

Working without distraction : my minimalist Macintosh experience - atestu
http://wedontneedroads.net/post/199521418/minimalistmacintoshexperience

======
andrewtj
I wonder how something as utilitarian as a volume control or battery status
icon could disturb or distract someone. Sure for a minimal aesthetic it could
be considered superfluous, but a distraction? Seems a bit neurotic to me.

~~~
gwern
It's something for the eye to focus on and the mind to be aware of, something
to think about, remember, and compare to previous memories, to examine for
changes. Imagine how distracting the shell would be if every command finished
with a bell and 'Command completed!', or if there were a menu bar listing
every possible command (or even just a subset), or if your room was
wallpapered in lorem ipsum. Unless the volume actually changes, or you
specifically want to mess with it, it being there at all is an issue.

~~~
andrewtj
Not sure I follow — are you suggesting it's distracting at a subconscious
level?

I find it a stretch to say any of the examples you mention are analogous to
small static monotone icons in the corner of a screen; they no more distract
me than the 'Eject' key on the keyboard does.

~~~
aaronblohowiak
[http://www.scribd.com/doc/13038258/Auditory-visual-and-
physi...](http://www.scribd.com/doc/13038258/Auditory-visual-and-physical-
distractions-in-the-workplace)

------
iuguy
I didn't really agree with the article. I saw his experience, but to me it
doesn't look that minimal - just his way of doing things. His way of doing
things works for him. Is using a site that just shows the youtube video in
question minimal? Would using darkroom instead of textmate be more minimal?
Would using a 386 instead of a Mac be more minimal? Would using vi be more
minimal?

I'm not having a pop at the guy, he's made a choice and it works for him. From
where I sit (typing this on Vista/Firefox but also using Arch/Awesome
elsewhere) it seems some of his choices (to me at least) seem a bit more ocd
than minimal.

But I'm glad he has something that works for him and it's always good to see
other people's setups.

------
junklight
Agree with some of the posters on here - some people take things to extremes.

However the article was well worth the read for the mention of jumpcut
<http://jumpcut.sourceforge.net/>. I've been after something like this for
ages.

Interesting how some of his daily reading is moving off laptop and too his
iphone. This is something I am beginning to find myself doing more and more as
well.

------
bcl
About the only really useful hint here is to turn off notifications. I tried
out Growl when I first got my mini, but after a few weeks I realized it was
adversly effecting my productivity, bouncing between email, IRC and IMs almost
constantly.

Minimalist screens, docks, etc. are a matter of taste but I don't seen any
real productivity improvements.

~~~
mark_h
_"I tried out Growl when I first got my mini, but after a few weeks I realized
it was adversly effecting my productivity, bouncing between email, IRC and IMs
almost constantly."_

That's exactly what I expected too, and while I certainly turn it off when
deep in the zone, I found there's a certain sweet spot where growl actually
minimises distractions because you're vaguely aware of what new
message/mail/etc just turned up, but don't need to toggle applications to see
if it's worth paying attention to.

~~~
_pius
_I found there's a certain sweet spot where growl actually minimises
distractions because you're vaguely aware of what new message/mail/etc just
turned up, but don't need to toggle applications to see if it's worth paying
attention to._

Agree. I find Facebook notifications, for instance, to be in this sweet spot
for me. Lessens the likelihood that I'll actually visit the site.

------
frou
It's funny that some dude apparently getting all serious about minimalism must
still have an image plastered across his desktop.

A "wallpaper" isn't essential to using a computer, folks.

~~~
ugh
Changing your wallpaper to some solid color isn’t minimalism.

~~~
frou
In the context of the article, why not?

~~~
ugh
You implied that somebody “all serious” about minimalism should only use solid
color wallpapers. Anybody else apparently doesn’t have the street cred or
something.

He already uses a very toned down wallpaper (mentions that, too) and I
honestly don’t get why in that context your snide comment was necessary.

------
sandaru1
Quote : "I almost never need more than one window to focus on."

That's not suitable for most of the programming work.

~~~
KevinBongart
Hi,

I'm the author of that article.

I'm studying Computer Science Engineering in Paris and also working at
Netvibes.com as web developer.

I can assure you I just need one TextMate window most of the time, for web or
system development.

Pretty sure everybody has a different use of virtual space and windows
arrangement, I juste wanted to share some tips that worked very well for me.

------
doki_pen
I use dwm and experience the same benefits. One great advantage is that it's
absolutely free.

