Archives for January 2010

Happy third birthday to us!

On January 6, 2007, all this uncluttered blogging began. We’re a little belated with our celebration, but we still wanted to mention that we passed a wonderful milestone in our site’s history. Three cheers for three years!

Thank you, to all of our readers, for making the past three years so incredible. We look forward to the next year of Unclutterer!

Posted by Erin on Jan 21, 2010 | 26 Comments | Tweet This

Unitasker Wednesday: The Nuvo Ritmo Pregnancy Sound System

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

Being a new mom, I spent a number of weeks being a lot more aware of the massive marketing efforts directed toward first-time pregnant women and parents. I specifically mention “first-time” because my eyes are already starting to go back to glossing over these advertisements — the same way I no longer see bridal or cigarette ads.

The stuff being marketed to first-time pregnant women and parents is about 1/4 necessary, 1/4 might-be useful to some people, and 1/2 scams and clutter. As proof of the scams and clutter category, I present the Nuvo Ritmo Pregnancy Sound System:

From the Manufacturer’s description:

The Ritmo advanced sound system by Nuvo is the most advanced and complete system for delivering quality and safe sound to prenatal listeners.

I wanted to know if this was true, so I asked my friend’s unborn daughter what she thought. Her response:

It may deliver “safe sound” but I have to disagree with Nuvo’s claims about quality. I find the system to lack the mid-range fullness I’m seeking for my womb. I also dislike the inability to adjust the bass, treble, and playlist from anywhere inside the placenta. Who chose this crappy music? I’d love to rock out to some Rammstein.

How any of us grew up to be functioning adults without our mothers using the Nuvo Ritmo Pregnancy Sound System, I shall never know.

(Special thanks to reader Wobagi for this unitasker, via Engadget.)

Posted by Erin on Jan 20, 2010 | 39 Comments | Tweet This

A year ago on Unclutterer

2009

  • Storing board games and puzzles
    If board game and puzzle organization has you stumped, here are some suggestions for getting your games in order.
  • Soundbar includes Blu-ray, Netflix and Pandora
    With all of the features that are included in this speaker it is a decent option for those of us who want to keep our cable clutter under control without sacrificing our sound or entertainment options
  • Safe storage for your digital data
    You may want to take a look at the ioSafe Solo. It is a fireproof and waterproof hard drive enclosure that can protect your data and your digital mementos.
  • Hiring a professional organizer
    If you decide to hire a professional organizer, start by looking for someone who is diplomatic, empathetic, willing to listen, non-judgmental, creative, patient, and trustworthy.

Posted by PJ on Jan 20, 2010 | 2 Comments | Tweet This

Five uncluttering things you can do in your office right now

  1. Grab all of those post-it notes off your screen, phone, keyboard, and bulletin board and permanently capture that information. Enter phone numbers into your address book, put to-do items on your calendar, and hide your passwords in a place where snoopers can’t find them.
  2. Gather up all of your writing implements, and test your pens and markers. Get rid of those that don’t work, and sharpen all of your pencils. Finally, put all of these items in an organized container that is near where you use them.
  3. Process an inch of paperwork from your desk’s inbox. File, sign, scan, read or return the papers as necessary. Don’t put anything back into your inbox.
  4. Get everything out of your office that doesn’t belong there. Walk that dead printer to the IT department for recycling, and give your co-worker back the scissors you snagged off her desk when you couldn’t find yours.
  5. Check your bulletin board for any out-dated office phone lists, take-out menus, or memos, and drop them into the recycling bin or shredder. Rearrange what is left so that the information you reference most often is in the spot that is easiest to see.

Posted by Erin on Jan 20, 2010 | 34 Comments | Tweet This

Boston Herald reporter finds calm after uncluttering

Last Wednesday, Boston Herald columnist Darren Garnick publicly admitted that his previous love of disorder may have been misplaced. In his article “Pride in messy desk replaced with ‘sinking, drowning feeling’” on January 13, Garnick professes his new appreciation for being organized.

From the article:

Three years ago in this space, I passionately endorsed [the book] “A Perfect Mess” and ruthlessly mocked Barry Izsak, president of the National Association of Professional Organizers. NAPO had branded January as “Get Organized Month” and the president ominously told me that his archenemy, clutter, plagued “the bulk of humanity.”

