Archives for August 2011

Routines can make even the most unsavory tasks easy

Janine Adams, owner of Peace of Mind Organizing in St. Louis, in her guest post today reminds us that the more routine a chore is, the less we have to think about it. Welcome back, Janine!

Good habits are important, but routines are golden. When you string more than one habit together to create a routine, you go on autopilot. You start getting things done without even thinking about it.

There are certain things in life we have to do even though we don’t love doing them. And, typically, the more frequently we do them, the easier they are to do. Take cleaning the bathroom, for instance. You can wipe down the bathroom surfaces (sink, faucet, toilet) every day. I do this after I floss my teeth. It’s easy and takes just seconds, because the fixtures never get disgusting since I do a little work on them every day.

It took me awhile to figure out that I could apply this principle to one of the most distasteful jobs I have to do as a pet owner. I adore my dog and my cat. But, I don’t love dealing with their waste. As a responsible pet owner, I don’t really have a choice, though.

I’ve always been diligent about cleaning up after my dogs on a walk. I never forget to take bags with me and I always pick up. I tried to be really diligent with the litter box as well. We have an automatic litter box for Joe, our orange tabby cat, but you still have to empty the container the waste is automatically raked into. And in recent years, Joe has let us know that he prefers having two litter boxes, so there are two to clean. (The second one isn’t automatic.) I’d try to do it daily, but it would sometimes slip my mind.

The back yard, though, was another matter. In my almost 20 years of dog ownership, I had a tendency to clean up the back yard after the dog only when it got so bad I couldn’t stand it anymore. It was such a loathsome task that I’d put it off as long as possible.

Then on the last day of 2010, I had an epiphany. The day got warm and the snow melted, revealing disgusting piles that had to be dealt with. As I picked up the loads of poo, I thought to myself that there must be a better way. How could I get myself to perform this distasteful task on a daily basis, when there would be only one or two piles to contend with?

I started thinking about the other routines I’d created, like the aforementioned wiping down of the bathroom surfaces. I realized that the key to my success was to link the new habit with an already engrained habit. In the case of the bathroom, I had linked wiping down the surfaces to brushing and flossing my teeth.

What else did I do every day that would logically form a routine with cleaning the cat box and scooping the back yard? Walking my standard poodle, Kirby! I decided that I’d finish my daily dog walk by scooping. It made sense, because I’d already be wearing weather-appropriate clothing and have poop bags on my person. I got really excited to try it.

I started January 1 and now do it every day. I come home from walking Kirby, make a beeline to Joe’s box, scoop it into a poop bag, proceed to the backyard and pick up there, using the same bag for the waste. I tie it up, put it in the dumpster behind my house, and the deed is done.

The great thing about this is that because it’s done so frequently, there’s little waste to deal with and it takes almost no time. Sheer quantity doesn’t make the task any more disgusting than it already is.

I really think that the key to my success here was making this daily habit part of a routine. I don’t have to remember to do it; it happens automatically after the walk. The other thing that has worked out so well is that I used logic in pairing the tasks to create a routine. When I added wiping the bathroom to my morning routine, I linked it to tasks I was already doing in the bathroom (brushing and flossing). In this case, I’ve linked two habits (walking the dog and dealing with animal waste) that are related.

It’s such a relief to have come up with a way to make this crappy, but necessary, chore less unsavory.

Posted by Janine on Aug 11, 2011 | 28 Comments | Tweet This

Unitasker Wednesday: S’more s’mores!

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

Today is National S’Mores Day, and so I decided to go searching for yet another s’mores-related unitasker. I’ll be honest, I didn’t think I was going to find one. Since we have featured four already, there couldn’t be s’more unitaskers out there, right? Wrong.

These are all the s’more unitaskers I found just on Amazon. If you find more, share your finds in the comments, and celebrate with us on this National Day of the S’more!

