Manufacturing guy-at-large.

Everything is ready

Added on by Spencer Wright.

From the whiteboard that I sat immediately in front of back in like 2012:

everything is ready-1.jpg

At the time I was designing & managing production of robot doors, and the goal of this note was to get the entire shop (a multi-use space for design, prototyping, and production) clean and orderly every day. We all agreed that it was okay, on occasion, to leave parts & tools out overnight. But when our workday began at 7:00, everyone was committed to cleaning and organizing for up to 45 minutes - so that every single morning, the whole shop was reset back to a neat and orderly condition.

I found this habit to be totally fruitful, but I’ll admit that since I left that job I haven’t really found a way to replicate it. Today (especially under quarantine) my work is largely digital, and aside from making an attempt to clear out my inbox every morning (a Sisyphean task that I find less satisfying than sweeping the floor) it’s not totally clear what in my work life needs to be reset every day.

Regardless, the physical practice of cleaning up is something I aspire to. If anyone out there has developed a digital analog I’d love to hear it.