It turns out that his superhero rhetoric was right. My employer’s decision to relocate to larger offices this month has forced me to confront the mounds of documents, newspapers, trade journals and notebooks blanketing every square inch of horizontal space. Despite thriving in this environment for years, I am now strangely experiencing Barry’s prophecy of a “sinking, drowning feeling.”

I can’t take it any more. Why would I save a Wal-Mart sales flier from 2004? Looking at it, I had no idea which product originally enticed me. Why would I save DVDs for Microsoft Front Page 2000 or Microsoft Explorer 5 – for the dream software museum I hope to launch one day?

And, my favorite clutter-busting anecdote in his piece has to be:

With the help of some consulting co-workers, I begrudgingly threw away a banged-up VHS tape of World War II newsreels. They convinced me I was not the only one with footage of the Nazi invasion of Poland.

Publicly admitting that you feel overwhelmed by disorder and chaos is not an easy thing to do. I commend Garnick for changing his tune and working to get the clutter out of his office. I hope his column and new desire to pursue an uncluttered life inspires others to do the same.

Are you like Garnick and me — previous messies turned unclutterers? Share your transformation tale in the comments.

Posted by Erin on Jan 19, 2010 | 29 Comments | Tweet This

Netflix streaming on your Nintendo Wii

Over the last year there’s been a slow but steady increase in the amount of streaming and downloadable content available online from Hulu, Netflix, Amazon Unbox, the iTunes Music Store, and countless other content providers. Better availability of streaming content means I’m less likely to clutter up my living-space with physical media that I have to store. In fact, I can’t remember the last time I bought a DVD.

Unfortunately, getting streaming content from the Internet to your television can still be challenging. We’ve written before about the Roku HD-XR, a set-top device which enables you stream both movies and television programs directly from Netflix to your television. We think it’s a great product, but we don’t particularly like the idea of another dedicated device in our entertainment center with limited functionality.

So you can imagine how pleased I was last Wednesday when I heard the official announcement that, beginning later this spring, the Nintendo Wii will support on-demand streaming of content from Netflix. If you have a Netflix account that includes on-demand streaming you can now sign up online to receive a free disc that, when inserted, will allow you to watch streaming content on your Wii.

The Playstation 3 and XBOX 360 have both supported Netflix streaming for quite some time. It’s nice to see Nintendo doing the same.

Posted by PJ on Jan 19, 2010 | 17 Comments | Tweet This

Ice Box Art

It isn’t often that I get Christmas gifts that reduce clutter, but this year my mom gave my family a gift that will help keep our kids’ artwork under control, and since I’d read some questions in the forums on the topic, I wanted to share the idea with you.

The first part of the gift is a simple acrylic sign holder with magnetic tape on the back. There are many ways that you can decorate this, or if your kids are a little older, have them decorate it themselves. Maybe create a decorative border, or include the child’s name. This gives them their own special place on the fridge, which is especially important if you have more than one child, and also helps you teach PEEP (a Place for Everything, Everything in its Place).

The other part of the gift is an album to be used when artwork comes off of the fridge. The album can include pages that hold the actual artwork, or just photographs of the artwork if your kids are very productive and you need to fit more in the album.

My son isn’t even one year old yet, but I can’t wait to start displaying his artwork on the fridge with this uncluttered and fun system!

Posted by Brian on Jan 18, 2010 | 10 Comments | Tweet This

On the Forums: favorite organizational items, old university notes, and make-up bags

Some great discussions are currently underway on the Unclutterer Forums:

Be sure to check it out and add your thoughts to the mix. Remember, you can start your own thread (which our system calls a “topic”) by clicking the “Add New” link under Latest Discussions on the Forum homepage.

If you use an RSS reader to follow your favorite blogs, you can easily keep track of what’s going on in our new forums. Add the feed for latest topics or all the latest posts. You can even follow specific topics using the RSS link just below each topic’s title, or create an RSS feed of your own by adding topics as favorites.

You can also follow Unclutterer on Twitter.

Posted by PJ on Jan 17, 2010 | 1 Comment | Tweet This

A year ago on Unclutterer

2009

2008

Posted by PJ on Jan 17, 2010 | 1 Comment | Tweet This

Uncluttered and inexpensive storage designs from CB2

If you’re looking for attractive and reasonably-priced modern home decor, your first instinct is probably to get in your car and schlep all the way to IKEA. (Isn’t in funny how IKEA is always a least an hour away, no matter where you live?)

