Archives for February 2010

Buy fewer, but buy better: Tools

Most of the things we bring into our homes will eventually end up in landfills. If, however, we make conscious choices to buy durable and well-made products, then we can reduce both the amount of waste we create and the amount of clutter we bring into our homes.

When it comes to tools, be honest about what you really need to own. Unless you’re a contractor, you probably don’t need to your own drywall lifter or demolition hammer, especially when those types of tools can be easily rented when needed for DIY projects.

There are, however, several basic hand tools that every homeowner will eventually need. When buying these tools, consider either the quality of the product or the quality of the warranty.

Quality of the Warranty

When I was in high school I had a part-time job working at a Sears Hardware store in the suburbs of Chicago. Occasionally I would work shifts at the service desk. In that capacity, people would bring me sad and misshapen Craftsman hand tools. It was my job to smile and give them shiny new replacements.

Sears takes the “complete satisfaction” warranty that covers their hand tools very seriously. It’s also worth noting that Craftsman hand tools are rather inexpensive when compared to other professional-quality toolmakers, especially when you consider that you’re basically buying a bundled insurance policy with every covered tool.

When the warranty is that good, you might feel the product’s quality is irrelevant, provided you’re willing to deal with the hassle of actually schlepping a broken screwdriver into the store to pick up a replacement.

Quality of the Product

Most of the higher-end tool manufacturers don’t offer a warranty as good as Craftsman. That doesn’t mean their tools aren’t made as well. In fact, most contractors and mechanics would agree that the quality of tools made by the companies listed below exceeds the quality of Craftsman Tools:

  • Snap-on Hand Tools: Generally better made but more expensive than Craftsman. No lifetime warranty.
  • Klein Tools: Favored by electricians and linemen.
  • Lie Nielsen: Heirloom quality woodworking tools that are almost too beautiful to use, as shown below. Someday my wife will finally take the hint.

Posted by PJ on Feb 4, 2010 | 25 Comments | Tweet This

Three time-wasting traps at work

We’ve all lost huge chunks of time during the workday to unproductive activities. The following are three of the biggest time-wasting traps:

  1. Gossip and office politics. You are paid to do a job, and that job doesn’t include spending hours of your day talking negatively about or plotting against your co-workers. When you withdraw from these activities, you’ll have more time for your work and people will likely follow your lead.
  2. Lack of training on equipment or software. The more you know about the tools you have to do your job, the faster you can do your work. Buy a book, thoroughly read the manual, have a colleague teach you, or take a class so you can navigate your equipment and software as efficiently as possible.
  3. Unproductive e-mail exchanges. The moment you suspect information wasn’t conveyed as intended or there is confusion in the communication, pick up the phone and call the recipient or walk to your co-worker’s office. What might take you hours to resolve by e-mail can take mere minutes to solve with verbal communication.

What time-wasting traps do you notice in your office? How do you resolve them? Will making the changes recommended above help you to be more productive in your work? Sound off in the comments.

Posted by Erin on Feb 4, 2010 | 51 Comments | Tweet This

Unitasker Wednesday: Calendar 2010 Rolling Pin

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

As a promotion to build brand awareness, the company World Wide Bakery (a Macedonian company known for their frozen, stuffed, savory pies) made and distributed the unitasking wonder known as the Calendar 2010 Rolling Pin.

Not only is this item limited to being used for just a 12-month time period (or, rather, 11 months now that it’s February), but it has to be used in conjunction with another rolling pin that first flattens the dough to a smooth finish. And, I have yet to come up with a reason why someone would want to roll the 2010 calendar into their baked goods. The whole idea seems a little odd to me.

Granted, if you chose to use it as a weapon to fight off home invaders, then it would clearly be a multi-tasker. However, I don’t think violence was what World Wide Bakery had in mind when they produced this unitasking gem.

(Thanks to Sarah for the link and Ads of the World for the images.)

