Tag Archives: work

5 Questions to Ask Before Buying Equipment

5 Questions to Ask Before Buying New Equipment

You don't need new kitchen appliances to cook; use what you already have.

Productivity isn’t about having the right tools; it’s about having the right mindset.

Before you purchase any equipment, ask yourself the following questions:

Will I use this everyday?
A tool that is never used is simply clutter. This is why I don’t own specialized kitchen supplies like egg-beaters, blenders, butter knives, or electric kettles. These are niche products that I don’t use very often.
Is there a simpler way to get things done?
Simple problems don’t need complicated solutions; life is complicated enough. Last year, I replaced my $60 GPS with a free map. Although the map didn’t offer turn-by-turn directions, it took up less space and didn’t require batteries, recharging, or clumsy interfaces. The map can be recycled, whereas the GPS will generate e-waste.
Do I absolutely need it right now?
Postpone purchases for as long as possible. Many products—-electronics especially—-are designed to be obsolete within a few years. Last year, I was learning iOS software development. Instead of buying an older model, I opted for the newest Mac Mini and iPod Touch. But by the time I began actual programming, Apple had already released newer versions of both, along with the iPad. If I had merely postponed my purchase, I would have had better equipment at the same price.
How much will it cost?
Calculate the cost in terms of your hourly wage, and see if it’s worth your time. Depending on your salary, cars may not save you time compared to bicycling. If you spend $10,000/yr. on cars (include loans, insurance, gasoline, and parking), and you only earn $20/hr, then you’ll waste 3 months each year working just to pay for your car. That’s 1/4th of your life!
How much research will I need to do?
Time wasted on research is time not spent on work. Factor in the time you spend comparison shopping, assembling equipment, configuring devices, and reading manuals. My parents once bought me a bookshelf that required our family-of-four 3 hours to assemble. That’s 12 hours worth of labor wasted to beautify the living room.

Being productive is about finding the most effective solution available, and what you already have is usually enough. Don’t fantasize about the latest and greatest equipment. Not only does it contribute to landfill, but it’s expensive and bad for your productivity. Find something that does just enough, and settle for that instead. Save your money, protect the environment, get work done, and move on with your life.

What one item do you most regret purchasing?

Getting Real, by 37signals, has been a huge inspiration for this post. I’ve been applying their techniques of quick, practical software development to daily life. Read the book for free online, and pay special attention to It’s a Problem When It’s a Problem and Less Mass.

Paul Graham’s essay on stuff is also worth reading.

My Greenimalist Home Office

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I can work while traveling because my entire office fits into my backpack. (At Taichung Train Station)

Right now, my entire home office fits in my backpack. Here’s my set-up broken down by category:

Furniture

I don’t own any. When I stay in a furnished apartment, I’ll use chairs and tables. Otherwise, I just sit on the floor, lean against the wall, and prop my laptop on an old cardboard box. I use ambient lighting when practical.

Electronics

My electronics are not cutting edge. My Kodak Easy-Share camera is almost a decade old, and I’m using a pre-owned 2006 Macbook. I also carry a headset, a mouse, and an ethernet cable. As for cell-phones/smartphones, I’m currently not using any. In total, my electronics are worth around $500.

Phone System

I don’t have a single landline or cell phone subscription: my telephone is completely online. I signed up with Skype for an online number, which includes unlimited calls in the USA, for $60/year. My laptop has a built-in web-cam that I use for videoconferencing, and with my headset, calls are fairly clear. An alternative, Ekiga, works well with open-source.

Fax

I personally haven’t had the need yet, but I may use Fax1 or MyFax. I haven’t tested FaxZero yet, but it claims to offer free faxes with ads.

Mail

Sending mail online is extremely simple. snailmailr, snailmailme, and 1hrmail will print your letter–including color photos–on recycled paper and mail it for a $1-$3. I haven’t tested any yet, but I’m quite impressed.

Receiving mail digitally is much more expensive. Earthclassmail seems to be the most popular service. Besides scanning your letters for online viewing, they also send letters, deposit checks, and forward mail. I probably need to get this soon; my mail is currently just piling up at my old PO Box.

