Archives for November 2010

Review: Real Simple’s 869 New Uses for Old Things

The editors at Real Simple magazine have put together a hardcover collection of multi-tasking equipment and suggestions to honor their 10th anniversary. The book, Real Simple: 869 New Uses for Old Things, is an alphabetical listing of unexpected uses for wine corks, olive oil, old jump ropes, Q-tips, salt, soap and hundreds of other common household items.

The retail listing for the book is $27.95 (it’s 180 pages, and like a coffee table book it is mostly images and a lot of white space), but it is selling for a more reasonable $16.34 on Amazon. It’s a nice resource, but I’m looking forward to it being available digitally, so it can be more portable (on a cell phone, iPad, or Kindle) and more easily searched.

Here are some helpful tips I learned from reading the book:

  • Baking Soda / Rub tub stains with a paste of equal parts baking soda and cream of tartar and a little lemon juice. Let sit for 30 minutes, then rinse. (Green, non-toxic, and economical!)
  • Bobby Pin / Keep pleats folded while ironing tricky pieces.
  • Floss (unwaxed) / Safely loosen a photograph stuck to an album page or another photo by sliding a piece of floss between the two.
  • Penny / Prevent algae from growing in a birtdbath by tossing a few pre-1982 coins into the water. The copper keeps the organisms from multiplying.
  • Soap / Take the grit out of gardening. Scrape your nails along a bar so the soap gets under them and keeps everything else out.

I love the New Uses for Old Things column in Real Simple magazine, and the book is full of many ideas that have been featured in this column and hundreds of new ones. Like I explained earlier, it’s a good resource in book form, but it will be a great resource when it’s available digitally.

Posted by Erin on Nov 6, 2010 | 15 Comments | Tweet This

Ask Unclutterer: Uncluttering after the loss of a loved one

Reader Grace submitted the following to Ask Unclutterer:

Almost 5 years ago my husband died. I was 35 years old, no children. As I approach my 40th birthday, I am attempting to unclutter my home, which also means figuring out what to keep and what to let go of that was his or ours together. This is so tough. I want to give a lot of this stuff up, but because it is “physically present” and he is not –it is my last tangible link of his presence. Help…

Grace, my heart goes out to you. I’m sorry for your loss and that you have to face such a difficult situation.

People who research and study grief report that after the loss of a loved one and the dark period of mourning, there eventually comes a period of reconstruction. How long it takes a person to mourn and then to get to the period of reconstruction varies greatly, but it appears that you have reached or are reaching this reconstruction stage in your grieving process. Having the desire to unclutter, but being conflicted about the process, is completely understandable.

The most important thing you need to remember during this process is that you are not trying to forget your husband. Uncluttering your home does not mean you are banishing him or turning your back on his memory. Uncluttering is a way for you to bring the best of him with you into the future.

As you start this process, seek out the treasured items first. Find the handful of his things that you value most and that best honor your memories of him. You will instantly recognize these special items when you see them, and they will remind you of his life and the life you happily shared together. Store these items temporarily in a secure location.

All the remaining stuff in your home that reminds you of him can be given away to charity, given to friends and family, sold, or distributed in whatever way you wish to unclutter them from your space. This could be a one-time process taking just a matter of weeks, or it might be an on-going process taking years. You need to move at a pace that is right for you. Don’t feel pressured to part with things if you’re not ready — you can spend however long in the reconstruction period as you need to.

Once the clutter is gone, find a way to honor the treasured items you decided to keep. Frame and/or display these things so you can enjoy them. Let these wonderful objects continue to bring you happiness. Since you’ll only have kept the most valuable pieces (and I don’t mean financially valuable, I mean the pieces that make your heart sing), they will remind you of the good times you shared.

Finally, if you find this process difficult to go alone, I really believe that hiring a professional organizer can be a good idea. Interview as many organizers as necessary to find one who is the right match for you. You can find professional organizers in your area through the National Association of Professional Organizers.

Thank you, Grace, for submitting your question for our Ask Unclutterer column. I hope I was able to help you, and know I’m sending you good thoughts as you continue through your period of reconstruction.

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 Nov 5, 2010 | 25 Comments | Tweet This

Workspace of the Week: New setup with old hardware

This week’s Workspace of the Week is David Bosman’s desk.

Here’s how David describes it:

New setup, with old hardware: a 2006 MacPro (+SSD) and a SSD MacBook Air (2009), paper and a pen. Barely visible on the right side, one of my most important tool: A A5 Finsbury Filofax.

We like the amount of space available for writing, which is especially important given the fact that David chooses to rely on a Filofax to keep himself organized.

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 PJ on Nov 5, 2010 | 1 Comment | Tweet This

A strategy for processing out-of-place objects

When uncluttering a space, you typically find a handful of objects that belong someplace else in your home, or don’t even belong to you. In your kitchen you might find a tape dispenser that should be stored in your office, or you’ll find a tool in your garage that actually belongs in your neighbor’s garage.

