Archives for July 2011

Workspace of the Week: Fully automated

This week’s Workspace of the Week is Nick McCarthy’s home automation home run:

This week’s selection may not seem like an office to most people, but the system Nick has assembled could easily be used as one. Here’s his breakdown of what is featured in the picture:

I’ve installed a Home Automation System in my apartment consisting of GE Z-Wave Wireless dimmers, a Vera Z-Wave Controller, an attached USB-UIRT to transmit IR to my TV/Receiver, and SQ Remote running on my iPad to let me control it all.

With this setup, I can turn on my TV/Receiver, Fire up Plex on my Office/HTPC, play a movie, dim the lights and control the volume.

In addition to the iPad that is controlling his hardware, he has a “cable modem, wireless router, and home automation controller” behind the doors of his media center. He has 6TB of storage, too. He also has access to his media center on his regular size computer in another part of his place. Being able to sit on the couch and do work from an iPad and have it show up on the big screen television is darn nifty. Thank you, Nick, for sharing your home automation setup 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 Jul 8, 2011 | 2 Comments | Tweet This

Seven steps to creating or revising your household routines schedule

One of the reasons my family needs to redo our household routines schedule is because who we were in June 2011 is not who we are in July 2011. Our son has started preschool and, as benign as that might seem, it has completely changed our lives. The biggest revision is that now there are parts of our day subjected to a schedule we didn’t design.

The last time anyone in our house had to commute somewhere on a regular basis was 2004. For the past six years we have followed a daily schedule, but it has been one completely of our making. Being subjected to an external schedule isn’t an inconvenience or frustrating, it’s just different. Obviously, we chose for our son to attend preschool, so it’s a change we eagerly approved. We simply didn’t realize how much it would transform the way we get things done around the house.

When creating a new household routines schedule or revising one you’ve used for years (like we are), follow these seven steps:

  1. Make a list of all the things that need to get done on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis. Use four columns (daily, every other day, weekly, monthly) and also identify when during the day these tasks need to be completed. For example: Daily — Assemble son’s lunch while making dinner. Weekly — Mow yard in early morning or evening when it’s not blistering hot.
  2. Keep your list of regular chores to the bare minimum. You and your housemates do not have superpowers. There is a difference between things that have to get done and things you want to get done. Cross any item off your list that isn’t essential. The would-be-nice-to-do items are more appropriate for your daily action items, not your regular routine chart.
  3. Once the list is created, decide who in the house will be responsible for each chore. If you live alone, you can probably skip this step. Assign responsibilities fairly.
  4. Using a spreadsheet or calendar, enter all of the activities that need to be completed into the appropriate time slot. (Feel welcome to download this Excel Chore Chart: Hourly template.) You may find that an hour-by-hour schedule doesn’t work best for you, so consider using a less-rigid format if it better meets your needs. (Or download this Excel Chore Chart: Blocks of Time template.)
  5. Younger family members may need additional guidance. Make a to-do list (or seven daily to-do lists, if necessary), laminate it at your local FedEx Kinkos, and put it in a place your little one can access. A washable dry erase marker can be used to check off tasks as they are completed. (Melissa and Doug also makes a nice Responsibility Chart that uses magnets.) Really little family members who can’t yet read can benefit from image chore cards displayed on a wall or magnetically to the front of the refrigerator. (Etsy has some adorable ones. Search for “chore cards.”)
  6. Practice the new routines. Research has found it takes close to three months for actions to become habits. You’ll have to make a concerted effort for 90 days for these new routines to become second nature.
  7. Adapt as necessary. Life is full of surprises and conditions in your home are constantly changing. Evaluate and revamp your regular routines when they stop meeting your needs.

Posted by Erin on Jul 7, 2011 | 7 Comments | Tweet This

Unitasker Wednesday: S’More To Love STL-600

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

Instructions for making a s’more: Find long stick. Put large marshmallow on end of stick. Roast impaled marshmallow over campfire. Remove marshmallow from heat and stick, and sandwich marshmallow between two graham crackers and a few pieces of bar chocolate. Eat s’more. Repeat.

This is NOT how you make a s’more:

The S’More To Love STL-600 is all wrong. First and foremost, there is no stick! Second, s’more making should not involve “roasting” graham crackers. Third, squirting chocolate sauce out of a syringe (the product is shipped with a S’More To Love Syringe) and over the top of a marshmallow is not how it is done. Fourth, this giant device and the syringe have to be washed and sticks do not have to be washed. Fifth, this device costs $18 and sticks are FREE. Sixth, you should not have to wear oven mitts when making s’mores. Seventh, I can’t stop thinking about the s’more cages being tiny prison cells incarcerating all the fun that usually is involved with making s’mores.