Books

I’m a web developer, so I read a lot of tech books. O’Reilly, Informit, Apress, PragProg, and PeachPit sell DRM-free PDF e-books. By searching around, I can often find free tech e-books licensed under Creative Commons or the GNU FDL. I hate DRM, so I avoid Amazon Kindle/Adobe Digital Editions. If I can’t find a DRM-free e-book, I search the local library.

Documents

I try to minimize the documents I receive. I don’t have auto insurance, magazine subscriptions, or cable, and I receive my bank and loan statements in digital format. Besides saving paper, it save space and headache.

I recycle as much as possible to avoid wasting storage space. I rarely scan documents. So far, I’ve been able to cram everything inside a thin folder.

Printing/Scanning/Photocopying

For those rare moments when I need a scanner, printer, or photocopier, I just borrow one. I usually print at the library ($0.10/page) to avoid the high prices at FedEx Kinko’s. I also try not to scan anything I’m sure I’ll never use again. After all, minimalism is also about removing digital clutter.

Productivity Supplies

I digitized my to-do list, memos, calendar, and address book. For my online whiteboard, I use Twiddla and Dabbleboard. Twiddla is more intuitive, but Dabbleboard includes videoconferencing. I’m using Google Docs for document collaboration, and Google Calendar for my to-do list. Basecamp is a popular alternative for simple project management. I experimented with Zoho last year, but the experience felt unpolished.

My home office is tailored to my needs, not yours. Go and discover the type of Greenimalist office that fits your lifestyle. Maybe your office won’t fit inside a backpack, but I hope I’ve inspired you to get more done with less.

Do you have a method that works better?

Sell All Your Electronics

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Keep a laptop, cell phone, and camera. Sell everything else.

When it comes to electronics, the only one you’ll need is a single laptop. If you want to indulge, you might keep one cell phone and one camera. You should sell or donate the rest of your electronics–all of them.

Go around your house, unplug your electronics, and sell everything. Sell your widescreen TV, mp3 player, telephone, computer, external hard drive, GPS devices, printers, scanners, speakers, DVR, and iPad. If you can’t sell something, try to donate it, because keeping worthless electronics will clutter your living space (1). If it’s not a laptop, a cell phone, or a camera, it shouldn’t be in your house.

In fact, you won’t even need a specialized laptop. Any mediocre, 5-year old laptop can provide all the functionality you need to read e-books, play audio, browse the web, search map directions, and make phone calls. When you have tasks your laptop can’t handle, like printing or scanning documents, head over to the nearest copy center or library. Don’t keep anything you rarely use.

Minimalism in electronics is a simple way to reduce environmental damage. Electronics require metals and oil, resources which are extracted by damaging the Earth’s ecosystems. These raw materials are transformed into computer chips and plastic, requiring enormous amounts of energy. The devices themselves require energy to operate, and when they become obsolete, toxic heavy metals are often dumped into landfills.

If owning more electronics helped your productivity, perhaps the environmental trade-off could be tolerated. But most electronics actually decrease productivity once you factor in the cost of the device. Conventional, greener solutions are usually far cheaper than their digital counterparts. A one-dollar map works almost as well as a $100 GPS device, and a library book can save you $200 compared to an e-book reader. By selling your electronics, you’ll have extra cash, more living space, and a lower energy bill. Selling your equipment also helps someone else avoid buying new.

Get into the minimalist mindset early on. Once you get adjusted to life without shopping, you can fight back against the onslaught of advertising you’re bombarded with every day. The consumer electronics industry will try hard to manipulate you into purchasing more junk. They want you to buy their netbooks and their smartphones, their Blu-Ray players and their Kinects, their Kindles and iPads.

But as a minimalist, you’ll learn how to say ‘No.’ Because you’ll have freedom from materialism, which can be neither purchased nor owned, only enjoyed. And once you have freedom, you’ll never want to go back.

What electronics do you think you need?

1 The Salvation Army takes electronics.