Unplggd: Ways to Save Computer Storage Space

I love my Macbook Air. I love how thin and portable it is, I love the solid construction and the clean looks. I especially love how the flash storage makes it feel like a computer that’s twice as fast. But what I don’t love is the limited storage. Compared to a laptop with a hard drive, my internal storage space is about a sixth less. This means that I have to carefully manage my storage and constantly be on the look out to save space. Here are some tips and tricks I’ve learned to ensure that I optimize how I use my storage.

Always be curating new files. Whether we’re managing photos, (legally) downloading songs or starting a movie project, it’s easy to get lost in the plethora of files being created on our computer everyday. These files can build up over time, even long after we no longer need them. The trick to managing storage is being organized, know where files go after they’re downloaded or created. Have a good folder system going so new files are always being filed away. When it comes time to delete or back up data for more storage, we could simply move the entire folder instead of going through individual files.

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Stay Creative

If your Monday is feeling a little slow and the coffee hasn’t quite kicked in yet check out this short video by a Japanese graphic designer. Maybe some of that creativity will rub off!

29 WAYS TO STAY CREATIVE from TO-FU on Vimeo.

Desktop Organization

Stop for a moment, and clear your computer screen of any open windows to get a good look at your desktop. What do you see? We’d predict the average Unplggd reader keeps a pretty tidy desktop workspace, as we’d assume you’ve got a good sense of organization (or at least aspirations for it). Some say what your computer desktop looks like and how it’s organized reveals a lot about you…

The statistic/infographic geniuses over at Hunch polled their readers and discovered 72% of their readers keep their computer desktops tip-top and tidy, an impressive figure considering the average person’s desktop looks like someone spilled mahjong tiles. What was even more interesting was the conclusions they came to with their desktop organization findings, which may or may not apply to Unplggd readers, but gives insight about how we organize our virtual workspaces. Key findings include:

*Men are more likely to have neat desktops, but are also apt to have too many icons on their desktop (a no-no, since it slows down OS performance).

*The older you are, the more apt you are to have a messy desktop. 12% of those belonging to the 35-49 age category had a mess on their computer.

*The more education and more liberal you are, the more likely you are to have a messy desktop. Hunch’s readers tend to skew to the left, as noted in their findings, but it makes sense those who are more conservative and like order would have neater desktops.

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Project: Desk

Part 1 – The Problem

You know how it’s only when addicts plummet to the bottom that they can begin to rebuild their lives? So it goes with my home office. Which I, over the next many weeks, hope to transform into a beautiful, functioning workspace where thoughts will soar and inspiration will flow in like a spring breeze.

I thought the antique sheet music storage would be good for my paper organization. Apparently not.

Some background: I live in a delightful two-bedroom 1947 condo in Southern California with my über-supportive and well-meaning husband, Steve. We are not terrifically messy people, but we’re not completely compulsive either. What the architect intended to be a dining room is my workspace, open for all to see. There’s a desk and several bookshelves. And in an attempt to be organized, I have purchased many holdy-things: snappy cardboard boxes in attractive colors and prints, a file rack that goes on the wall, desk organizers and under-desk storage. I thought it was a genius move to commandeer a cedar hope chest as a filing cabinet and stick one of those press-on lights to the inside of the lid, but I have not opened it since I tucked away papers I apparently can’t live without two months ago. Steve tried to put up a shelf but ended up with a precarious installation that seems like it’s trying with all its might to escape the wall and go back to Ikea. There is a lot of glue where I think screws are supposed to go.

This shelf is defying all known physical laws as it pulls away from the wall and still stays up. Hopefully there will be no animals or people nearby during an earthquake.

I think I may have all the tools for effective organization, but there is a user-error issue here. My office is where I write magazine stories and work on my blog. There is always an impending avalanche of paper. My tax guy told me to save all my receipts, but I honestly do not think that the IRS cares that I spent $26.29 on sheep’s milk gouda, Valrhona chocolate and lavender-scented laundry detergent at Trader Joe’s.  My desk is covered with menus and brochures from travel story research, “inspiration” pages torn from magazines, photos that are not important enough to frame but too dear to toss, mortgage re-fi paperwork, postcards from the vet reminding me that my dog is due for a dental cleaning – you get the idea. Pretty much everything.

I found this perfectly good inbox in my neighbor’s trash. I put wedding invitation stationary in it. I got married in August so I hope I won’t need it again any time soon.

Once I hired a woman to help me organize my office, and after her two-hour show of folding and tossing and filing, I thought, “Well that was easy enough. I didn’t need to pay anyone, I could have done that.” And then everything went to hell the next week.

These are my desk drawers. I like to play a little game called “find the scissors.”

The issue is that I need a system. I need to know what to do with each piece of paper, each electronic accoutrement, each business card and bank errata that passes my way.

How do you do stay clear and organized in your workspace so that you can actually produce? Welcoming all suggestions, and I thank you in advance.

Wired Magazine’s Steven Levy’s Home Office Makeover

Check out this office makeover. Erin Doland from Unclutterer took on the job to reorganize Levy’s home office in the Berkshires. And it’s a great success – as is the way Wired has presented the story. They are graphic design geniuses over at that magazine! We interviewed Erin back in February and you can see her office here.

Five Fabulous: Wall Hooks

1. MUCHroom, $22 Created to resemble a mushroom growing out of a forest floor, this wall hook by Minneapolis-based designer Adam Brackney is an exercise in minimalism. Get it: Workerman

2. Chess Hooks, $105 These sculptural wooden knobs inspired by the game of chess are designed by Malin Lundmark. Made of white lacquered birch from Sweden. Get it: Huset

3. Hang Out Hooks David Zachary, $18 These eco-friendly hooks are handmade entirely in Brooklyn (from sourcing to manufacturing to packaging) from wood that would otherwise have ended up in a landfill Get it: Supermarket

4. Gum Hooks, $15.92 Liven up your space with soft, simple, silicon hooks that are as practical as they are playful. Get it: Curiosite

5. Five Alarm Hook, $14 Bright cherry red wakes up this standard, sturdy hook design (and will also wake up your walls). Get it: Anthropologie

Images linked to their sources within the numbered text