The computer is my main work tool. From Monday to Friday she accompanies me every day helping me to carry out my tasks and fulfill my responsibilities. However I must confess something to you: lately it has become very cumbersome.
It takes more time to light up and to execute the basic tasks that it carried out with so much charm. In fact, there are even occasions where you "stay thinking" indefinitely, prolonging the time of my stay in the office.
To make matters worse there are times when he informs me that I was "out of space" taking my nerves to the top of the unthinkable.
Lack of speed and loss of time seem to dominate the current scenario because maintenance and organization care was not taken to keep the computer in good condition.
If you feel identified with this, it may be time to start incorporating some minimalist habits that will allow you to correct the situation, because if the computer is your main work tool then you should take better care of it.
The minimalism applied to the computer will consist of applying the idea of "lightness" where the information to be stored and its subsequent arrangement will be carefully selected. The benefits of this are:
- Keep your work tool in good condition for a longer time Avoid wasting time searching for files Preserve a fast and agile computer in your tasks Maintain a visual order and an idea of simplicity Gain focus on what is really important
1. Icon-free computer desktop
First of all, and while this does not significantly affect the performance of your computer, keeping a desk tidy is important to feel good. You do not realize it there but as soon as you turn on the computer and the screen full of things appears, it instantly gives an idea of chaos. And indeed it is.
On the other hand, it is very different when your desktop presents only about ten icons where not only can you better appreciate the image that acts as the wallpaper, but you can also access those programs or files that have direct access more quickly.
Steps to follow - Minimize your windows and look closely at your Windows desktop. Is the background image quiet? Does it give you a sense of peace and harmony, or does it represent something collapsed, chaos, and disorder?
Remove all shortcut icons until you keep only the necessary ones. It leaves a total of approximately ten icons on your desktop.
Modify the wallpaper image with one that you like.
2. Avoid compulsive downloading of information
Is it necessary to have 50,000 photos on the computer that we never see or review?
Is it necessary to have 10,000 songs saved when we only heard about thirty in the last month?
And what about the pdfs, excel files, and work word documents that we receive by email and download to our computer?
The more things we download, the more valuable space we will be occupying. In general we use 10% -20% of everything we have installed and that is the reason that leads me to think if everything I download is really usable.
In addition to the above, everything we keep, must be located in some sector and if we do not have a clear folder classification system, we tend to leave everything scattered on the hard disk with the subsequent difficulty in finding that information.
3. Delete the programs you don't use
I have about 50 programs installed on my computer. However on an average day I use the same two or three programs as always.
So I recommend that before installing a program you evaluate its frequency of use and if there is no online alternative (web application) that can do the same.
So here the advice is twofold: Install a new program only when you see it strictly necessary. Delete all the programs that you do not use (you can take for example those that you have been opening for three months).
4. Fewer folders, more order
Establish a classification system that allows you to keep as few folders as possible where you will keep your files and information.
A very common situation is not finding what we keep, given the large number of folders created within each other, in an extremely complex system.
Remember: Keep it simple. Less information, fewer files, less everything and it will also be easier to organize and access only the elementary.
5. One program open at a time - maximum three
If you have ten windows open at the same time, it may be time to reconsider the issue. Simplify, use less, and do one task at a time. There is no need to have twenty windows open taking up the computer's RAM.
The same thing happens to me when I surf the Internet. I have the browser open with fifteen tabs, generating unnecessary stress. If I'm reading about a topic I start to open tab after tabs saturating myself more.
So I also suggest trying to have as few windows open as possible as well as doing one thing at a time.
conclusion
Fortunately, with the advancement of web applications and cloud storage, we can count on most of the programs and information stored on the Internet. Not only does this give us the advantage of being able to access them from anywhere, but it also leaves our computer light, agile and powerful as it was when we bought it.
On the other hand, the idea of minimalism applied to the computer can be something very powerful since it encourages us to focus on only the elemental and discard all the things that we don't really need.
It is about keeping our main working tool in good condition, clean and organized.