Thank you to reader Chaya for introducing us to this device.

Posted by Erin on Jul 6, 2011 | 51 Comments | Tweet This

June resolution wrap up and introduction to July’s goals

My resolution for June was to get our garage in gear. This ended up being an extremely relevant task seeing as our old car died and we got a new one. We had two hail storms in June, and it was wonderful to be able to pull the new car into the garage to keep it safe.

I started by clearing the clutter out of the garage the first weekend of the month. Rather, I started by clearing our clutter out of the garage. I had forgotten that our landlord had some of his stuff in the garage when we moved in (a couple dining chairs, etc.), so I wasn’t able to clear out his things. Mostly, though, only our garage-appropriate stuff remains in the garage (lawn mower, rake, trash cans, tools, bikes).

The second task was to organize what remained in the space and I sort of did this. See what I mean by “sort of”:

We have shelves now in place and space to organize, but I haven’t yet completed the project. Most of our tools and garage items still remain in their moving boxes. Since my mantra was garages are for cars, not clutter, I didn’t push myself too hard to get all of the organizing work finished. I can get the car in the garage and find things, so I’ll just keep unpacking boxes and putting items away over the next few weekends. I met my parking goal, so the rest is simply icing on the proverbial cake. As far as I’m concerned, the resolution was met, even if not perfectly.

My goal for July is to review and reset a number of our family’s routines and to do the same with some personal and professional goals. Now that my son is in preschool, we have a different structure to our day and different demands on our time. Not only does our family need to figure out how we want to structure our schedule, but I need to figure out which of my goals are best for me to achieve right now.

This may seem like a light resolution, and it is in terms of physical labor. However, it’s something that has to get done to retain our family’s sanity and for me to feel like I have better direction personally and professionally.

I haven’t yet figured out how I’m going to tackle this goal, but as I do I will give a few updates over the course of the month to help anyone who may be doing something similar. Creating new routines can be challenging if the first attempt isn’t one that can last over many months. And, identifying what I want to accomplish personally and professionally is going to take some introspection, and I need to set aside the time to do this properly.

What are your resolutions and/or goals for July? How did you do with any resolutions or goals you made for June? If you have annual resolutions instead of monthly resolutions, how are these advancing? The first of July was the half-way point in the year — are you on track to accomplish what you are hoping to by the year’s end? Share your experiences in the comments.

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Erin’s 2011 monthly resolutions: January, February, March, April, May, and June.

Posted by Erin on Jul 5, 2011 | 26 Comments | Tweet This

A year ago on Unclutterer

2010

  • Unitasker Wednesday: Pet Highchair
    Someone at Pet Gear had to have asked, “Are we sure we want to do this?” What would you have said when a co-worker threw out the bone-headed idea for The Pet Gear Clip-On Pet High Chair.
  • Finish it! Erin’s third set of 2010 resolutions
    How are you doing with your 2010 resolutions? Even if you don’t keep resolutions, could you spend the next three months finishing all of the unfinished projects in your life? If so, join me on my adventure. My goal is to head into the fourth quarter of 2010 with more energy and less stress.
  • If it’s not important to you, don’t consume it
    When I read the book Voluntary Simplicity seven or eight years ago, I interpreted the focus of the book to be about reducing one’s impact on the environment. However, Trent Hamm of TheSimpleDollar.com points out in his review of the book that there is a larger theme beyond responsible environmental behavior that speaks to the heart of simple, uncluttered living.
  • Ask Unclutterer: What to do with diplomas
    Reader Kathy asks: “What do people do with their diplomas? I have my high school, undergraduate, and graduate diplomas. They’re sitting in my closet because I don’t know what to do with them.”

2008

Posted by PJ on Jul 3, 2011 | Comments Off | Tweet This

Ask Unclutterer: Prioritizing family, education, and career

Reader Viktoria submitted the following to Ask Unclutterer:

My question has to do with the fact that my top priority (my husband and son) fight over me with my top necessity (finishing my dissertation [by December]). I believe this is a situation that most of us go through at some point of our lives, but we have run out of solutions, and still, it is not working out.

So this is the situation: my husband is at work most of the day, and I am at home with our 10-month old son. My husband arrives home just in time to walk the dogs, to give the baby a bath to have at least SOME time with him, and to help to put him to sleep. And then, when we could finally have some time together, there is my unfinished dissertation … This is where the dilemma sets in: I either try to have a decent quality time with my man and feel guilty for not writing, or — vice versa, writing and feeling very sorry for not being able to spend the little time we have together.

