Archives for November 2008

A year ago on Unclutterer

Popularity: 7% [?]

Posted by Erin on Nov 30, 2008 | 1 Comment | Tweet This

Rolling along with my ZÜCA bag

A couple months ago, an employee at ZÜCA, Inc., e-mailed me and asked if I had ever heard of their line of luggage. I hadn’t.

At that time, I was in a hate-hate relationship with my overnight bag. It was a multiple-pocket duffle bag that had the worst strap configuration known to man on it. When I got it, the bag was empty, and I had no idea how much pain the strap could inflict on my shoulder with even the smallest amount of weight in it.

I decided to check out a ZÜCA bag and see if it might be a nice alternative. I’m glad that I did, because the ZÜCA bag is my new best friend for when I need to travel for a week or less.

These are the reasons why I think the ZÜCA bag is great:

  • The wheels. They maneuver better than any luggage with wheels that I’ve ever test driven. Plus, you can order customized ones that look like roller skate or skateboard wheels.
  • The built-in chair. The aluminum frame on the bag allows you to be able to use the piece of luggage as a chair. Often times, at the airport, I find myself waiting in lines. Now, I just sit while I wait.
  • The TSA-compliant zipper pouch. The pouch has a specialized pocket right inside the bag so that I can easily grab it when heading through security and then pop it back into place after putting on my shoes.
  • The laptop pocket. Actually, I’m pretty sure ZÜCA didn’t imagine the side pocket to be a laptop pocket, but mine fits right inside of it. When going through security at the airport, I just slide it out of the pocket without having to unzip or unsnap anything. I have to be careful, however, if I store my bag in the overhead compartment to either take my laptop out of the pocket or store my bag laptop-side on top.
  • The insert bags. I don’t always use each and every one of the insert bags, but I use most of them. I put my shoes and belts in one, my shirts in another, etc. They keep shoe crud from getting on my clothing.
  • The washable exterior. If the ZÜCA bag gets dirty, you can remove the bag from the frame and wash it. It’s also water resistant, so if it rains, your stuff is nice and dry inside. Also, if you decide you want something snazzy, you can change the bag to a different pattern the company sells.

My only problem with the bag is that I have yet to find a way to store a suit coat without it getting wrinkled. My assumption is that this is a failing of mine, and not a problem with the bag design. However, if the bag had a suit pouch that would wrap around the insert bags, I wouldn’t have a concern at all.

Also, the bag isn’t cheap. It retails for close to $300. A quick search through some other luggage websites finds that the price is comparable to similar bags of its size. I believe the price is worth it, though, especially for people who travel a lot for business. If you’re in the market for a new piece of carry-on luggage that holds up to a week’s worth of clothes in an incredibly organized manner, you definitely need to check out the ZÜCA bag.

Popularity: 12% [?]

Posted by Erin on Nov 29, 2008 | 28 Comments | Tweet This

Workspace of the Week: The ottoman office

This week’s Workspace of the Week is Bullismaureen’s super secret space:

I think that this is one of those instances when the pictures say more than any words I could provide. Thank you, Bullismaureen, for such an outrageously cool submission to our flickr pool.

Want to have your own workspace featured in Workspace of the Week? Submit a picture to the Unclutterer flickr pool. Check it out because we have a nice little community brewing there. Also, don’t forget that workspaces aren’t just desks. If you’re a cook, it’s a kitchen; if you’re a carpenter, it’s your workbench.

Popularity: 9% [?]

Posted by Erin on Nov 28, 2008 | 2 Comments | Tweet This

Thanksgiving wishes

The Unclutterer staff would like to wish everyone a happy Thanksgiving! On our lists of what we’re thankful for again this year is you, our Unclutterer readers. We’ll have a light posting schedule over the course of the next few days (just one post a day), but we will be back in full force on Monday. Happy Thanksgiving!

Popularity: 7% [?]

Posted by Erin on Nov 27, 2008 | 3 Comments | Tweet This

Unitasker Wednesday: Sweater dryer

All Unitasker Wednesday posts are jokes — we don’t want you to buy these items, we want you to laugh at their ridiculousness. Enjoy!