There is a temptation when you find these out-of-place items to stop what you’re doing and return the object to its far-flung location. Unfortunately, abandoning your work can often result in you sitting on your neighbor’s back porch enjoying a beer and procrastinating instead of keeping on task with your uncluttering activity.

Instead of leaving the room, simply put the out-of-place item into a clean clothes hamper. Then, after you’re finished clearing the clutter and organizing the space, you can attend to the significantly out-of-place objects.

Take care of the items that belong in your home first. Group the items in the hamper by area of your home. Next, starting on the top floor of your home, work your way down to the basement, or, if your home is all on one level, work clockwise from the main entrance. Maintaining this pattern will help you to do as little back-tracking as possible.

After the items in your home are returned to their storage places, you’ll need to create a plan of action for items that belong to other people. If there is just one item, take care of it right then (if it’s a decent hour — but if it’s the middle of the night, you may want to wait). If there are multiple items, pull out your calendar and schedule the times when you’ll return the objects to their owners. Resolve to have all items returned within five days so the objects stop cluttering up your home.

The same thing can be done in an office environment, but instead of a clothes hamper you can just use an empty cardboard box. After you’re finished with your office uncluttering project, walk through your workplace and deliver items to your co-workers.

Posted by Erin on Nov 4, 2010 | 31 Comments | Tweet This

Never lose your lens cap again

I misplaced the lens cap for my Canon T1i camera recently. It wasn’t particularly difficult or expensive to find a replacement, but it was an unnecessary hassle that I would have preferred to have avoided.

When I replaced the lens cap I decided that I would secure it to the camera with a small and inexpensive leash designed expressly for that purpose. In fact, the lens cap tether was so inexpensive that I was left wondering why the camera manufacturers don’t just include them with digital SLRs. Then I realized that the folks at Canon would probably prefer to sell me replacement lens caps, which are much more expensive.

It might seem obvious, but it often makes sense for loss-prone items to be physically secured so they won’t end up missing when needed.

Posted by PJ on Nov 4, 2010 | 16 Comments | Tweet This

Unitasker Wednesday: Doughnut To-Go

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

There are times when I learn about a unitasker and my first thoughts are: “This has to be a joke. A reader is trying to punk me with a fake product on a fake website. This cannot really exist.”

This week’s unitasker falls squarely into that category. It wasn’t until more than 20 readers e-mailed me about the Doughnut To-Go storage device that my disbelief started to wane:

I don’t know if I love the Doughnut To-Go because it has a center hole where “you can stick a lollipop” (in case there wasn’t enough sugar in the doughnut), that you would need 12 of them to protect a full dozen, or the fact that it has a separate hole for A PADLOCK! A PADLOCK ON YOUR DOUGHNUT!

Let’s agree, this may be the best unitasker in the entire universe.

And, there is no need to point out in the comments that it’s a multi-tasking device because you could also store a bagel in it. I believe that since it won’t store all kinds of doughnuts — I dare you to try putting a Boston Cream Filled in this bad boy — the bagel simply is an understudy for the doughnut holes and filled doughnuts of the world.

In case you need more information about the Doughnut To-Go that you can’t garner from the above infographic, you must check out the You Tube Video showing why you need this unitasker. The quality of acting in the video matches the unitasker perfectly.

Thanks to all 22 readers who forwarded this to us.

Posted by Erin on Nov 3, 2010 | 43 Comments | Tweet This

A year ago on Unclutterer

2009

  • Do you do your most important work first?
    I structure my day by doing the most important tasks first. This means I sit down at my computer and start writing before checking e-mail, Twitter, voice mail, or even comments on Unclutterer. If I’m at my desk at 6:00 a.m., I won’t get to the other tasks until usually 8:00 or 9:00 a.m. These other activities are a reward for getting through the high priority assignments.
  • Official release: Unclutter Your Life in One Week
    If you buy the book or request it at the library or borrow it from a friend, I hope you enjoy reading it and find it helpful and motivating. I tried my best to write the book I needed when I was overwhelmed with clutter, and I hope it speaks to you wherever you are on your uncluttering journey.

2008

2007

Posted by PJ on Nov 3, 2010 | Comments Off | Tweet This

Use a browser extension to limit the number of open windows and tabs

Browser tabs and windows have a nasty habit of multiplying. It’s easy to find yourself with a half-dozen browser windows open, each one having several tabs active. As you might expect, this has a serious effect on general system performance and stability.

To mitigate this particular problem, I use a Firefox add-on called Window and Tab Limiter. It allows you to set a limit on the number of windows and tabs Firefox will keep open. Depending on the mode that is selected in the add-on’s preference window, one of the following three things will happen when the user exceeds their own specified maximum number of open widows and tabs:

  • Suggestion Mode: The user is presented with a list of active windows and tabs. They can then either select one or more windows or tabs to close, or simply ignore the warning and continue working.
  • Force Mode: The user is presented with a list of active windows and tabs. They must close at least one window from the list to remain under the limit so they can continue working.
  • Silent Mode: Windows are closed automatically without any user interaction.