The dignified Casa Moda “S’mores” Maker:

Another attempt at putting s’mores in a s’more prison with the Rome’s #62 Original S’more Maker:

Hershey’s official Campfire S’mores Maker without the campfire — oh, great irony:

And this S’mores Maker, also from Hershey’s but with a popcorn maker attachment, sincerely terrifies me:

Finally, the Micro S’mores 80-1764, which squishes your s’more as it heats it up in the microwave:

Seriously, whatever happened to sticks and campfires?

Posted by Erin on Aug 10, 2011 | 26 Comments | Tweet This

Planning a vacation in an orderly fashion

I’m a little strange in that I almost get as much enjoyment out of planning a vacation as taking one. I start researching the place usually six months before the trip. I’ll read travel guides, review sites created by locals, and novels based in the city I’ll be visiting. I take notes, a lot of notes, and learn as much as I can.

My research always begins with a search of the area on Google maps. Then, I delve into the reading. For a place like Paris, France, I’ll organize all the data I collect by arrondissements. Once I have the items grouped by neighborhood, I’ll subdivide the notes into categories like museums, restaurants, and cheese shops. This way, if we choose to go shopping in St. Germain or buy armagnac at Ryst-Dupeyron, I know we also can pop into the amazing taxidermy shop Deyrolle while we’re in the 7th arrondissement.

If the destination is in the U.S., I’ll save all relevant vacation documents to Evernote — maps, Google street images, webpages, hotel reservation numbers, PDFs I’ve made of notes, etc. I can access Evernote on my laptop and smart phone, so everything I need is with me (and I password protect my phone for safety, in case a pickpocket takes off with my phone).

If I’m traveling overseas, my smart phone service can be less reliable. On a trip to Iceland, I might decide to pay a few extra bucks for international cell and data service. On a trip to Shanghai, China, I would still save all the documents to Evernote, but I would print all the documents before traveling and carry them with me in a folder. (Web access can be tricky in China.)

Services like Tripit are great alternatives, if Evernote isn’t your cup of tea. However, you still can have issues using the service when traveling internationally.

How do you plan a vacation? What method and services do you use? Those of you who do a lot of traveling in parts of the world with interesting data and cell coverage, how do you store your travel plans? I’m interested in reading everyone’s advice in the comments.

Posted by Erin on Aug 9, 2011 | 41 Comments | Tweet This

Want to be organized? Know thyself.

One of the best ways to create an effective organizing system is to know who you are. If you don’t know your strengths and weaknesses, you can’t build a system that reflects your abilities.

Someone who is easily distracted shouldn’t have an intricate paper filing system based on numbers and codes. Someone who takes his shoes off at the front door shouldn’t have a shoe organizing system in his bedroom. The more a system reflects how you live and your preferences, the more likely it is to work for you.

  • Are you a visual, auditory, or kinesthetic processor? Find out in “Understanding how you process information to help you get organized” and then learn how to take action on those strengths.
  • What time of day can you focus at your best and when are you easily distracted? Keep a log and then “Plan and execute a productive work schedule” that best reflects your energy waves throughout the day.
  • How long can you effectively focus on something? Scientists have concluded that 40 minutes is the average time span for most people. Check out the Science Daily article “Are you really paying attention” to learn more.
  • What do you really like? I don’t mean what are you supposed to like, but what do you sincerely enjoy? Is there a way to integrate these passions into your organizing systems? If you love watching television, can you find a way to watch television and straighten up the house during commercials? If you love birds, can you use bird labels on files in your filing cabinet so that doing filing is more joyful for you?
  • What do you despise? If you can’t stand putting away laundry, can you swap the chore with someone in your house and take over a chore she can’t stand but that doesn’t bother you? Can you hire someone to take over this organizing task for you?
  • Do you know why you want to be organized?

There are hundreds of questions you can ask yourself to learn about who you are and what are your preferences. Once you know your strengths and weaknesses, you can build an organizing system that will be easy for you to maintain and help keep your life less chaotic.