Who among us hasn’t accidentally dried a wool sweater in a dryer only to be left with a tiny version that is useless? What does one do with a garment that can’t be placed in the dryer? Usually the article of clothing ends up laying on a flat surface and dries in a day or so. Now, you can speed up the dry time by up to 75 percent with the Sweater Dryer with Fan. The innovative fan requires 6 C batteries, but the time you save on drying is well worth it.

The Sweater Dryer may look a bit silly and really large and cumbersome, but with a 75 percent decrease in dry time can you pass up such a time-saving device? How else does one increase the efficiency of drying a sweater?

Thanks to reader Andrew for bringing this unitasker to our attention.

Popularity: 8% [?]

Posted by Matt on Nov 26, 2008 | 29 Comments | Tweet This

A year ago on Unclutterer

Popularity: 7% [?]

Posted by Erin on Nov 26, 2008 | 4 Comments | Tweet This

Easily limit e-mail access while on vacation

I love Lifehacker because 1.) Gina, Adam, Jason, Kevin, and newbie Jackson are rock stars, and 2.) I constantly find ways to improve my life from reading the site. Recently, Gina wrote about AwayFind, and this post has revolutionized how I approach e-mail.

Here’s how AwayFind works: When you set up your auto response message in your e-mail client, you write a few words about how you aren’t really checking e-mail. Then, you stick in a final sentence that explains if there is an emergency that you can be contacted via AwayFind. You put a link to your AwayFind page in the text of your away message, and then people receiving the e-mail have a way of getting emergency messages to you without you having to publicize your cell phone number.

If someone believes that they can’t wait until you return from your vacation to get into touch with you, they click the link and are taken to an online form where they can customize their emergency message to you.

I like the program because you don’t actually have to go on vacation to use it. If you need to do some heavily focused work for a few days, set up an away message and only receive emergency messages. Once your schedule returns to normal, you can weed through all the non-emergency messages that came in for you. You stay focused, but not out-of-contact when you’re truly needed. You remain in control of your e-mail with AwayFind.

Popularity: 12% [?]

Posted by Erin on Nov 26, 2008 | 9 Comments | Tweet This

Increase productivity by learning a lesson the first time

One of my major productivity challenges is that I have a difficult time learning lessons from my mistakes the first time they happen. I’ll get an idea in my mind for how something should work, and then when it doesn’t go as planned, I take little or no notice that my procedure was flawed.

Here, let me give you an example: I’m currently working on an article for a magazine. According to my calendar, I should have been working on this article every morning this week from 8:00 until 10:00. So far this week, I have yet to work on the article between 8:00 and 10:00. This is the busiest time of my day. I have been interrupted with important endeavors every time I’ve tried to work on the article. But, did I adjust my schedule to work on the article at a different, less chaotic time? Nope. Not a bit. For FOUR DAYS this block of time hasn’t worked for me and this article, but I haven’t done a single thing about it. Instead, I’ve stayed at work an extra two hours every evening to get the work finished.

This is what I should have done: On Monday evening, before I left work, I should have rearranged my schedule for the next day so that I could try working on the article from 2:00 to 4:00 in the afternoon. If things went well, then I should have rearranged my schedule for the remainder of the week. If they didn’t go well, then I should have tried a different time slot for the next day.

To help overcome my inability to learn lessons the first time, I have devised a new strategy for the end of my work day. I’m going to keep up with my practice of preparing my desk and materials for tomorrow’s work day, but I’m going to add a routine before this process.

I’m going to take five minutes to ask myself questions and evaluate my work that occurred during that day:

  1. What processes went well today?
  2. Why did those processes succeed?
  3. What processes didn’t go well today?
  4. Why did those processes not succeed?
  5. What changes can I make in the future to turn these non-successful processes into successful processes?

How do you analyze your work to keep from making the same mistakes repeatedly?

Popularity: 9% [?]