Posted by Erin on Feb 3, 2010 | 33 Comments | Tweet This

A year ago on Unclutterer

2009

  • Seeing spring
    Before most people realize that spring is on the horizon, now is a great time to get ahead of the curve and start making appointments for all of your spring cleaning activities.
  • Compulsive clutter in New York City
    While readers of Unclutterer may be familiar with hoarding, it is a psychological ailment that still isn’t understood by much of the general public. It is encouraging to see these journalism students work to increase public awareness about the disorder’s damaging effects.
  • Baby safety clutter
    After browsing through an unsolicited baby product magazine that I received in the mail, I am now aware of the products that over protective parents just can’t live without.
  • Tracking your favorite wines
    If you’re a wine enthusiast, check out the list of online and software programs that might suit your needs, download one of the iPhone applications, or consider starting a wine notebook.

2008

Posted by PJ on Feb 3, 2010 | 3 Comments | Tweet This

Setting limits with a Super Simple Month

I’ve declared February as a Super Simple Month in our house. To me, a Super Simple Month is defined as no travel for work, one social engagement a week or less, no shopping except for necessities, and no new large projects (craft, writing, organizations, etc.). The goal is to finish some items already in progress on my to-list, relax as much as I can with my family, and be as low-key as possible.

This Super Simple Month idea came to me last Thursday after I returned from my second of two trips to New York in four days. I was exhausted, and the idea of getting in the car and driving to Richmond the next day made me incredibly anxious. When I woke up Friday morning with a fever, I picked up the phone and cancelled my third trip for the week. I had hit my limit. Out of 31 days in January, I had been home fewer than 20.

I realized that if I am to achieve my first quarter New Year’s Resolution of gaining more energy that I had to make some serious changes. I’ve been doing great with my resolutions to eat well, exercise, and get eight to nine hours a night of sleep — but these resolutions haven’t been enough. I still don’t have the energy levels I’d like. (I do wonder, however, how awful I would have felt at the end of January had I not kept on track with these things!)

Have you ever declared a Super Simple Month for yourself or something similar? What rules did you impose to keep your schedule low-key? Was it a success? Do you wish you would have done anything differently? Three days into Super Simple Month and I have to admit that I’m really loving it. I’m sure that by the time March begins I’ll be interested in adding more activities back into my schedule, but, for now, a calm February is exactly what I need.

Posted by Erin on Feb 3, 2010 | 51 Comments | Tweet This

‘Contents Unknown’

In September, we reported on The New York Times article that discussed the current state of self-storage in the U.S. The Self Storage Association reported that unit rentals were down about “2 or 3 percent” across the country.

The article in the paper didn’t talk about what was happening to the stuff that had previously made up that 2 or 3 percent. Were people finally sorting and dealing with their possessions?

Unfortunately, after listening to a recent segment on the NPR show This American Life, it doesn’t sound like people are really dealing with their stuff. Hard economic times mean that a lot of people are falling behind on payments and their self-stored items are being put up for auction. The 16-minute segment “Act One. Needle in a Crapstack” is a fascinating look into what happens after people abandon their belongings in a self-storage facility:

http://www.thisamericanlife.org/Radio_Episode.aspx?episode=399

After you listen to “Act One. Needle in a Crapstack,” I’m interested in reading your reactions in the comments. I found the piece to be incredibly insightful, but also heart-breaking. I had no idea what happened to the abandoned stuff until I heard this fascinating segment.

Posted by Erin on Feb 2, 2010 | 49 Comments | Tweet This

Evaluate your household routines

The routine chart provided on pages 98 and 99 in Unclutter Your Life in One Week is almost identical to the routine chart my husband and I used in our house when I was writing the book. We call it our “Doland Duties” chart and it’s how we tackle the things that have to get done for our home to function smoothly.

We revamped our Doland Duties chart when our son entered our lives back in late August, and we had to rework it again when he became mobile (we’ve started calling him Mr. Motor Pants). Major life changes — moving, new job, marriage, baby — are a great time to revisit your routines to see if all of your chores are planned out so that you’re never feeling overwhelmed by the state of things in your home. And, if you don’t currently have a routine chart, I recommend setting one up so that you’re always comfortable with the state of your home.

