Bits

Ordenador

In Spain a computer is an ordenador, from the French ordinateur. The scholar Jacques Perret coined that word for IBM France in 1955, from an old word for one who puts things in order. I think it names the job better than “computer” does. Computers, and now AI, are tools for putting our lives in order. That order gives us more time for the things we organize in the first place.

Purpose

The organizing is never the point. The point is the work, the people, and the ideas that order makes room for.

Principles

• Put the big, important ideas first, and leave routine work for last.
• Clean as you go. Removing clutter is part of organizing, not a separate chore.
• Name things well, so they can be found again.
• Prune what is no longer needed. Keeping everything is not organizing.
• Write things down. What is written can be sorted, found, and checked.
• Use clear, controlled language. Simplified Technical English shows how a small vocabulary, with one meaning per word, removes ambiguity. This site follows a lighter version.

Tools

• Let computers and AI do the sorting, searching, and routine work. AI still needs checking, and code can keep it in bounds.
• Automate the routine. A task done the same way every week is a task for a script.
• Use frameworks that turn good habits into rules a tool can follow. Govna, which organizes how I work with AI agents on this site, is one.

Practice

Organizing is a habit, not a project. Review the order on a regular schedule, and change it when it stops serving you.

Limits

Know when to stop. Organizing can become its own way of avoiding the real work.

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