Posted by Erin on Nov 25, 2008 | 7 Comments | Tweet This

The Puj Tub

I was a bit weary of giving my daughter her bath when she was just a little one, but I eventually got used to bath time. We had your run-of-the-mill plastic baby bathtub at the time, and we also had a dedicated bathroom for giving our daughter her baths. We lived in a larger house then, and the baby bathtub wasn’t much of a nuisance since she had a dedicated bathroom. 

Since we no longer need the baby tub, we don’t have a storage issue now that we are in a smaller home. However, I am intrigued by the Puj Tub as a solution to small-space baby bathing. It fits any standard sink, and lays or hangs flat for easy storage when not in use. There is no need to worry about where to store the large unforgiving plastic baby tub with the Puj Tub. The sink is a perfect place to bathe an infant and this product really makes the task that much easier.

(via ohdeedoh)

Popularity: 11% [?]

Posted by Matt on Nov 25, 2008 | 29 Comments | Tweet This

Black Friday: Tips for staying organized

My wife and mother-in-law have a tradition of waking up at an absurdly early hour the day after Thanksgiving to brave the crowds for the best deals of the season. I’ve never taken part in this tradition, mainly because I really don’t enjoy shopping and these days I do most of my shopping online. I have become more understanding of this tradition in the last few years since about 90 percent of our holiday shopping is completed with about a month to spare. It is the Band-Aid strategy to holiday shopping, fast and a little bit painful.

My wife adheres to a strict regimen when doing the holiday shopping the day after Thanksgiving, and these are her rules:

  1. Always make a list of what you are planning to buy and for whom.
  2. Check out all the holiday ads for the best deals and what time these deals end.
  3. Plan your day. After looking over the advertisements, plan your shopping agenda.
  4. Remember to eat. After hitting up the early morning sales it is good time to go eat breakfast. 
  5. Don’t buy just for the sake of a deal. This leads to unnecessary purchases. (Remember to stick to your list. See #1.)
  6. Be sure to conceal your purchases in your car by covering them with blanket or putting them in the trunk. My wife, after meeting my dad and me for breakfast, gives us her early morning purchases to make room in the car for new purchases.
  7. Be sure to have all of your coupons organized and ready, ($10 off at Macy’s, 10 percent at JC Pennys)  don’t take all those sales ads with you, but do keep them in the car.
  8. Clean out your purse and/or wallet the night before and have cash or credit cards ready. Don’t hold up the check-out line digging through your purse.
  9. Be sure your cell phone is charged.  If you’re shopping with a friend and you spread out and need to locate each other, a low battery could cost you that special purchase.
  10. Don’t limit your purchases to just Christmas, if friends or family member’s birthdays are around the corner, add them to your list.

This year, due to the poor economic climate, the Black Friday deals are supposed to be especially enticing. Remember #5 from the list above when going about your shopping and try not to buy for the sake of a good deal.

Black Friday isn’t for everyone, especially me, but it is an efficient way to get your holiday shopping finished in a timely manner. Just remember to be patient and try not to get in a scuffle. No one said shopping on Black Friday was painless or even very enjoyable, but the process will get a bulk of your shopping out of the way in a span one day.

Popularity: 7% [?]

Posted by Matt on Nov 24, 2008 | 25 Comments | Tweet This

The Kindle saves space, but can it save you money

A ZDNet article that ran on November 16 asked the question “Is the Kindle electronic book reader worth its current price of $359.00?” The article explores the answer to this question for college students and average readers.

For students in college and graduate school, ZDNet concludes that a Kindle is worth the expense:

However, a more realistic scenario [of student textbook purchasing] would be a blended cost, with half new and half used [textbooks], at $366.00 per semester. If they had purchased all of the books on the Kindle, they would have spent $234.00, or a savings of $132.00 per semester. Over a period of 8 semesters, that’s $1056.00, which if you subtract the cost of the Kindle at current prices, we’re talking about a net savings of $700.86 over four years, which is not insignificant. To put this another way, if college students had the ability to buy all their textbooks on Kindles, they could wipe out the cost of a Kindle with their savings over printed books in 3 semesters, or a year and a half.

