Archives for March 2009

Workspace of the Week: Video editing palace

This week’s Workspace of the Week is Will Rodes’ control center:

This week’s office choice exudes the Unclutterer motto of “A place for everything and everything in its place.” The desk is organized into stations based on the type of work that needs to be performed in each location. For as many cords and cables that are present, there isn’t a single rat’s nest to be found. And, the whole desk system was built by Will himself: “I built the L-shaped desk. I framed it with 2x4s and topped it with 1/2″ plywood and then covered with indoor/outdoor carpet from Lowes.” In his submission to our group he even includes images of the construction process. I am significantly impressed and so thankful to Will for sharing his 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.

Posted by Erin on Mar 20, 2009 | 7 Comments | Tweet This

Repurpose brag books for coupons

Businesses are working diligently to get consumers to spend money during the downturn in the economy, and are trying to lure them in with coupons and deals. As a result, clipping coupons has definitely become worth the time and effort.

Instead of using a traditional coupon organizer that requires you to pull out all of your coupons to see them, I’ve started using brag books (small photo albums) to manage my coupon collection. In addition to giving me a better view of my stash, brag books also let you have two to three times more categories than a regular organizers.

If you’re interested in creating a coupon organizer out of a brag book, follow these suggestions:

  1. Track your coupon use for a few weeks without an organizer to see what types of categories you might want to create in your brag book.
  2. When you make categories, label them with printed sticky labels or handwritten on masking tape. As you use your book, you may decide to move pages or rename categories — and removable labels will make this a simple task.
  3. When you enter coupons into the pages, put the oldest at the front and the newest in the back. This way you won’t have to worry about coupons expiring.

The following are suggestions for ways in which you might set up your shopping categories:

  • Review a map of your grocery store, and set up categories based on the layout of your market.
  • Create large categories based on meal types (breakfast, lunch, dinner, desserts, snacks, parties, beverages, and condiments) and then subcategories within those types.
  • Set up categories according to where you store items in your kitchen: pantry, refrigerator, deep freezer, etc.
  • Use the good ol’ alphabetical system.

One coupon book might not fit all your needs, especially if you’re diligent about cutting coupons for non-food items. A second brag book is great for hardware, pharmacy, and other miscellaneous items.

How do you organize your coupons? Please tell us about your methods in the comments.

Posted by Teri on Mar 19, 2009 | 41 Comments | Tweet This

New baby products from Built NY

builtny-changing-padBuilt NY has some great products that I have highlighted in the past. The lunch tote for kids and the lunch tote for adults are both useful, durable, reusable, and well-organized lunch sacks.

Built NY has recently unveiled a couple of useful baby products that can be helpful to new parents. Of all things that are indispensable to parents, the diaper bag is something that goes everywhere during the first year of a child’s life. The Built NY Diaper Bag looks rather reasonable in size and, like other Built NY products, is constructed of durable neoprene and water resistant nylon.

Another item that goes hand-in-hand with the diaper bag is the changing pad. The Built NY Changing Pad (pictured) has a built-in compartment for wipes and extra diapers.

If you’re welcoming a new child into your family, you may want to consider these durable products.

Posted by Matt on Mar 19, 2009 | 3 Comments | Tweet This

Unitasker Wednesday: The baby food organizer

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

My daughter will be three next month so we have no need for a baby food organizer at the moment, but I’m trying to figure out when we would have ever needed a mini Lazy Susan for 10 jars of baby food.

The number of months that we fed our daughter jarred baby food went by in a blink of an eye. I don’t recall getting lost in an avalanche of baby food jars. Baby food jars are very tiny and take up a relatively small section of cupboard space. The Baby Food Organizer is just a semi-stylish way to clutter up your counter top with 10 jars of baby food.

The “space saving design” is a little suspect in that it displays the jars in a vertical fashion rather than simply stacking them neatly in your cupboard. What is so space saving about a vertical contraption that may or may not fit in your cupboard?

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

Posted by Matt on Mar 18, 2009 | 35 Comments | Tweet This

A year ago on Unclutterer

2008

Posted by PJ on Mar 18, 2009 | Comments Off | Tweet This

Unstocking the pantry

I often get requests from readers asking me to put together “bare minimum” lists. Lists that answer the question: How many items of X should I have and should I even have Y? I understand the desire for such lists — we’ve even written a few in the past — but they’re always met with mixed reviews. What works for me doesn’t necessarily work best for you.

