I’ve been looking for excuses on why the pounds have been creeping on a bit lately. Change in metabolism? Too many coffee coolatas? Not enough exercise? Too many feeds in my reader? Too much twittering?
Does the “cluttered” virtual space I created that sits on the desk in my physical space “help” make my butt look fat?
I ran across an article in Chicago Tribune that resonated with me because lately, I’ve been feeling the same thing the author is saying about the cluttered environment:
‘I go into that space, I feel buried.’
While this article applies to physical spaces, it can easily pertain to virtual spaces (bracket is mine).
What happens is that once you physically [virtually] open someone’s space, it really removes a lot of distractions. When you help them focus on what’s important in their lives . . . what flows back into that space is a sense of calm and peace and harmony and focus and motivation. They’re able to focus far more clearly on their relationships, their spiritual lives, their work. And, what I think generally happens is people are able to make much healthier choices in the very broader sense.
The author explains that he worked as a teacher… in interpersonal skills training and organizational change at the corporate level . . . and he started helping people with their residential settings. It became very obvious to him, very early that it’s very seldom about the stuff. He says, if you want to help people de-clutter, focusing on the stuff will get you nowhere. His message is a simple one. Unless you have a clear vision for the life you want, you really are lost before you even start.
Which made me think about Tom Haskins recent posts on the Law of Attraction.
In short, to get your life in order my advice is to telescope and microscope. Decide what life you want (telescope). Then, jot down all those things you do during your day that get in the way of that (microscope); the ‘distractions’ and either ditch them or manage them.
Some links about decluttering your space:
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This has come up for us recently in our testing of Moodle and Sakai. Moodle has lots of options and power, but the interface can get a bit cluttered. One participant in the pilot commented that Moodle made her feel like she was wandering in a forest; other said it was like going into a big house with so many rooms that you can’t tell if anyone else is there or not. I was kind of surprised at how strongly emotional the responses to Moodle were.
Sakai is much simpler, but doesn’t have all the options of Moodle. In our usability testing, people were able to get things done much faster in Sakai than in Moodle. The Sakai pilot has generated some negative feedback, but nothing at the visceral level of the reaction to Moodle’s cluttered environment.
Christy –
Interesting. It’s like trying to fit the glass slipper on the user. Too “big,” too “little,” and “just right” is only good for Cinderella (and she’ll change at midnight). I’m always reminded of Google’s classic search page and why it’s such a beautiful thing. Any way people can decide how much clutter they want with Moodle? (I’m not a Moodle guru)
Well, by the title of this post, I thought I was going to be reading about the half eaten bags of m&ms that you kept discovering under your piles of papers. I guess that’s just me…
I am eating re-heated Kraft mac & cheese as I read your comment. Finding m&ms…well, that’s like a bonus.
Janet: Thanks for the mention! I see that correlation a lot — between mental clutter and physical messes – with those entrepreneurs I mentor. During intervals where one’s focus is clear and tasks are scheduled, the workspace gets tidy. My proteges are now understanding how their state of mind offers a vibration that attracts motivations, happenstance and circumstance.
Tom-
I’m a believer in the law of attraction. It is absolutely amazing. When I get off track, I can immediately see the negative results. I truly believe in the mind/attraction link. Great posts BTW, I didn’t get a chance to comment but enjoyed reading them.
Best-
Janet
I had the same reaction to the last Moodle course I went through: lost in the dark woods, no path in sight, just forging on ahead in the hope that I’d get out some day.
There was no persistent menu–just many many screens, each with multiple links that sent me deeper into the wilderness.
Other Moodle courses I’ve seen have also confused me. However, I don’t know if it’s the engine itself or the way people design with it.
I want to say, first, that my desktop visibility score at the moment is about 95%, the highest all year…
The comments on the complications of various applications are highly pertinent. I remember a tongue-in-cheek set of definitions, years ago:
Easy to learn: hard to use.
Easy to use: hard to learn.
Easy to learn AND easy to use: won’t do what you want.
It’s easy to forget how daunting it can feel even to move around within an environment (an online course, Moodle, Second Life), let alone feel in control. A good analogy is: airport rental car, 9:30 p.m., strange city, rain. It takes ten minutes to figure out the wipers and the mirrors; forget changing the default radio station from C&W/disco fusion.
Cathy, you can definitely do things to make Moodle easier to use and less cluttered. You can also add a persistent menu; we did that for our pilot. It definitely helped to have that, but users still felt lost. I think Moodle lends itself to a more cluttered layout just by default.
Dave, I love the definitions.
My desk right now is fairly clean–just a few CDs and an empty Altoids box. My husband and I have both noticed that we feel more stressed when we let the clutter pile up, so I do see a connection between physical and mental clutter. I don’t think it’s a stretch to think that clutter in virtual spaces can cause stress too.
On April 23 Christy Tucker said: “This has come up for us recently in our testing of Moodle and Sakai.” We’ve recently received pressure from leadership to look at Sakai as a potential LCMS. I had never heard of it. It’s not in Brandon Hall’s April 2008 LCMS report. Where did this OpenSource application come from? Does anyone know anything about it? Is it really an LCMS or more of a collaboration tool? Is it only for the academic world or also for corporate.
Thanks in advance!
Hi Stephanie-
It is in our Open Source E-Learning report. Do you have it?
Although focussing on the task at hand is good, starting with your goals is even better. Once you have set your goals, it will become much clearer what tasks you need to accomplish to achieve your goals. And this certainly applies to the goal of diminishing clutter in your life.