However, the the article states that for the average reader, a Kindle is not a wise economic choice:

… we took a look at twelve New York Times best sellers, and totaled up the prices, assuming mostly hardcover with some paperbacks — this came to $168.15 if we bought them on Amazon. The Kindle cost would have been $109.11. In other words, if you read one book per month, and you subtract the cost of the Kindle, your net savings per year is approximately $59.04. To wipe out the cost of the Kindle completely, you have to buy and read six books per month to wipe out the Kindle’s cost over the course of one year. That’s a pretty voracious reading schedule — and if you’re reading that many books, you’re probably spending most of your time in a library and not purchasing them on Amazon.

So it would seem that unless the convenience factor of the Kindle currently outweighs its costs, the Kindle is not a huge value proposition for your average consumer today. But if its cost were to drop approximately in half – say, between the 3 and 4 book per month level — at around $200 per unit – then we might start seeing greater e-book adoption by a larger segment of the population. At the two books per month level, it’s going to need to cost around $125.00 or $150.00 or so.

I agree that it would be nice if a Kindle reading device would be at least half its current price, but I still think that it is a good investment over the long term. Additionally, you don’t have to pay to store paper books, which shaves off a little bit more from the equation.

What do our readers who own Kindles think of the article? Is the author right about it being about convenience and not cost? Let us know your opinion in the comments.

Previously on Unclutterer:

Popularity: 14% [?]

Posted by Erin on Nov 24, 2008 | 67 Comments | Tweet This

A year ago on Unclutterer

Popularity: 7% [?]

Posted by Erin on Nov 23, 2008 | Comment | Tweet This

More project management application reviews

I’m always on the lookout for project management tools that are simple to use and worth their price. I’ve written about a few of my favorites that can be found online, and personally continue to use Basecamp for work projects and LifeTick for non-work goals.

Last Thursday, SmashingMagazine.com completed an in-depth review of 15 project management applications — many of which I didn’t know existed before I read the article. The applications are excellent for people working in technical and creative jobs, and can certainly help you to increase your productivity and organization at work.

The article explores basic project management, wiki-based project management, bug and ticket tracking, collaboration and conferencing, invoicing, and time management applications.

If you’re in the market for a new project management system, I recommend reading the SmashingMagazine review.

Do you have a favorite project management application not mentioned in this set of reviews or in our previous article? If so, please let us know about them in the comments. I’m interested in learning about the tools that help you to be an more organized worker.

Popularity: 9% [?]

Posted by Erin on Nov 22, 2008 | 8 Comments | Tweet This

Preparing for holiday house guests

They are coming over for the holidays, and they are bringing more than just presents. That’s right, your relatives along with their kids, their stuff, and lots of stress! However, you can be prepared! The following tips will give you some simple ways to get yourself prepared ahead of time:

  1. Clean off your dining table today! I don’t mean the night before, do it today (or at least start). Start finding a permanent home for each item that has accumulated on your dining room table. Chances are the same items end up there again and again because they don’t have a permanent home within your home. Involve the whole family as most of the time, clutter on the dining table belongs to more than just one person. Once you have the table cleaned off, put a centerpiece on it, or something out of the ordinary to make sure it does not accumulate stuff before your dinner party.
  2. Get the dishes ready. If you need to borrow or use special serving dishes or holiday dishes, start taking them out now or borrowing them and get them washed. Use the dining room table as a staging ground to keep them until the holiday.
  3. Clean the house room by room. Pick a room each day or a few rooms each week. Or schedule a special session with your normal cleaning service.
    Don’t wait until the night before everyone arrives to start cleaning.
  4. Take inventory of your guest spaces. Can your guests sleep on your pull out couch or in your spare room comfortably? Does the room need to be cleaned? This is a great time to get your guest items organized, and to throw out and donate any unnecessary items that have found their way into your guest spaces.
  5. Create a friendly environment for your guests. Lay out guest towels, bathrobes, magazines, mints, maps (for your out of town guests), and water for your guests. Provide your guests with enough information so that they can enjoy your geographic area without assistance from you. Make sure they are familiar with phone and Internet access at your home as well.
  6. Be prepared to spend time with your relatives. Do your cleaning and preparation ahead of time so you can spend time relaxing and visiting, and not in the kitchen. If your relatives will be around for a number of days, consider making dinner reservations at a local restaurant so you can take a night and all relax together.
  7. Ask your guests if they have any special dietary needs before they arrive. This will help you avid any last minute trips to the grocery store.
  8. Have any gifts wrapped and ready to distribute before your guests arrive. They are lots of fun to shake and look at for the kids in your family. This will also allow you to spend time with your family instead of locked up in your bedroom wrapping presents.
  9. Remember to enjoy your company. Sharing your home can be stressful, but by cleaning and organizing in advance, you can have a relaxing time visiting with those you love!