Shopping for home furnishings exclusively at IKEA is an easy enough trap to fall into. The danger, however, is that your living-space may slowly come to resemble Ed Norton’s apartment in Fight Club. It’s a good idea to mix it up a little and occasionally do your shopping somewhere else.

We think that CB2 is a great alternative for those times when you’re just not interested in dealing with the headaches that often accompany flat-pack boxes emblazoned with diacritical marks. CB2s products also tend to feel a little “homier” than their IKEA counterparts. Here are a few particularly nice designs from CB2s most recent catalog:

Set of Four Birch Storage Boxes ($29.95)

Clip 9-Hook Coat Rack ($29.95)

Madra Magazine Rack ($59.95)

Metal Trunks ($49.95–$69.95)

Posted by PJ on Jan 16, 2010 | 27 Comments | Tweet This

Ask Unclutterer: Coat control

Reader Stacy submitted the following to Ask Unclutterer:

I live in Brooklyn on the top floor of a Brownstone and have NO coat closet, which is killing me this winter because our coats just end up all over the kitchen table. Do you have any ideas/suggestions for coat/hat/gloves/boot storage for a small apartment? Also, I’m broke. Thanks!

I’m sure you have figured out that the reason your coats, hats, and gloves are winding up on the dining table is because you don’t have another place for them to be stored when you’re home. You need to determine a location and create a space for these items to live, and it should be near the main entrance of your apartment.

You can repurpose a decorative container you already own to hold hats and gloves. Wrap a cardboard box in decorative contact paper that matches your decor if you don’t already own something that will work.

You have many options for coat storage, but probably the easiest is to install hooks near your front door. For just $1.66, you can relive your elementary school days with these simple Coat and Hat Hooks:

If you can’t put screws in your apartment’s walls, consider an over-the-door hanger for less than $13:

As far as boots are concerned, get an inexpensive tray from your local home supply store and leave your boots out to dry on it. Since you live on the top floor of your building, you could even leave the boot tray out in the hallway. Your shoes are probably at little to no risk of being stolen, and it will keep their dampness and mess out of your place.

Thank you, Stacy, for submitting your question for our Ask Unclutterer column. I hope this advice helps in some way!

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 Jan 15, 2010 | 20 Comments | Tweet This

Workspace of the Week: Pulled together

This week’s Workspace of the Week is Cleland08′s home workspace:

I like Cleland08′s office because it was inexpensive to create (if you go to the Flickr original you can mouse over the image to read all the objects’ histories) and it fully suits her needs. To create something great, you don’t always have to drop a lot of money to do it. From the $15 filing cabinet found on Craigslist to the desk lamp snagged from her parents house, all of these pieces work together to make a comfortable, organized, and useful space. I also really like the way she organizes her writing implements behind the laptop. Thank you, Cleland08, for your submission to our pool. You have a terrific work space.

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 Jan 15, 2010 | 11 Comments | Tweet This

Unitasker Wednesday, er, Thursday: Desktop V Twin Engine

All Unitasker posts are jokes — we don’t want you to buy these items, we want you to laugh at their ridiculousness. To make up for skipping yesterday’s regular feature, we’re sneaking one in for this light-hearted themed Thursday. Enjoy!

Reader Sarah sent us what she believes to be the worst unitasker ever. I may have to disagree with her, because as far as I can tell this product is a no-tasker. It doesn’t do anything. It is so pointless that it may not even rise to unitasker status. Introducing, the Desktop V Twin Engine, which powers nothing!

After filling its reservoir with butane (commonly available at drug stores), the engine is started by turning its solid brass flywheel … Its non-toxic exhaust allows you to operate the engine in a ventilated room. It operates up to 10 minutes from a full tank.

I stand corrected, it does do something — Wastes butane! For 10 whole minutes!

For all you butane haters, this is the device for you. At just $1,000 Canadian dollars (US $967), you can burn, burn, burn butane in your ventilated room to your heart’s content. Vroooooom, vroooooooom!

