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§6. Rule 5: Control your space

hands date: 

15 June 2022

hands text: 
All is in the hands of Man.
Therefore you should wash them often.
Stanisław Jerzy Lec
01
Craftsmen come in all shapes and sizes. Yet there is one trait shared by almost all of them: they control the space in which they operate.

This is how Alexey Gastev puts it: “You should not start work until all the tools and all the devices are ready. At the workplace (machinery, workbench, table, floor, ground), there should be nothing that is not needed, so that you do not flounder around, fuss, or search for the necessary among the unnecessary. All tools and devices should be laid out in a specific order – preferably, established once and for all – so that you can find all you need without thinking.”

02
There is good empirical and scientific evidence for this.

There is an overall consensus among neuroscientists that, from a cognitive perspective, humans are telescopes: we are simply not capable of doing two things simultaneously. To do things well, we must focus on one task at a time.

Research on multitasking suggests that it is largely an illusion. The brain does not truly perform several tasks simultaneously; instead, it rapidly switches attention between them, increasing fatigue and the likelihood of error. Some neuroscientists even argue that constant distraction interferes with the brain’s ability to store and retrieve information properly.

03
Trying to work in an unorganised space turns an easy task into a difficult one, and a difficult one into a disaster. From a craftsman’s perspective, this starts a vicious circle: a silly mistake while performing a simple task kills confidence, thereby turning an accidental failure into a systemic problem.
04
In my experience, a good pointer to recognise a master, before they even begin to work, is to pay attention to how they prepare the site, the way they lay out the tools, the way they carry themselves.
05
Let’s be clear: I am not suggesting that organising your space guarantees success. Yet the opposite is often true. Disorder rarely remains confined to the workspace. It eventually enters the work itself.
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