That being said, I recently stumbled upon two great “bare minimum” lists for kitchen pantries in the Chicago Tribune. Instead of thinking about them as lists of must-have items, I thought about them as guides to figuring out what was clutter in my cupboard. If something in my pantry wasn’t on either list, I put it on the dining room table for further evaluation.

After this sorting process, I constructed a series of meals to use up the extraneous items. Most of these questionable items were nearing their expiration dates, too, so it made for a worthwhile activity.

Check out the lists and consider using them as clutter identification guides for your kitchen pantry:

Posted by Erin on Mar 18, 2009 | 31 Comments | Tweet This

Paperless postal service

While checking out NEWScan, a site that shows the front pages of fourteen major US newspapers all on one page, I came across an interesting story on the front page of the Los Angeles Times on paperless mail.

The article highlights Steven Stark  and his experience with using a paperless mail service. From the article:

Millions of Americans receive online versions of their bills and bank statements. But Stark is one of tens of thousands who have decided they don’t need any physical mail, be it love letters or advertising come-ons.

Instead of plodding down to the mailbox, they open their Web browsers. Rather than stuff file cabinets with paper, they keep their mail online.

…

Earth Class Mail assigned him a post office box in Los Angeles. For $11.95 a month, the company opens all of his mail — letters, bills, catalogs and all — then scans and uploads it to the Web so he can read his correspondence online. Stark doesn’t have to give the post office his new address every time he moves. He can go on vacation to Palm Springs or Las Vegas and not miss any important mail. By checking a box on his computer screen, Stark can tell the company to shred, recycle or forward the mail to him. He can have the company send packages to his house or pick them up at the nearest Earth Class Mail Center. “It’s just more convenient,” he said.

From the Earth Class Mail website:

No matter where our customers are, they simply log in to their secure Earth Class Mail account to view scanned images of their mail envelopes. They then decide which items to have opened and securely scanned so they can read the contents online, and which items should be recycled, shredded, archived, or forward-shipped to them wherever they’re located – all with a few clicks of a mouse.

I’m not sure this is going to catch on as fast as email, but I can see it being more popular among younger folks who have very different views of privacy in an increasingly online world. Thoughts?

Posted by Matt on Mar 17, 2009 | 37 Comments | Tweet This

Alternative uses for coasters

The next time you’re out at a pub drinking a pint of Guinness with your pals, pocket a few cardboard beer coasters to take home with you. Once you get home, put them to use as buffers from liquid dribbles in your refrigerator and cabinets.

The coasters can live under items like soy sauce, steak sauce, and honey. The flat cardboard surfaces have just the right absorbency to prevent messy, hard-to-clean-up spills.

What alternative uses have you found for beer coasters?

Additionally, have a safe and happy St. Patrick’s Day from all of us at Unclutterer.

Posted by Sue on Mar 17, 2009 | 30 Comments | Tweet This

Spring cleaning your yard

gardenSpring is right around the corner and now is the time of year when we emerge from our homes to find our yards in disarray. Winter isn’t usually kind to your shrubs, lawn, or garden. Follow these tips to get your yard ready for spring:

  • Make a list: Before you head to your local home improvement or garden center, make a list of everything you need for the chores that you plan to undertake. A list eliminates the need to make multiple trips because you forgot something.
  • Leaves and branches: I have an oak tree that borders my back yard. The leaves seem to hang onto the limbs well into February, so I’m left with a bunch of leaves that fell during the coldest months of the year. Hopefully, you got your leaves under control at the end of autumn so this chore does not take too long.
  • Mind the edges: Nice clean borders seem to blur during winter. If you do this job correctly now it will be easier to maintain those nice clean edges in the months to come.
  • Fertilize: Depending on the size of your yard, fertilizing may be a quick step or a step you might consider avoiding. I have a pretty small back yard. Fertilizing my lawn takes all of 10 or 15 minutes. But, if you have a yard that resembles the back nine at Augusta, you may want to let nature do its thing and not fertilize.
  • Go low maintenance: If you don’t enjoy spending your spare time in your yard, take a shot at a low maintenance shrubs and flowers. Check out the articles we have written on this topic in the past to get some ideas — and be sure to read the comments, which are full of even more suggestions.

What are some of the things you do to get your yard ready for spring? Share your tips in the comments.

Posted by Matt on Mar 16, 2009 | 13 Comments | Tweet This

Self-cleaning toilets: Genius!

Apartment Therapy recently posted an article that immediately caused me to remember a similar Gizmodo post that I loved from a couple years ago. Ever since I first saw that Gizmodo article I have decided that people in Switzerland are brilliant:

Not only are these self-cleaning toilets perfect for public spaces, but I would love to have one in my home. Time saving, “clutter” clearing, and sanitary. It’s the Litter-Robot for humans.