Posted by Erin on Aug 8, 2011 | 13 Comments | Tweet This

A year ago on Unclutterer

2010

  • Unitasker Wednesday: The Daddle
    Oh, Daddle, you are one of the most special and strangely inappropriate unitaskers I have encountered.
  • Bringing clutter into the light
    Is there clutter hiding in your basement, attic, or garage? Is it at the back of a closet, under the kitchen sink, or in your medicine chest? What is the situation under your bed, in the linen closet, and in the drawers of your entertainment center?
  • Ask Unclutterer: What should I do with old awards?
    In sorting old memorabilia, I have found my large collection of award ribbons from the many fairs and shows that I competed in as a youth. There are some that I plan to keep that really meant a lot to me. But I literally have a large Sterilite container full of these. Do you have any suggestions on a nice way for me to store these or some sort of way to use them? I hate to just throw them out.

2009

2008

Posted by PJ on Aug 7, 2011 | Comments Off | Tweet This

Ask Unclutterer: An out-of-control hobby stash

Reader Craner submitted the following to Ask Unclutterer:

Help! I am a wood hoarder (a subtype of the “I’ll use this ___ someday” saver). I have a woodworking shop that is at least 25% wood storage. This is not that unusual — google “woodworking hoarder” — but even worse than many of them the wood scraps I have such trouble disposing of are mostly cheap pine, not even cabinet grade hardwoods. I even keep partial sheets of sheetrock that I am very unlikely to ever use. I am getting better at not adding to the stock, but still have a lot of trouble throwing anything other than _really_ distressed/split/tiny scraps.
Any ideas welcome…

For a few moments, I thought I might be reading an email from my husband. Like you, he has a difficult time letting go of scraps of wood after completing a project. Then, I wondered if you were one of my knitting friends who had substituted the word “wood” for “yarn.” I actually looked at your email address a few times to make sure you weren’t. Your problem, you see, is quite common and not just specific to woodworkers but all hobbyists.

The first thing to do is to set some ground rules:

  • Only buy wood when you actually need it. (It sounds like you’re doing this, but it’s worth mentioning again.) Don’t buy it thinking, “I’m sure I could find a use for this one day.” Have a specific plan in mind when you acquire it.
  • Don’t have more wood than you could possibly use in the next six months. Since trees are a renewable resource, you can always buy more if you need it.
  • Be realistic. Don’t keep anything you can’t possibly imagine using. If a situation arises where you could need it, you’re resourceful enough to find another solution — you are a creative woodworker, after all.
  • Tape off a specific area of floor space with blue painter’s tape that you wish to dedicate to wood, and then don’t have stashed wood beyond this perimeter. The visual reminder can help you make decisions as to if you should keep or purge a scrap.

Next, sort through your stash and get rid of anything you know you won’t use and that doesn’t meet the guidelines you set. If pieces you wish to purge are in good condition, this wood can probably find a home at your local middle school or high school’s industrial arts and/or theater departments. My schools were always looking for scraps for students to use for practicing. If your schools don’t need them, check with your local community theater and community center. Our community center has a woodworking studio that is open to the public a few days a week, and they take donations. (This community center has saved us thousands of dollars, I should mention. Whenever my husband starts talking about buying new equipment, I remind him that our community center already has an industrial one he can use. All communities should have woodworking studios.) I keep recommending theaters because they’re always strapped for cash and set building isn’t cheap.

Also, don’t be shy about asking your woodworking friends if they want to take items from your stash. I did this when I stopped knitting, and it has been fun to see my friends turn my old yarn into sweaters. Had I kept the yarn, it would still be in skeins instead of helping to keep others warm. You’ll enjoy seeing what your friends make with your wood pieces.

Thank you, Craner, for submitting your question for our Ask Unclutterer column. Please check the comments for even more suggestions from our readers.