I tried to work when the baby sleeps during the day, but was very tired and then realized it is much wiser to catch up on my own sleep. In my effort to deal with this, I have given up on ironing, anything that is not on the super-priority list … and yet, my life is just a mixture of frustration, fatigue and occasional passing moments of victory when my mom comes over and babysits for two or three hours, or during weekends, when my two men have a couple of hours together. They both enjoy it, but toward the end of such a day our little one is definitely in need of me and no one else.

And as such, would you be willing to give us some of your insights on how to prioritize what is already prioritized, but not handled?

I’m usually fairly confident in the advice I give in this column. Today … not so much. Viktoria, it’s probably best if you take the following advice as merely one suggestion of many that you should consider. It is far from being law. This is simply what I would do (and have done) in a very similar situation.

The first thing you need to do is identify what you are going to do with your dissertation when you earn it. Are you going to go into academia or the corporate world and use it? If so, when are you going to start networking and going to conferences and doing all that you need to do to get into the job market? You’ll have to work just as hard to get a job (resume writing, interviewing, research, etc.) as you did on your dissertation — the job of your dreams isn’t going to land in your lap the second you defend your dissertation. You should be working now with your adviser to schedule when you will officially go into the job market so that you don’t finish your dissertation too late or too early for the hiring period associated with your concentration. If you don’t have plans to go into the job market in the next 12 months, why are you worried about your dissertation now?

If you plan to stay home with your child until he goes off to school, get permission to delay your dissertation until the time around when you will go onto the job market. Simply put, you will not be able to finish your dissertation while being the primary care giver for your child and living a life with your family as your top priority. I’m speaking from experience here, it’s unbearably stressful. I’ve had to delay my second book until my son started preschool because it’s impossible to focus on anything other than him when I’m the one caring for him. The second your son starts walking and running around your house, and when your son moves down to just one nap a day, you’ll have even less time to focus on your dissertation than you do now. Why make your life a living ball of stress if you don’t have to? Focus your attention instead on the little bundle of joy who will only be a baby/toddler/little boy once and your husband when you’re together.

If you don’t plan to stay home with your son until he starts school, the only way to finish your dissertation now is to hire a nanny to care for your son while your husband is at work. You are not a superwoman. There are only 24 hours in a day and you only have so much energy and attention to give. Bring in someone to watch your child while you work. (And, yes, writing a dissertation IS work.) If you were off working in an office and your husband were home working on his dissertation, would anyone question him getting a nanny for your son? No. And no one will question you doing it. So, if you want to go through with the dissertation right now, your son needs a nanny.

I’ll also ask the question … do you ever plan to use your dissertation? If the answer is no, strongly consider resigning from the program. Accept your Everything But Dissertation and be on your way. My mom did exactly that and was able to determine that she ended up making more money over the course of her career as a result. I also stopped after my master’s degree because I realized getting my doctorate wouldn’t improve my salary or my chances of success. However, I wasn’t going into academia, I was going into writing … which doesn’t even require a high school diploma … so even the master’s degree is complete overkill … which means take what I just said with a giant grain of salt (or even a mound of giant grains of salt).

Again, this is not law, but this is how I see things. You have three choices — delay the dissertation for a few years until you’re ready to go on the job market and can devote your full attention to it, get a nanny and finish the dissertation by December, or stop pursuing your dissertation completely if it won’t help your career. I hope I helped, but mostly I just hope I didn’t muddle the waters even more.

Thank you, Viktoria, for submitting your question for our Ask Unclutterer column. Please check the comments for more suggestions. If all goes well, one of us might have the perfect answer for you.

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 Jul 1, 2011 | 60 Comments | Tweet This

Workspace of the Week: Cable free, clutter free

This week’s Workspace of the Week is Breez110′s streamlined setup:

As is apparent in this week’s office, wireless touch pads, keyboards, and mice can make a significant difference in uncluttering a desk. Then, having speakers and monitors toward the back of the desk, makes it easy to hide the cables that are part of your setup. Breez110 has run all the cables across the back edge of the desk, down the legs of the desk, and then very nicely along the floorboards. The lack of device cables, coupled with excellent cable control on the devices that have them, make this a truly blissful space. It’s a blank slate that is ready for whatever work is thrown at it. Gorgeous. Thank you, Breez110, for your 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.

Posted by Erin on Jul 1, 2011 | 7 Comments | Tweet This