Bonnie Joy Dewkett is the owner and operator of The Joyful Organizer. She offers professional organization services to help you organize your home and your life.

Popularity: 15% [?]

Posted by Bonnie Joy on Nov 21, 2008 | 7 Comments | Tweet This

Workspace of the Week: A makeshift space

This week’s Workspace of the Week is Stuart’s Emergency Workspace:

This is one of the most fun entries I have ever seen in the Unclutterer flickr pool, and it was calling out to be shared. When Stuart was moving to Arizona, he had to pack up all of his furniture and ship it across the country. Unfortunately for Stuart, he still had time left in his old place before he made the move. Out of necessity, he built a makeshift office to sustain him until he traveled to his new home. This emergency office is proof that you don’t need much to create an uncluttered office. Granted, nothing matches and it’s a little crazy — but WOW is it resourceful and simple! Thank you, Stuart, for sharing your emergency office with us.

Want to have your own workspace featured in Workspace of the Week? Submit a picture to the Unclutterer flickr pool. Check it out because we have a nice little community brewing there. Also, don’t forget that workspaces aren’t just desks. If you’re a cook, it’s a kitchen; if you’re a carpenter, it’s your workbench.

Popularity: 9% [?]

Posted by Erin on Nov 21, 2008 | 10 Comments | Tweet This

Learn to safely wrap cords, cables, and hoses

The magazine Fine Homebuilding has an informative and season-appropriate tutorial on its website “Wrapping cords and hoses: Learn how to avoid twists and kinks that can cause damage.”

This advice is perfect for garden and air hoses and extension cords that are ready to be stored for the cold months. There are three methods described in the article: a looped bundle, a loose chain, and a reverse coil.

If the pictures in the article don’t provide you with enough information, check out the instructional video that accompanies the article.

Also, I recommend that you take a few moments and check out the whole site — you can find many more helpful how-to solutions for your home on FineHomebuilding.com.

(via Apartment Therapy: LA)

Popularity: 9% [?]

Posted by Erin on Nov 20, 2008 | 8 Comments | Tweet This

Oprah’s Clean Your Messy House Tour

Oprah has been giving decluttering a lot of attention lately — and we are glad to see it. She has teamed up with an Unclutterer-favorite Peter Walsh for the Clean Your Messy House Tour. We interviewed Mr. Walsh a while back and have covered Oprah’s efforts in this area in the past.

The online slideshow that accompanies this project has some quick tips. If you feel overwhelmed by the clutter in your home, taking 10 minutes on a small project is an easy step to get you started.

Some general tips that were covered in the first episode included:

  • Before beginning organization, ask yourself, “What do I want from this space?”
  • Ask yourself, “Am I valuing my possessions?”
  • Ask yourself, “Am I saying one thing to myself about my habits and my life and doing another?”
  • Always store like with like.
  • Create zones for specific functions. (i.e. the mail zone.)
  • Start small. Begin by tackling a manageable area that you can organize relatively quickly.  Small chunks over time will be less overwhelming.
  • To hang children’s artwork, get a variety of small rug squares and use double stick tape to hang the squares to the walls. You can pin the artwork to the rugs as a creative display board.
  • With clothing, hangers should all be facing one direction. As you wear the clothes, hang them back up in the opposite direction. In six months, check to see what you have not worn. If you haven’t worn it, take this opportunity to decide if you really need it. If not, donate or sell locally.
  • In small spaces, create dispersed light. “When you light everything, you light nothing,” says Candice Olsen of HGTV’s Divine Design, who is providing design guidance for the tour.