Posted by Erin on Mar 16, 2009 | 21 Comments | Tweet This

A year ago on Unclutterer

2008

Posted by PJ on Mar 15, 2009 | 2 Comments | Tweet This

E-mail Resolution: More advice for an empty inbox

My 2009 new year’s resolution is to get e-mail under control, and right now I’m failing. With the deadline for my book quickly approaching, my e-mail inbox is over-flowing with messages I haven’t responded to. I didn’t have a strong enough system in place yet to handle everything, and now my inbox situation is out of control. Maybe by May I’ll have things organized.

In the meantime, I keep seeking out articles and research to learn as much as I can about different inbox maintenance systems. Last Thursday, I stumbled upon the article “An Empty In-Box, or With Just a Few E-Mail Messages? Read On” in The New York Times.

The article touches on the most basic of basic advice, which is refreshing. The author of the article makes a statement that I’m starting to agree with wholeheartedly:

Notice that my system doesn’t include any complex method for organizing e-mail — I don’t categorize my messages into folders by sender, subject matter, date or any other scheme. That way lies distraction.

One of my biggest problems with many of the methods for inbox clearing are that they require so much maintenance that the work involved to organize the system is unbelievably time consuming. The system itself is clutter.

What are some bare bones systems that you use? What do you think of the reporter’s advice on keeping an inbox organized? I really want to hear what you have to say in the comments. My struggle continues …

Posted by Erin on Mar 14, 2009 | 46 Comments | Tweet This

Ask Unclutterer: What to do with receipts?

Reader Kate submitted the following to Ask Unclutterer:

When I buy something, should I put my receipt in the bag or in my purse/wallet? I think I would prefer in my purse, so that I can empty them all out onto my banker’s spike at once, but I am often rushed thru the checkout line, so it tends to get stuffed in, rather than filed in my wallet.

The worst thing about receipts is that they’re always handed to you at the most inconvenient time. You’ve just started grabbing your bags of purchases and the store clerk reaches out her hand with your receipt. You hastily grab the receipt and either stuff it in a bag or cram it into your pocket or push it to the bottom of your purse. The process itself is flawed from the very beginning.

In these hasty situations, I always tell the clerk to put it in the bag. When it goes into the bag, I’ll be forced to deal with it when I get home and have more time to think about how to handle it. If I put it in my pocket or purse, it runs a greater risk of being forgotten or mishandled.

Receipts fall into one of four categories and should be dealt with based on their type:

  1. Useless. These are receipts for consumable purchases you paid for with cash, things like coffee and food. Once you eat or drink the item, you’re certainly not going to return the product. The receipt has no identifying information on it since you used cash and should be tossed into the trash immediately. In fact, if you can refuse the receipt, do it. Let the store deal with the trash.
  2. Business. These are receipts for business-related expenses. You have to keep these no matter what, and most accountants require that you still keep the original receipt. I keep a zip top bag in my purse with the month and year written on it with a Sharpie. I’ll jot a note about the expense on the back of the receipt and then slip it into the zip top bag. At the end of the month, I reconcile the receipts against my credit card statement and then toss the whole bag of receipts into an expandable file at the back of my filing cabinet. At the end of the financial quarter, I pass the receipts and my bank statements on to my accountant.
  3. Large ticket items. These are receipts for items like cars and furniture. For some reason, these receipts are usually physically large, and therefore don’t get lost or crammed into purses or pockets. I’ll scan these when I get home and put a copy of the digital file into my monthly to-do file on my computer. When the bank statement arrives, I reconcile the purchase and move the digital receipt to a receipts file in my documents folder. The original receipt immediately goes into a “Large Purchases” file in the filing cabinet and remains there until we get rid of the item. Since these large purchases are rare, most people don’t have difficulty processing them.
  4. Everything else. These are receipts for all of the other purchases in life. For most everything, I pull receipts out of my purse or pockets when I walk in my front door and immediately snap a picture of the receipt with my cell phone. Then, I’ll drop them in the shredder right there. Whenever I charge my phone, I sync the images off my phone and transfer them to my monthly to-do file on my computer. When my bank statement comes, I reconcile the amounts and move the digital receipts to a receipts file in my documents folder. I don’t shred receipts for clothing or grocery store food until after I’ve worn the clothes once or eaten the food on the receipt. I just clip these together with a binder clip and shred them whenever the binder clip gets full.