Although the Silent Mode option may sound dangerously automatic, I find it works quite well, provided the window and tab limit is not set too low. (I keep mine set at 7.)

If you use Chrome, you might want to try No More Tabs. It has fewer options, but it provides the same basic functionality.

Posted by PJ on Nov 3, 2010 | 10 Comments | Tweet This

Really small spaces: Portland coop

We’ve written about very small living spaces before, but this 16-square-foot contemporary chicken coop wins the all-time prize in the category.

The three hens who live in this modernist dwelling must have very refined aesthetic sensibilities. I can easily imagine them inside the coop perched atop tiny Eames shell rockers discussing the exhibition of the Dorothy and Herbert Vogel collection at the Portland Art Museum.

I’ll freely admit that the coop is a thing of beauty, but not everything with a clean and uncluttered design makes your life easier. Call me crazy, but I’m actually glad I can acquire eggs without engaging in small-scale urban subsistence poultry farming. Division of labor means I can make an omelet without the concomitant obligation of having to clean up chicken droppings.

I love Dwell, but I can’t wait for the guy who runs Unhappy Hipsters to have a little fun with this.

Posted by PJ on Nov 2, 2010 | 26 Comments | Tweet This

Organizing knitting needles

Lena Brown Designs, an artist who sells her creations on Etsy, has fashioned a product that makes this organized knitter’s heart go pitter patter — The knitting needle or art tool case:

The case has 30 pockets to hold all styles of needles, brushes, materials, supplies, and tools. She even makes custom cases for people who want more than 30 pockets.

If you’re a whiz at sewing, I’m sure you could make a similar needle organizer. I just love how calm the needles look all nestled in their pockets. They’re protected when not in use and ready for their next project. Finding a pair of needles would be so much easier with a case like this instead of the shoebox I’m currently using.

Posted by Erin on Nov 2, 2010 | 23 Comments | Tweet This

Would you pay more for less?

Scott Adams, the artist behind the Dilbert cartoon, wrote on his blog back in August about his desire to live in a more simple world — a world without so many options that he can stop wasting time and energy trying to make a decision. He rants about too many choices when booking travel reservations, too many features on his digital watch, and movie theaters with special seats and meals. From his post “The Less Feature,” discussing his travel preparations:

Over the next several hours [trying to find an airline ticket on Orbitz] I tried sorting by flight time, shortest route, and price. Then I tried JetBlue’s site because it’s not included in Orbitz. Then I tried United Airlines’ site because I didn’t know if they would have extra options, and I needed to check my miles. The flight I picked had all sorts of seating options and levels of travel that I needed to research. Then I needed to arrange the rental car, the hotel, and the airport pickup. Then I took all of the information and reformatted it in a way I could read. At some point in the process I crossed a line: The time to plan and book the trip took longer than it will take to fly across the entire country.

Adams continues on to talk about Apple, and how he believes they’re one company that is more in-line with his “Less Feature” desire:

Apple often gets the less features thing right. The iPad didn’t add a fast boot-up speed, it subtracted a hard disk. It didn’t add a touch screen, it subtracted a keyboard. You want to print? Forget it. The iPad is awesome precisely because it has fewer options. If I want more complexity I can purchase apps.

With an endless supply of applications you can download from their app store and the numerous models of computers, I’m not so certain Apple has the “Less Feature” perfected. However, I agree that they’re better at uncluttering their product lines than many other companies.

Where do you stand? Do you believe that too many options clutters up your daily experience? Would you prefer fewer options, or do more options mean you are able to find exactly what you need for your clutter-free life?

Thanks to MinimalMac for leading us to this interesting Scott Adams blog post.

Posted by Erin on Nov 1, 2010 | 58 Comments | Tweet This

British officials demand reduction in street sign clutter

British officials have found that excessive street signage impedes driver safety, in addition to cluttering up a picturesque view. As a result, national-level British officials are writing to city council leaders across England demanding road signage be decreased. From a Reuters article about the uncluttering:

When busy Kensington High Street in central London was stripped of excess road furniture, for example, it helped reduce accidents by 47 percent.

Reducing the signage clutter also reduces the cost of making new signs and replacing old ones for a local government. Again from the article:

“Our streets are losing their English character,” [Communities Secretary Eric] Pickles said. “We are being overrun by scruffy signs, bossy bollards, patchwork paving and railed-off roads — wasting taxpayers’ money that could be better spent on fixing potholes or keeping council (local) tax down.”

Is your city or neighborhood cluttered with too many signs? My specific suburb isn’t, but downtown Washington, D.C., is a much different situation. It will be interesting to see if the signage uncluttering in Britain becomes a trend across the globe, and helps reduce accidents caused by signage clutter.

Thanks to reader Carol for this news tip.

Posted by Erin on Nov 1, 2010 | 18 Comments | Tweet This