The biggest changes we’ve made to our routine chart are how frequently we do laundry (now we’re doing one load each weekday), our eating schedule (we like to eat as a family, so food is on the table much earlier than it used to be), and our bedtime routine begins at 8:00 instead of 9:30. We still do a half an hour of cleanup around the house each night and dishes once a day, but now they include picking up our son’s toys and washing his bottles. I’m already looking forward to when there will be three of us participating in family chores.

Do you have a routine chart for household chores? Is everyone in the house taking responsibility for and completing their duties? Do you need to evaluate your routines to make sure they’re meeting the demands of your home and fit with your schedule? With the start of the new month, now might be a good time to make sure you have a functioning system in place.

Posted by Erin on Feb 2, 2010 | 25 Comments | Tweet This

Zipco closet organizer: Pies! Pies! Pies!

I had a good laugh at this sketch from this past weekend’s episode of Saturday Night Live, and I wanted to share the fun. Erin lost it at “Dirt!” and now I can’t stop chanting, “Pies! Pies! Pies!” And, we should definitely warn you, it’s probably not safe to watch at work because of the “testimonial” in the middle of the sketch.

Posted by PJ on Feb 1, 2010 | 20 Comments | Tweet This

How is disorganization and clutter affecting your job performance?

If you showed up late to a meeting or missed a deadline, it would be obvious to you that disorganization and clutter were affecting your job performance. There are less obvious ways, however, that being disorganized can impact the quality and efficiency of your work. Take this quick quiz to see if it might be worth your time to become more organized:

  1. Do you spend less than 60 percent of your day focused on the most valuable work for your job?
  2. Do client/supervisor requests often linger unanswered for more than 24 hours?
  3. Do you ever feel like you don’t know where to start working on a project?
  4. Do you have action items on your to-do list that have been there for more than a week? a month?
  5. Have you led a meeting without providing an agenda to its attendees?
  6. When you come into work in the morning, does it take you more than 15 minutes to start doing work-related tasks?
  7. If something happened to you, and a qualified replacement would need to step in to work for you for awhile, would she be constantly frustrated or have to pick up the phone to have you help her find things she needed?

If you answered “yes” to any of the questions above, disorganization and clutter may be negatively affecting your job performance.

Start by opening your calendar and scheduling an hour every day this week to focus on organizing. These hours will not be wasted, as your improved efficiency will quickly make up for the time expenditure. Here are some tips that correlate to the questions above.

The first question: To ensure that you are spending 60 percent or more of your day on your most valuable work, you need to plan each day before you start work. You may not follow your plan exactly, but the act of creating your plan will help you to stay more focused on the important work.

The second question: Even if you’re just sending an e-mail or making a quick phone call saying that it will take another day to get back to someone, contact within 24 hours is essential for good client/supervisor relations. Schedule 15 minutes after lunch and at the end of your work day to process these requests.

The third question: If you work in an office that has a preferred project management software, take a class or online seminar and learn how to effectively use this system. If your office doesn’t have such software already in place, research online project management tools and find the one that works best for you. Then, learn how to use it and take advantage of its features.

The fourth question: When planning your day, schedule 30 minutes to focus on these lingering tasks. Keep scheduling time for these activities until you are able to cross all of them off of your to-do list. Then, make a commitment to never let an action item linger on your to-do list for more than a week (or two, based on your type of work). These lingering items create a great deal of anxiety, and that anxiety can slow you down.

The fifth question: A meeting without an agenda can be a waste of time for everyone involved. Learn how to organize a business meeting so that it’s valuable to you and its attendees.

The sixth question: Before you leave work for the day, make sure your desk and supplies are prepared for tomorrow. You need to be ready to “hit the ground running” immediately when you arrive to work.

The seventh question: If you’re out of the office for any reason (emergency, illness, vacation, sudden promotion), someone should be able to come in and take over your work without much difficulty. Unless you are self-employed (and even then, you may have legal responsibilities to your clients), you do not own your work or the materials used to complete that work. Keeping this simple fact in mind can often help to keep you more diligently organized.

Good luck, and I hope that in a matter of days your organizing efforts begin to show you great rewards.

Posted by Erin on Feb 1, 2010 | 22 Comments | Tweet This