Apparently, it’s time for my biennial office shuffle, as in the spring of 2009’s deckchair destiny and the great cube shuffle of 2007, we’re moving the office. But this time, just after we got everything packed up and labeled, a last-minute hitch prevented the actual move. So here we sit at empty desks with only our laptops. No phones, no files. The water cooler and coffee maker have been removed. We’ve drawn down office supplies and kitchen snacks.
I, for one, am loving it. Minimalism FTW, I say. If only I could have accomplished a similar clean sweep of my email inbox and file system. Not having this stuff to futz around with helps us focus, and frankly, the office has never looked better (except for that stack of boxes in the hallway). A clean sweep lets you reconsider what you need and what you don’t. Reviewing old files usually means throwing most of them away, but it also means thinking about old projects in new light.
Every other year is probably not often enough, and you probably can’t work like this for too long, but as spring cleaning goes, it feels pretty good.