A Dirty Workspace

One of the first things I learned when working on a construction crew as a teenager was, “clean up after yourself!”

Don’t leave the tools, scrap material, and extra material lying around. It’s fine during the work process, but we cleanup and leave it tidy before we go home each night.

The same was true back at the shop. The garage was to be neat and tidy at the end of each day.

That stuck with me. Although I can be very haphazard during the work itself, at the end of each day, I find myself cleaning up (at least to some degree).

What are your thoughts on a dirty workspace?

For some, the dirty workspace is a non-starter. Tension. Agitation. Can’t get rolling until we clean this up.

For others, the dirty workspace is comfortable. Familiar. I know where I am. I’m starting right where I left off. Jump right back in and roll.

In the software development world, our workspace isn’t just physical. The workspace is a digital “area” in which we’re working. It contains the code repositories, directories, and files that we’re working on and with. Just like your physical workspace, it can be dirty or clean.

And like working with a human team, AI teams left unchecked make a massive mess of the workspace. Lots of digital debris.

Teach your AI agents to clean up after themselves.