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 Aug 5, 2011 | 25 Comments | Tweet This

Workspace of the Week: Soapbox serenity

This week’s Workspace of the Week is Soapbox’s stocked shelves:

A well-stocked shelf that is wonderfully organized can be a thing of beauty. In this case, Soapbox’s rows of eco-friendly cleaning products are so nicely stored that she shouldn’t have any issues filling orders as they arrive. (Mrs. Jones sells her products on Etsy.) Even with hundreds of items in this space, it is streamlined and serene. A great storeroom, Soapbox, thank you for sharing it 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 Aug 5, 2011 | 1 Comment | Tweet This

A small, slim space

According to the NPR piece, “Living Very, Very Narrowly,” writer Etgar Keret is making a new home in a 133 centimeter (4.36 feet) space between two buildings in downtown Warsaw, Poland. His home will fit here:

Image and rendering below are by the home’s architect, Jakub Szczęsny

The house will be named “Ermitage” and will be as much a workplace and studio for visiting guests as a place for Keret to live when he is in Warsaw. From descriptions on the architect and Keret’s websites, they imply that Keret will not live full-time in this space, and that his primary residence is in Israel. As a second home, I think the size constraints are manageable, like a cabin:

The thin home has a bathroom, kitchenette, dining area, bed, and office space. There also appears to be some storage in the “attic” at the top of the home. It is, most certainly, a novel project and I look forward to seeing its final fabrication. The home is scheduled to be completed and occupied by February 2012.

Posted by Erin on Aug 4, 2011 | 41 Comments | Tweet This

A year ago on Unclutterer

2010

  • Many paths can lead to the same, remarkable goal
    I’m not much of an environmentalist — I’ve never tried to save the whales, or even just one whale — but simple living advocates and proponents of waste reduction often find themselves in the same professional circles. I thought Colin Beavan’s words in No Impact Man might have something to inspire me in the work I do, and I was correct.

2009

  • Weekend Project: Your closet floors
    To be able to vacuum and/or sweep the floors of my closets, I have to pull out storage containers and crawl on my hands and knees to reach back into some of the corners. Inevitably, I find something that I didn’t remember was there and I end up clearing a bit of clutter out of my home.

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

Unitasker Wednesday: Cheese Button

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

An acquaintance asked me the other day what I would do for a career if I suddenly couldn’t do what I do. Her hypothetical situation included not only writing, but the consulting and lecturing aspects of my job as well.

I thought about her question for a few seconds and then replied, “I think I’d be a cheesemonger or a cheese maker.”

I was being sincere about this, too. I love cheese. I love studying cheese and making cheese and eating cheese and pairing cheeses. When I go to France to visit family, the trips are most often organized around visiting cheese shops. Every time I’m in New York, I have to stop at Murray’s (I’m partial to the Village location). I love coffee and wine and cooking, but I think cheese would beat these other passions out for a career.

Understanding my love of cheese, you should then understand my confusion for the Cheese Button:

From the product description:

Our informal survey indicates that 4 out of 5 people prefer their cheese without fingerprints.

Um, huh? What? In all of my study of cheese and consumption of it, I have never thought fingerprints on cheese were a problem. In fact, I’m not sure how you could move this in and out of the cheese without getting fingerprints on the cheese. Wouldn’t you have to hold the cheese to have enough resistance to push in and pull out the Cheese Button, thus leaving fingerprints on the cheese?

And, maybe I’m strange, but I don’t touch cheese when I slice into it. The pressure I exert on the knife is usually enough to keep the cheese in place. Who is touching cheese and leaving their fingerprints on it? Who are you cheese touchers? And, more importantly, who are the four out of five of you who are upset about fingerprints on cheese?

I’m baffled.

Thanks to reader Vikki for finding this unitasker for us.

Posted by Erin on Aug 3, 2011 | 35 Comments | Tweet This

Three concepts to keep in mind when processing sentimental objects

Sentimental clutter can be some of the hardest clutter to address in our homes. It’s difficult to let go of a drawing from your daughter or an inherited chair (even though you don’t have space for it) from a loving aunt who has sadly passed away.

