Kinkless Desktop 1: The "No Mercy" Cleanup | KinklessSo we have an undifferentiated mass of stuff on the desktop. This is the point at which a lot of organization self-help tells you to sort through it file by file. I am not going to tell you this. Why? Because I am lazy and realistic. You are just not going to clean up your desktop right now. Why? It’s overwhelming. So we’ll use a trick I call the “No Mercy Cleanup”:
The No-Mercy Cleanup
- Get rid of your hard disks, CDs, and network shares. you can bring these back later, but for now we want an empty desktop.
- Make a folder called “To Delete on Monday March 7” (using a date one week from today)
- Select all items on your desktop (Command-A), command-click unselecting the “To Delete” folder.
- Drag and drop everything on your desktop into this new folder.
- Brush hands together, lean back, bask in the glory of your new clean desktop.
“But! I have! stuff! I need! in there!” I hear you say with too many exclamation points. Yes, you do. You are going to delete it in a week. So between now and one week from now, what do you do?
- Every time you really need something from that folder…
- You are going to go in to the “To Delete” folder…
- and re-file it to your main document storage folder
“I came back for my own purposes,” said the Time Traveler, looking around my booklined study. “I chose you to talk to because it was . . . convenient. And I don’t want you to do a goddamned thing. There’s nothing you can do. But relax . . . we’re not going to be talking about personal things. Such as, say, the year, day, and hour of your death. I don’t even know that sort of trivial information, although I could look it up quickly enough. You can release that white-knuckled grip you have on the edge of your desk.” I tried to relax. “What do you want to talk about?” I said. “The Century War,” said the Time Traveler. I blinked and tried to remember some history. “You mean the Hundred Year War? Fifteenth Century? Fourteenth? Sometime around there. Between . . . France and England? Henry V? Kenneth Branagh? Or was it . . .” “I mean the Century War with Islam,” interrupted the Time Traveler. “Your future. Everyone’s.” He was no longer smiling. Without asking, or offering to pour me any, he ...
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