I’m not sure I 100 percent answered your question, so I would love it if our readers could add even more ideas into the comments on this topic. I’m always looking for better ways to handle receipts. I sincerely can’t stand them.

Thank you, Kate, for submitting such a great question for our Ask Unclutterer column.

Do you have a question relating to organizing, cleaning, home and office projects, productivity, or any problems you think the Unclutterer team could help you solve? To submit your questions to Ask Unclutterer, go to our contact page and type your question in the content field. Please list the subject of your e-mail as “Ask Unclutterer.” If you feel comfortable sharing images of the spaces that trouble you, let us know about them. The more information we have about your specific issue, the better.

Posted by Erin on Mar 13, 2009 | 62 Comments | Tweet This

Workspace of the Week: Lightly contained

This week’s Workspace of the Week is T_dimensional’s splendid space:

It was gray and blah outside when I went looking for offices for this week’s Workspace of the Week. When I stumbled onto T_dimensional’s bright entry, I knew it was going to be my selection. The lightness in this room immediately lifted my spirits.

Most of the furniture in this office appears to be from Ikea. The desk is the Vika Blecket combined with the Vika Arthur. The organizing tins and picture frames are also Ikea — even the little wooden man on the corner of the desk. However, if you look at the top image closely, you’ll see that the figures inside the cupboards are anything but Ikea. I particularly like how the collection of figurines is contained in the cabinets, but still visible through the glass. Additionally, I like how everyday objects (like the soup can) are recycled into desk organizers. Thank you, T_dimensional, for such a bright entry to our collection.

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.

Posted by Erin on Mar 13, 2009 | 16 Comments | Tweet This

Readability: An uncluttered view of the web

Have you ever been reading an article online only to be interrupted by an obnoxious talking ad or an expanded flash banner ad? Maybe your mouse mistakenly wandered over a video ad that advertises something you have absolutely no interest in whatsoever. These intrusive ads can be pretty annoying and it may even prompt you to leave the site altogether. 

If the amount of online advertising on a site is overwhelming, you may want to check out Readabilty. The online tool takes about 10 seconds to set up and you can start using it quickly. From the Arc 90 site:

It’s almost like listening to talk radio, except the commercials play during the program in the background. It’s a pretty awful experience. Our friend to date has been the trusty “Print View” button. Click it and all the junk goes away. I click it all the time and rarely print. It’s really become the “Peace & Quiet” button for many.

Screen grab below shows what a difference Readability makes:

readability1

A simple click of the Readability button in your bookmark toolbar can make your online reading experience so much more uncluttered.

(Via Kottke)

Posted by Matt on Mar 12, 2009 | 31 Comments | Tweet This

Downsizing: Millionaire edition

Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney is selling his ski villa in Utah and a home in Massachusetts. He’s downsizing from four properties to two. (The Utah home is pictured at right.)

The reason for this downsizing? From a Salt Lake Tribune article: 

“The Romney children are all grown up with families of their own, and Mitt and [his wife] Ann have more space than they need,” spokesman Eric Fehrnstrom said Monday. “So they are simplifying and downsizing.” 

By cutting his property portfolio in half, former Governor Romney has indeed downsized. Holding on to two large properties on each coast of the United States could hardly be considered simple living, though. But it’s a first step.

Like many Americans, we’re always fascinated by which celebrities choose to live simply. Check out our “Celebrities” category to see who is hip to simple living.

Posted by Matt on Mar 12, 2009 | 12 Comments | Tweet This

Unitasker Wednesday: The Jog-a-Dog

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

Are you sick and tired of walking your dog? If you would rather stay inside and plop in front of the television while your dog gets its exercise on a treadmill, then you are in for a treat.

The good folks at Jog-a-Dog (since 1972!) have a product for you. The DC 7 is described as “the most impressive dog treadmill to date.” It weighs in at 261 pounds and costs just south of $3000. That is a bit steep, but think of all the time it will save you now that you no longer have to walk Fido. From their site:

The incredible 84” x 24” running surface will accommodate all breeds while allowing large dogs ample room to reach and extend while exercising. Ridged reinforced steel decking provides a secure foundation for breeds exceeding 300 pounds. The powerful 1 H.P. PWM whisper quiet industrial drive system comes standard! Likewise, the proprietary four roller drive system insures a smooth and consistent tread operation that will not slip at even the slowest of speeds. The side guardrails are formed from ½” round steel and are detachable, allowing for easy transport and storage. 