When I process sentimental objects to decide if I should keep them or let them go, I often remind myself of these three concepts:

  • Objects are not people. Material possessions are made of plastic or wood or clay or cotton. Blood doesn’t pump through veins in furniture or jewelry or tools or linens. If you get rid of an object, you’re not getting rid of the person who gave it to you or the person you were when you acquired the item.
  • You should focus on living, not preserving. Only hold onto sentimental items that you can find a way to honor, that fill you with joy, and/or that are useful for you. There is no need to act like a curator and keep every object from your past in a box as proof of your existence.
  • There are not awards to collect or accolades to be earned for having the greatest amount of sentimental stuff. You cannot win at being the most sentimental. Your loved ones will not value you more for having an unmanageable amount of sentimental trinkets and doodads. And if you aren’t convinced it’s not a competition, remember a well-edited collection is much more impressive than an avalanche of stuff. Two iconic works of art will fetch more at an auction than a hundred pieces of uncared for mediocre memorabilia.

What standards do you use when processing sentimental items? Share your tips in the comments.

Posted by Erin on Aug 2, 2011 | 35 Comments | Tweet This

A year ago on Unclutterer

2010

  • Nest 8 saves space in the kitchen
    Joseph Joseph’s Nest 8 collection of nesting kitchen items is a fantastic way to save space in your cupboards.
  • Uncluttered collecting
    Being an unclutterer doesn’t mean you can’t or shouldn’t have collections — but it does mean taking an active role in ensuring your collection doesn’t become clutter.
  • Ask Unclutterer: I’m organized but my workplace isn’t
    I’ve heard about some companies doing a 2x a year “office clean-up” day — I don’t know if my office will go for it, but I’m interested in hearing if others have experience with this method.

2009

  • Unitasker Wednesday: Frozen Food Safety Monitor
    So, in addition to having rotten food, you also have a monitor to tell you that your food is rotten — how about that!
  • Do it now
    I try to hold true to the two-minute “Do it now” policy at work, and an extended five-minute “Do it now” policy at home.

2008

Posted by PJ on Aug 1, 2011 | Comments Off | Tweet This

July resolution wrap up and introduction of August’s goal

I’m very likely the odd ball, but August is by far my favorite month of the year. August is celebrating my grandmother’s birthday (she’ll be 102 this year), it’s having a beer on the patio and watching the sun set, it’s long days, it’s cicadas singing, it’s getting ice cream and sitting on a bench with nothing else important to do. August is the perfect month to simply be.

My resolution for July was to evaluate and reconfigure our family’s routines, schedules, and goals. This happened without much stress or anxiety. One night my husband and I sat at our kitchen table and reviewed what routines we’d been following, identified which ones were no longer meeting our needs, and then created a new routine chart. So far, the new routines are working well and our house is back to running smoothly.

Our family routines include meal preparations, meal cleanup, meal planning, laundry, trash, yard work, exercising, getting ready for the day and bed time, general pick up around the house, room-by-room intense cleaning, paying bills, mail processing, pet care, and running errands to the grocery store, bank, and gas station. If you do not have routines in place for these recurrent activities, check out the article “Establishing routines” for some guidance.

We went through the same evaluation process with our work schedules and our family goals, and we’re back to feeling like we have a handle on our time. It’s nice to know where you want to go and how you plan to get there.

My goal for August is to get our “In case of …” files up to date. Since we moved, some of the information in my file is no longer accurate and it needs to be updated. Since no one, including me, likes to think about “in case of …” situations, it’s best that I do it during a month that I find especially cheerful.

If you do not have an “In case of …” file, let me recommend that you make one in August. If you have one, this month might be a good time to review the file’s contents to ensure they’re fully accurate. Your loved ones will feel more comfortable knowing this file exists, and so will you.

What are your resolutions and/or goals for August? How did you do with any resolutions or goals you made for July? If you have annual resolutions instead of monthly resolutions, how are these advancing? 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, June, and July.

Posted by Erin on Aug 1, 2011 | 12 Comments | Tweet This