm relatively new to the Mac (about 1.5 years), but I seem to pickup something worthwhile every issue. I've really enjoyed the 'Clear Away the Clutter' article and wanted to join in the discussion here.
I've always been, what I call, the anti-packrat. Raised in a home where we didn't have a car in our 2 car garage since a time when I was 3 until I moved out at the age of 19. I'm 26 now, but still, no car has been in that garage in 23 years. I toss things quickly. Ever so rarely I'll regret it, but I find I cannot function in clutter. My mind becomes frazzled as soon as my surroundings become cluttered.
Needless to say, my mac has been great for my OCD with organization. /forums/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
I've been going through media by media, slowly organizing it to perfection. I have my MP3's all in order and mostly done manually - I have about 7,300 songs, each has album art, and all correct ID3 info. Thanks to the help of the app (ironically) named Clutter, I was able to get all my album art, and I have about 3,000 songs that aren't sold on the iTS. I organized all the genres into 30 different genre's that'll fit my mood no matter what...so if I know I want something mellow, I'll opt for either 'relaxation rock' or 'shoe-gazer'...done. Love it...instant playlists. It took awhile, but it was worth it.
I'm currently going through my iPhoto and MemoryMiner and correctly tagging all 2,000 of my photo's with dates, places, and names. My fiance thinks I'm awful (but she's a packrat, what does she know? haha), but it's soooo rewarding to know where and how to get to anything relevant with a few keystrokes. It's come in handy, and she NOW loves the iTunes organization...she'll understand the photo organization when that's done as well I'm sure.
As for my mail, I'm a thrower-away-er. I am about 800 miles away from my family now, so I get plenty of photo's, I import them instantly into iPhoto and toss the emails. I get recipes that I request from my mom when I'm craving a taste of home...print it to a PDF and import it into DevonThink. I went through my bookmarks and used Paparazzi, printed them to JPGs and imported them into DevonThink as well. I'm relatively new (about 1 month) to DevonThink, but I love this little app. A month ago I had issues with a Tmobile rebate form, I scanned the bugger in before I mailed it off, date stamped it, when I ran into a brick wall, I called the number on the original form I had scanned, gave them the IMEI number and they tracked down my rebate instantly and got it right to me...it's a godsend!! Like I said above, there's always something that I pickup in each issue, sometimes there are tutorials that I know I'll want to get to, but being the anti-packrat, I'll scan the article in, import it into DevonThink, and toss the magazine after I've absorbed everything else and save some shelf space.
I keep a stickie in my dashboard of things to do on my computer...I have a Moleskine notepad I picked up a month ago to get all my lists and basic to-do errands down in (we're planning a wedding, repairing a house, and of course the chaos of normal life - it's getting full quickly!) that do not involve my computer. I sleep so much better at night since I get things out of my head and instantly into the Moleskine or on a stickie - no more trying to fall asleep and thinking about what I have to do and thinking of the best order in which to undertake it.
Basically, when it comes down to it, I thin out my music/pics/movies to those that are truly worthwhile, tag it to my OCD standards and keep it maintained when I add something new. When it comes to email, I grab attachments and put them in place whether it be in iTunes, iPhoto, or DevonThink, and trash the email. The emails that I must keep, I have a saved folder, and even those are only kept for a month or so, if I still have them after they're a month old, I'll import it to DevonThink.
I'm currently debating about picking up MacGourmet or whether to await for the MDA Cookbook to be released, then I can get the recipes all tagged and organized - I'll worry about that after I have my photo's in order.... /forums/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
The key is, once you have the courage to start sorting/organizing/deleting...MAINTAIN MAINTAIN MAINTAIN!!!!! I think everyone has hinted toward that in the prior posts. Do the heft of the work once, then it's not so daunting to keep it up!
I've always been, what I call, the anti-packrat. Raised in a home where we didn't have a car in our 2 car garage since a time when I was 3 until I moved out at the age of 19. I'm 26 now, but still, no car has been in that garage in 23 years. I toss things quickly. Ever so rarely I'll regret it, but I find I cannot function in clutter. My mind becomes frazzled as soon as my surroundings become cluttered.
