Imagine sitting down at a desk that is straight out of the 20th century: beautiful pens, favorite notebooks, blank paper, perhaps some art supplies, not a device in sight. Believe it or not, you can get away with a tech-free desk -  if it’s your second desk.  

The folks at Gmail have put quite a bit of effort into corralling data on email styles and replies.Their findings cover everything from subject lines, questions, send times, email length, and even emotion in emails - all to teach us how to receive quicker and better replies. 

Joshua Millburn, half of the famous duo, "The Minimalists" guest posted A Day in the Life of a Minimalist on Leo Baubata's Zen Habits blog. You’ll agree that Joshua has absolutely earned the label “minimalist,” not just by buying less, but also scouring his days for superfluities, thus, finding true breathing space in his life. This is one of the most unique and inspiring “day in the life” posts I have ever read, stressing habits over routines.

Maria Popova reads the greatest works of literature and non-fiction (and blogs about them) so we don’t have to! In her recent post The Difference Between Routine and Ritual she essentially provides elegant Cliff’s Notes on Anne Lamott’s book Stitches: A Handbook on Meaning, Hope, and Repair. Popova, fascinated by routines and rituals, illuminates the important difference between the two in her reflection on Lamott’s Stitches...

The title says it all.  The same goes for offices and just about every other room we occupy.  Any organizer (or reformed clutter bug) could have told you this, but we now have research to prove it!  NPR’s A Cluttered Kitchen Can Nudge Us To Overeat, Study Finds sums up a recent study published in the journal Environment and Behavior. 

I don’t think I could either, but I’m incredibly humbled that any American can. Last week my client sent me home with the print edition of the Washington Post’s All My Trash For a Year Fit Into Two Plastic Bags: Here’s How I Did It. Author, and ultimate walker of the walk, Darshan Karwat, went to great social and consumer extremes to only fill two plastic bags of trash...