#341: Setting Up the Space

This piece took me back to grad school exams, where I often felt the most difficult part of preparing was simply determining which material I needed laid out in front of me. Once I figured out the textbook pages, written notes, and powerpoint slides that were relevant and arranged them all in one place, I felt way more willing to sit down at my desk to do the actual studying part because everything I needed was now there in an organized manner. It made me consider that sometimes the most challenging part of tackling a task can actually be the organizational part and doing whatever it takes to get in the right space. And how having the physical environment setup allows me to get in the proper headspace too. Corey's blog, as well as a previous one from Sasha titled, "Getting Into Position," has me thinking more about the importance of space and the steps that can be influential in supporting greater focus, mental clarity, and the ability to work in a flow state. Thank you, Corey!

- Amanda

Setting Up the Space

I recently picked up an old software project that had been collecting a bit of dust. It was something I worked on with a friend a couple months back, and we had a lot of fun making it. But life things crept in and took focus for both of us, so we got it to a good place where the project could be left in “storage” for a while, its future features’ by-when dates set to the nebulous “TBD”.

And then last week, I decided it was time to give our project the nice coat of paint we always wanted it to have. I checked out our prototype, decided on the feature to fix, and a feature to add. Keep it simple to start. My brain reached for the next step…

…but nothing appeared.

I could fully visualize what it felt like WHILE I was working on the project (the actual coding). I could clearly imagine the FINAL look and behavior of the parts I wanted to complete. But there was a gap at the start.  I realized I‘d forgotten how to BEGIN.

It was as if I couldn’t remember how to brush my teeth.

It took me a couple minutes to get over my embarrassment. And then I started to slowly reacquaint myself with the info I had at hand: links for files, how to sync everything up, and our notes to self on where we had left off and what still needed done. By the time I was fully re-acquainted and had everything set up, ready to be worked on, it was the end of my work block. But that meant it was ready and waiting for me when I got back on the next morning.

The features mostly fell into place over the next few days. Having taken the time to get all of the right files open and “laid out” on my computer screens meant I could see where to go for each part of the app, and what tools I had at my command. It created a clean workspace, where the only things I could see were the relevant information at hand.

It occurred to me that getting myself into position was nearly as important as doing “the thing” itself. A doing with no pre-positioning results in an often overwhelming amount of mental friction. When I’m well set up, the doing of “the thing” seems to happen with minimal effort.