Posted by Erin on Jan 14, 2010 | 39 Comments | Tweet This

A year ago on Unclutterer

2009

2008

2007

Posted by PJ on Jan 14, 2010 | 3 Comments | Tweet This

Clutter-related fun

Since yesterday’s post was melancholic, today we’ll keep things on the lighter side. The first post today is a series of fun links related to clutter and uncluttering.

First up, Naomi Seldin at The Times Union in Albany yesterday posted a new Clutter Game (pictured). Using your arrow keys, catch the “clutter in the donation box before it fills the house.” My high score is a lame 270 — when you need a quick break, see if you can beat me.

Up on deck next is a strip from the comic Basic Instructions. Scott Meyer’s “How to Accept an Unwanted Gift” is a new favorite.

Finally, a number of Unclutterer readers forwarded me the links to two great strips on the cartoon site Wondermark. Enjoy “In Which Beth Keeps Her Books” and “A Rat Has Many Hobbies.”

Have you seen any fun clutter-related things recently? Share your cheerful discoveries in the comments.

Posted by Erin on Jan 14, 2010 | 13 Comments | Tweet This

Earthquake victims in Haiti need our help

As many of you may already know, my wife Erin and I adopted a beautiful baby boy this past summer. Although our son was born in the United States, both of his birth parents were recent immigrants from Haiti.

And so we found ourselves particularly troubled yesterday as we watched cable news coverage of the earthquake outside Port-au-Prince.

Haiti is one of the world’s poorest and least developed countries. It also has the unfortunate distinction of being the only LDC in the Americas. In spite of this, things were improving there. Hopefully yesterday’s events won’t put an end to this hard-earned progress.

There are a number of reputable non-profit organizations currently doing relief work in Haiti. They will surely need our support in the coming days. Please know that we appreciate any support you can provide to these groups.

Reputable Non-Profit Organizations Helping Earthquake Victims in Haiti

Posted by PJ on Jan 13, 2010 | 23 Comments | Tweet This

What is your free time worth to you?

Over on the economics blog Marginal Revolution, a reader asked Tyler Cowen how to determine the financial value of his free time. Cowen responds in the post “What’s the value of your time?”

As usual, the correct answer is “it depends,” but here are a few principles:

  1. Don’t value your time by your implicit wage rate, no matter what your Econ 101 text says. For most jobs you are assigned some lumpy tasks and you don’t control your work hours at the margin as much as you might like to. The key question is whether the overall pattern of your time is an enjoyable one and marginal calculations aren’t always a good way to make that estimation.
  2. Ask the simple question: at what valuation of my time will I maximize the amount I look forward to each day, defined over the next five years? If your next five years are not so tolerable, reexamine what you are doing and that includes revaluing your time. For instance you might be an irrational workaholic or a lazy bum.
  3. Look to the economics literature on “golden rule” and “steady-state” path comparisons to address this problem. If need be utter the word “Flow” and try to remember how to spell that guy’s name so you can google it.
  4. What do you want time for anyway? When is your time ever “free”? If you choose to work more for money, isn’t that time “free” too? Only if your job is a total drudge should you frame the choice this way.
  5. Focus on defining the experiences you value most, and how to get more of those experiences, and wise money/time choices will flow from that approach.

Increasing or protecting “free” time to pursue what matters most to you is almost everyone’s top priority for an uncluttered life. Cowen’s valuation suggestions — in my opinion, especially two, four, and five — are a good starting point to figuring out this number for yourself.

Have you ever tried to determine the value of your “free” time? What do you think of Cowen’s valuation suggestions? I’m extremely interested in hearing from you in the comments. I find this to be a fascinating exercise.

Posted by Erin on Jan 12, 2010 | 18 Comments | Tweet This

Can a waffle iron make more than waffles?

Back in 2007, the stand-alone waffle maker was listed as one of our first Unitasker Wednesday features. To put it mildly, there was significant “disagreement” from readers with our decision to list it.

I’ve always been of the opinion that a grill with multiple removable plates, of which one is a waffle maker, is the better way to go if you really enjoy making waffles at home. Instead of storing five separate appliances, you store one appliance and five sets of plates that take up significantly less space. We’ve even run a great tip from a reader explaining how to store the plates in an organized manner.

For the first time ever, though, I have come to doubt our Unitasker designation for the waffle maker after learning about the fun new website: Waffleizer.com.