Needless to say, my mac has been great for my OCD with organization. /forums/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
I've been going through media by media, slowly organizing it to perfection. I have my MP3's all in order and mostly done manually - I have about 7,300 songs, each has album art, and all correct ID3 info. Thanks to the help of the app (ironically) named Clutter, I was able to get all my album art, and I have about 3,000 songs that aren't sold on the iTS. I organized all the genres into 30 different genre's that'll fit my mood no matter what...so if I know I want something mellow, I'll opt for either 'relaxation rock' or 'shoe-gazer'...done. Love it...instant playlists. It took awhile, but it was worth it.
I'm currently going through my iPhoto and MemoryMiner and correctly tagging all 2,000 of my photo's with dates, places, and names. My fiance thinks I'm awful (but she's a packrat, what does she know? haha), but it's soooo rewarding to know where and how to get to anything relevant with a few keystrokes. It's come in handy, and she NOW loves the iTunes organization...she'll understand the photo organization when that's done as well I'm sure.
As for my mail, I'm a thrower-away-er. I am about 800 miles away from my family now, so I get plenty of photo's, I import them instantly into iPhoto and toss the emails. I get recipes that I request from my mom when I'm craving a taste of home...print it to a PDF and import it into DevonThink. I went through my bookmarks and used Paparazzi, printed them to JPGs and imported them into DevonThink as well. I'm relatively new (about 1 month) to DevonThink, but I love this little app. A month ago I had issues with a Tmobile rebate form, I scanned the bugger in before I mailed it off, date stamped it, when I ran into a brick wall, I called the number on the original form I had scanned, gave them the IMEI number and they tracked down my rebate instantly and got it right to me...it's a godsend!! Like I said above, there's always something that I pickup in each issue, sometimes there are tutorials that I know I'll want to get to, but being the anti-packrat, I'll scan the article in, import it into DevonThink, and toss the magazine after I've absorbed everything else and save some shelf space.
I keep a stickie in my dashboard of things to do on my computer...I have a Moleskine notepad I picked up a month ago to get all my lists and basic to-do errands down in (we're planning a wedding, repairing a house, and of course the chaos of normal life - it's getting full quickly!) that do not involve my computer. I sleep so much better at night since I get things out of my head and instantly into the Moleskine or on a stickie - no more trying to fall asleep and thinking about what I have to do and thinking of the best order in which to undertake it.
Basically, when it comes down to it, I thin out my music/pics/movies to those that are truly worthwhile, tag it to my OCD standards and keep it maintained when I add something new. When it comes to email, I grab attachments and put them in place whether it be in iTunes, iPhoto, or DevonThink, and trash the email. The emails that I must keep, I have a saved folder, and even those are only kept for a month or so, if I still have them after they're a month old, I'll import it to DevonThink.
I'm currently debating about picking up MacGourmet or whether to await for the MDA Cookbook to be released, then I can get the recipes all tagged and organized - I'll worry about that after I have my photo's in order.... /forums/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
The key is, once you have the courage to start sorting/organizing/deleting...MAINTAIN MAINTAIN MAINTAIN!!!!! I think everyone has hinted toward that in the prior posts. Do the heft of the work once, then it's not so daunting to keep it up!
#32
mh901
- Newbie
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- Group: Members
- Posts: 1
- Joined: 26-February 07
Posted 26 February 2007 - 04:52 PM
Well, I use lots of folders, personal, work, store related, tech, kids, etc.
Save multiple messages as a text file
I also have folders for genealogy emails, by surname. Periodically, I make a text archive of all emails from each sender, and file in the appropriate place on the hard drive. Mail allows the option to save multiple messages as a text file. I use the sort by sender function and select all that I want. You never know what kind of software there will be in the future, and it is a basic type of file, and easy to search.
M
Save multiple messages as a text file
I also have folders for genealogy emails, by surname. Periodically, I make a text archive of all emails from each sender, and file in the appropriate place on the hard drive. Mail allows the option to save multiple messages as a text file. I use the sort by sender function and select all that I want. You never know what kind of software there will be in the future, and it is a basic type of file, and easy to search.
M