It is all so easy. If you combine the Jog-a-Dog with an automatic feeder and a doggy door for access to your back yard, then you will never have to be responsible for your dog again. Sure, the dog may be happy to see you on your couch from time to time, but a little doggy independence will make it much easier to care for you canine.

(Exception: If someone with a disability and/or mobility restrictions has a dog, we understand that this could be helpful. It would be especially helpful for a service animal. However, for able-bodied pet owners, this is truly, truly ridiculous.)

Posted by Matt on Mar 11, 2009 | 33 Comments | Tweet This

A year ago on Unclutterer

2008

Posted by PJ on Mar 11, 2009 | Comments Off | Tweet This

Should the one-in, one-out rule apply to friends?

Lifehacker recently linked to an interesting article that ran on the BBC about friendship. “What’s the ideal number of friends” reported that most people have five very close friends, 10 more in a pretty close network, 35 more in a looser network, and then 100 on the outside that fall into the wee-bit-more-than-acquaintance category. This would mean each of us has about 150 friends in our social scene.

I found this interesting and plausible. My numbers are a little higher in the outer circles (I’m a social butterfly), but almost spot-on for the very close and pretty close network numbers.

However, mid-way through the article is a shocking but brief story about someone who regulates his friendships like inventory:

A newspaper columnist once told of her shock when, having struck up a rapport with a man over dinner, she was told at the end of the meal he had no vacancies for friends. He was operating a “one-in, one-out” policy. Six months later she received a card stating he was now available for friendship.

That’s an extreme example but many people view their friendships scientifically and regulate them accordingly.

When I first read these paragraphs, I was flabbergasted. What gall this man had! Then, the more I thought about it, the more I realized he was just saying what many people do subconsciously. When one friendship fizzles out, we fill it with a new friendship with someone else. We might not send cards announcing “you can now be my friend,” but we shift our priorities and move people around between the circles.

I think we all agree that a bad friend can cause clutter in our lives, but what about too many good friends? Can you have so many close friends that maintaining the friendships can interfere with other areas of your life?

What do you think of the one-in, one-out rule applied to friendship? Can your life be cluttered with too many close friends? I’m still mulling this around in my brain and I would love to read what you have to say.

Posted by Erin on Mar 11, 2009 | 52 Comments | Tweet This

Increase productivity with voice recognition software

I’m talking to my computer right now. I’m speaking these words — rather than typing them — and watching them appear in my Word document.

I’m using a program called Dragon NaturallySpeaking, a voice recognition software program by Nuance. I bought a version of it last summer when I strained my wrists typing. Then, it was a necessity, and now it’s a convenience.

It’s a useful tool because Nuance claims that people type an average of 35 words a minute with only 58 percent accuracy, but speak 120 words per minute. The company’s Senior Vice President Peter Mahoney said, “When you type, the accuracy rate is abysmal because people get good at using the backspace key.”

If you type 35 or fewer words a minute, then an increase to 120 words would significantly improve productivity. If you’re already typing more than 100 words a minute, though, you may not notice such significant gains in speed.

Edit your work carefully, though. When the software is getting used to your voice and style, it may write something other than what you intended. For example, when you’re writing about rich, sweet, frozen, dairy products it may type, “I scream” instead of the correct “ice cream.” But, the more you use it and correct mistakes, the greater the accuracy.

It also scans for context. Mahoney said, “Dragon doesn’t understand what you’re saying but does understand the likelihood of words appearing near other words. It picks the appropriate word such as ‘over there’ not ‘over their.’” You can actively adapt Dragon to your writing style. Just point the software toward e-mails and reports you’ve written and let it analyze them. That allows Dragon to do a better job of knowing what words you tend to use, and can improve accuracy.

The Professional and Preferred editions include a feature called Voice Shortcuts. With Shortcuts, you can tell the program, “Search the web for Italian restaurants in Chicago,” and your default browser will open and start searching. You can also go to specific websites. For instance, you can say, “Search eBay for MP3 Player,” and it will search eBay.

While Windows Vista offers basic free voice recognition software built into the operating system, Dragon out-performs Vista with its speed.

Dragon requires some PC strength, so make sure your system meets the minimal specifications. On Amazon, you can find the standard version of the software for $54.99. Dragon is not available for Macs, but Nuance offers a similar program called Dictate. I’m not a regular user of Dictate, so I can’t speak to its performance.

Do you use Dragon NaturallySpeaking or another voice recognition software? Let us know about your experiences in the comments area.

Posted by Sue on Mar 10, 2009 | 33 Comments | Tweet This