Webs’ Random Ideas

Check out Paul Graham’s latest essay on “Stuff”.

What I didn’t understand was that the value of some new acquisition wasn’t the difference between its retail price and what I paid for it. It was the value I derived from it.

Very well written piece about stuff and how we feel we need stuff and what this stuff does to us. I won’t clip anymore of the article because I think it’s very important that others go out and read it. However I will say Paul Graham does a great job of assessing people’s desires and needs of stuff and what the end result of that is.

My plan is an extension of what I’ve learned from DOF:
1) File as much as possible electronically
2) What can’t be filed electronically will be put in file cabinets in folders with numbered stickers
– Those numbers correspond to a number in an electronic database that tells me what’s in the folder and the relevant year of the stuff in the folder
– This way I don’t have to remember what’s in the folder or hunt through it for stuff, I can search through a database
3) Only accumulate stuff with a purpose (as much as possible )
4) Shred papers, documents, and receipts older than 7 years
5) Only get books that have a real purpose or that I could see myself giving away to someone like a friend or close co-worker

Go check out the article from above…