Organizing large [music] collections
My advice regarding library organization is always unpopular and always ignored, but hear me out here: delete most of your music.
It’s a convincing argument — especially the external hard drive option.
This is good advice [that i need to follow] for an iTunes library, but it’s also good advice for most everything else.
- get rid of the apps in your dock you don’t use
- uninstall the programs you don’t use
- trash/shred papers you don’t need [including sentimental stuff. i have recently been trying to keep only the more cherished items and just shred things like birthday cards]
- get rid of equipment you don’t use
- get rid of food you don’t eat
- remove myspace/facebook friends; unfollow twitter accounts with tweets of lesser value
The dichotomy between having it all and throwing everything away is one I struggle with.
On one hand, you want to have everything, be prepared for any situation, be able to solve any problem with things.
On the other hand, you want to be free mentally of clutter to have the capacity to tackle any problem.
Physical [and digital] stuff creates mental clutter. It seems wrong that you have to make the choice, but you do. If you choose to horde everything, it’s going to limit you mentally, due to the mental distraction and physical processing time stuff takes. On the other hand if you can learn to let go of things, it opens you up to possibilities that were prevented from existing before.