Popularity: 3% [?]

Posted by Matt on Nov 20, 2008 | 16 Comments | Tweet This

Unitasker Wednesday: Piercey the egg piercer

All Unitasker Wednesday posts are jokes — we don’t want you to buy these items, we want you to laugh at their ridiculousness. Enjoy!

Since we started the Unitasker feature, the egg has been responsible for many of the products featured. Who knew preparing an egg was so tricky? I’m not very useful in the kitchen, but I can manage to prepare a few things and one of those things is a hard boiled egg. I even manage to get it prepared without cracking it! Apparently, cracking hard boiled eggs is a problem for some folks so someone decided to invent the Piercey Egg Piercer.

The Piercey Egg Piercer promises to keep your hard boiled egg crack-free by piercing a pin sized hole in the large end of the egg with deadly precision. Yeah, you could probably try to pierce the egg yourself, but you wouldn’t be able to enjoy the friendly face that Piercey has. Piercey will make your hard boiled egg preparation easy and friendly. (Woah, there is even a competing product to Piercey!)

Thanks to reader Wesa for bringing this unitasker to our attention.

Popularity: 3% [?]

Posted by Matt on Nov 19, 2008 | 36 Comments | Tweet This

A year ago on Unclutterer

Popularity: 2% [?]

Posted by Erin on Nov 19, 2008 | Comment | Tweet This

Save time and effort with a personal shopper

I’m not someone who enjoys spending time shopping for clothes. When I need to update, enhance, or replace items in my wardrobe, I write the information down on a list that I keep on my computer. Then, usually twice a year, I will go shopping to collect the items I need from my list.

In every sense, I am a utilitarian shopper.

One of the frustrating things about being a utilitarian shopper, however, is that fashion trends and my list usually don’t mesh well together. Styles, cuts, and colors change from season to season, and I don’t keep up on these things so it takes me days to find matches for my list.

Recently, I discovered that I can greatly improve my shopping experience with the help of a store’s personal shopper. In every case I have encountered, the service has been free. And, in all but one case, when I offered the shopper a tip, the shopper refused to take it. Free help is my kind of help!

Here’s how it works: You put together a list of what you’re looking for and take your measurements. Then, call your favorite department store and ask to speak to a personal shopper. The shopper will ask you basic questions about your life and your price range, and then you give him or her your list and measurements. You’ll also set an appointment for when you will come in to meet with the personal shopper. At your scheduled time, you arrive and the personal shopper will have clothes already pulled for you that you can try on and see if you like. You have no obligation to buy any of the clothes, and the shopper sticks around while you’re trying on items to see if you need different sizes or different cuts. Usually, at least some of the pieces work, and you’re out the door and on your way home in half the time of a normal shopping experience.

I’ve even tried this process in shops that don’t officially have personal shoppers. When a clerk in the store asks if he or she can help me, I whip out my list and discuss what I’m looking to buy. Nine times out of 10, the clerk will ask you about your size and then go and find some pieces for you. I’ve even had clerks tell me to go ahead and make my way to the fitting room and they brought the items to me. The clerks know their merchandise and find items much more quickly then someone coming into the store.

I also feel that I dress a little more hip now than I used to. The personal shoppers and clerks know the latest trends much better than I do, and they always seem to find things that flatter my body better than I find when I’m left to search a store on my own. For a utilitarian shopper like myself, a personal shopper saves me time and energy when I need new pieces for my wardrobe.

And, it should go without saying, but only use these services when you need to replace or improve your wardrobe. I like to follow the one-in-one-out philosophy with clothes: If I bring something new into my wardrobe, at least one old piece in my current collection has to go to charity or the rag bag.

Popularity: 10% [?]

Posted by Erin on Nov 19, 2008 | 28 Comments | Tweet This