This new website has already featured recipes for hamburgers, bread pudding (pictured), and hash browns. It is a blog dedicated to “alternative recipes for your waffle iron.” The blog promises to post 30 non-traditional uses for a waffle maker, and a month of recipes would certainly turn a Unitasker into a multi-tasker. I’m eager to see the next 27 recipes, and I hope that if you have a stand-alone waffle maker in your cupboard that you consider giving these alternative recipes a try. Bring out that Unitasker and see if it can really make more than Saturday morning breakfast.

(Thanks to Serious Eats for introducing us to this new site. Bread pudding image from Waffleizer.com)

Posted by Erin on Jan 12, 2010 | 23 Comments | Tweet This

The Amish, their gadgets, and their ability to get rid of distractions

The lives of the Amish can seem simple, especially to those of us who are outsiders to their communities. They live off the electrical power grid, some use a horse and buggy as their main form of transportation, and they dress plainly. Their religious beliefs command that they live in this world but “not of it.”

When I talk to groups about uncluttered living, more often than not someone in the audience will express an objection to my ideas using the Amish in their argument. Typically the statement is, “but I don’t want to live like the Amish, I like my cell phone.” To this, I explain that uncluttered living doesn’t mean turning your back on modernity and, as a matter of clarification, many Amish have cell phones.

The lives of the Amish are filled with to-do lists and responsibilities just as ours. The ways in which they complete these items are different, but chores like laundry, dishes, meal preparations, and even returning e-mails still take up their time.

I’ve read a great deal about the Amish over the years, and one of the articles I’ve found that might interest Unclutterer readers is the article “Amish Hackers” from last year on Kevin Kelly’s Technium blog. The title appears to be an oxymoron, but Kelly’s research into the technical lives of the largest American Amish community illustrates how it’s not:

For being off the grid, without TV, internet, or books, the Amish are perplexingly well-informed. There’s not much I could tell them that they didn’t know about, and already had an opinion on. And surprisingly, there’s not much new that at least one person in their church has not tried to use. The typical adoption pattern went like this:

Ivan is an Amish alpha-geek. He is always the first to try a new gadget or technique. He gets in his head that the new flowbitzmodulator would be really useful. He comes up with a justification of how it fits into the Amish orientation. So he goes to his bishop with this proposal: “I like to try this out.” Bishop says to Ivan, “Okay Ivan, do whatever you want with this. But you have to be ready to give it up, if we decide it is not helping you or hurting others.” So Ivan acquires the tech and ramps it up, while his neighbors, family, and bishops watch intently. They weigh the benefits and drawbacks. What is it doing to the community? Cell phone use in the Amish began that way. According to anecdote, the first Amish alpha geeks to request permission to use cell phones were two ministers who were also contractors. The bishops were reluctant to give permission but suggested a compromise: keep the cell phones in the vans of the drivers. The van would be a mobile phone shanty. Then the community would watch the contractors. It seemed to work so others early adopters picked it up. But still at any time, even years later, the bishops can say no.

What inspires me most about the Amish isn’t their alleged simplicity (which you can probably infer I don’t necessarily believe is simpler), but their ability to give up a convenience after experiencing it. It is extremely difficult to give up a technology (or habit or vice or any possession) that you greatly enjoy. The fact that the Amish know of the technologies and ways of our world, have even experienced them, and are willing to give them up if they start to interfere with their priorities in life is what I find impressive. They easily get rid of the distractions that get in the way of what matters most to them.

Be sure to check out Kevin Kelly’s article in its entirety if you haven’t already.

Posted by Erin on Jan 11, 2010 | 24 Comments | Tweet This

Small space solution: The picture table

Over the weekend, Lifehacker wrote about a folding table that I think many of our readers who dwell in small spaces will find interesting. The article “DIY Folding Table Saves Space, Doubles As Picture Frame” aptly describes this extremely practical solution:

The measurements and directions on how to make a similar table for your space can be found on the Make website. Or, if buying is more your style, they’re available from Ivy Design.

I’m in awe of designers who can see small spaces and are inspired to create attractive and multi-functional solutions.

(Image from Lifehacker via Make via Ivy Design)

Posted by Erin on Jan 11, 2010 | 19 Comments | Tweet This