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Archives for Simple Living
Unexpected benefits of uncluttering: An interview with editor Erin Doland
Sue Brenner, PCC, PMP, and author of The Naked Desk, is a regular contributor to Unclutterer. She recently sat down with Unclutterer editor Erin Doland to learn about her path to simple living, and decided to let you in on the conversation that took place.
Clearing out the excess clutter in your life has parallel benefits, sometimes unexpected. Just as each gotten-rid-of item is one less thing in your physical way, it is also one less thing to occupy your thoughts and emotions. You are freed up to focus on the subjects that matter to you without the weight of all that excess stuff getting in the way.
Take Erin, our editor at Unclutterer. She wasn’t born with the orderly gene. (Me either. I didn’t begin to adopt that habit until well into my 20s.) But when the weight of “too much stuff” got too great, Erin was forced to learn how to lighten her load and create order — now she experiences a more enriching life as a result. Here’s her story:
When Erin was in her 20s, she could pack everything she owned except her mattress into her 2-door hatchback. But when the dreaded call from her mom came telling her, “All of your stuff in my house has to go,” Erin suddenly found herself with boxes filled with childhood memorabilia and college life, along with a desire to hang on to it all.
Not ready to let any of it go, she packed it all with her when she moved to Washington, D.C. Later, when she and her husband moved in together, they blended their lives and their things into an even smaller urban apartment. Every room spilled over with so much stuff they had no room to move.
Concerned, Erin’s husband sat her down. “I can’t even take one step,” he said. “We can’t live our lives together this way.”
Looking at all their stuff, Erin couldn’t imagine how they could organize it, and she couldn’t even think about letting any of it go. Just the thought of dealing with any of it stressed her out, but she agreed with her husband that living this way wasn’t an option.
Out of desperation, Erin had become interested in getting organized to set her married life off on the right foot. But with no built-in, natural propensity for organization or lightening her load, Erin had no idea where to begin.
“I could organize an argument for a paper and that was the extent of it,” she pondered, “but I didn’t know how to apply that idea to my home.”
So, Erin decided to do some research and find out. “That’s where my daily inspiration for Unclutterer comes from,” she explained. “I had to learn and I pass on what I learned to others.”
Erin’s first step was to begin to assess what everything was that was cluttering up her home. As she’s written about in previous posts, Erin had kept every note from high school and middle school. Like a mouse collecting morsels, she had kept every trinket that came her way, such as various key chains and t-shirts she had been given at fraternity parties. So much stuff that she had no use for but had packed away at the time because the things seemed worth saving.
“Who knows what I thought I was going to do with all that stuff,” she said. Since it was tough to completely let go of all those memories, she decided to photograph a lot of the stuff — a great strategy for hanging onto the sentiment the thing represented without having to store the thing itself. Erin also realized that she was more likely to go through a photo album on a trip down memory lane than she was to ever go through boxes of stuff.
As Erin’s process continued, she came up with some rules to help her purge things: “If I couldn’t even remember where it came from, it was gone.”
Erin realized that letting stuff go wasn’t just lightening her physical load, but she was also beginning to feel lighter; she realized letting go of the past was allowing her to better move forward with her life. She hadn’t realized how much all that stuff was weighing her down as if she was dragging it all around like a ball and chain around her ankle. She explained: “All that stuff represented my past. I’m now focused on the present and the future with my husband.”
Yes, it was a lot of work — it took Erin about six months to fully unclutter her new dwelling — but as the days progressed into weeks and then months, Erin got better and better at purging all that stuff and began to feel more and more invigorated the closer she got to her goal.
“I have peace of mind now,” she said. “I don’t have that old dread when I leave the house that I will have to come home to that. All that weight is gone. Now my home is a place of relaxation and order; When I come home I get to rejuvenate. There’s a sense of calm.”
That is peace of mind. And confidence too, I’d add. A real sense of accomplishment that feeds all the other areas of your life.
So how has getting uncluttered influenced other areas of your life?
Popularity: 4% [?]
Sharing space and dealing with moments of chaos
Today we joyfully welcome Alex Fayle, author of the blog Someday Syndrome, as a guest author. He is a former procrastinator who now helps people break the procrastination obstacle so they can find freedom and start living the life they desire. Also, he’s a really nice guy. Welcome, Alex!
There are many wonderful things about living with others, but dealing with their clutter is most certainly not one of them. Living with my partner (and before that roommates) has always been a special challenge during times of emotional stress.
You see, when I’m sailing through life, everything finds its way back to its place quickly because I put everything away as soon as I use it. However, when I’m feeling chaotic, you can’t see the bedroom floor and nothing goes back where it belongs. I nest using clothes and papers.
When I lived alone, it didn’t bother me. When I was feeling this way, I’d just wade through the clothes to find the bed, knowing that I’d get out of the funk and get things cleaned up sooner or later.
Now that I live with my partner in a very tiny apartment, I can’t let the chaos take over too much.
We’re both human, though, and the chaos does hit, sometimes at the same time but usually at different moments (meaning one wants to clean while the other is in a nesting mode).
Living with others offers a challenge to staying organized because if one person is feeling chaotic, their clutter encourages others to let their own organizing slack off: “If his stuff is all over the place, why should I clean up mine?”
Say you’re in a chaotic moment and your partner starts ranting at you about the mess you’re leaving around. What would you do? In my case, my inner teenager comes out and I want to make the mess even worse just to get back at the unfair authority-figure ranting.
Let’s say however, that you’re more mature than I am, and recognize the ranting is not an attack on your intrinsic goodness. Instead, you use it to move yourself out of the chaos, dealing with the physical side first and letting the emotional clutter clear itself out. How wonderful, no?
But what happens if it’s your companion(s) that let the clutter take over? How do you deal with it?
Here are 3 Definitely Don’t and 3 Possibly Do actions.
Definitely Don’t:
- Don’t nag. It’ll just bring out the inner teenager and they might rebel and do things on purpose just to piss you off.
- Don’t get judgmental. People in a negative state don’t need negative reinforcement. Besides, it’s not like you’ve never had moments of clutter, hmmm???
- You can re-order the place yourself, but don’t do it with a “how great am I?” nor with a martyr attitude. Do it because you want to or not at all. A superiority complex will only cause more problems in the end.
Possibly Do:
- Live with the chaos and hope that the person will snap out of it soon. After all, you go through chaotic periods too, I’m sure.
- Suggest an order the house day and make it a big fun event. Put on music, dress up in maid outfits (or at least tie funny colored scarves on your head) and do a re-ordering.
- Re-order the place on your own and hope that the calm space will bring calm to the other person/people.
Now it’s your turn. How do you deal with the clutter in the home caused by multiple people experiencing the ups and downs of life at different rates
Popularity: 6% [?]
Single-use caulk
I have talked before about my strange master bathroom in my home. It has no built-in storage, and it didn’t even come with a toilet paper dispenser for the wall.
The worst aspect of the room — as if no storage wasn’t bad enough — is the shower stall. The floor of the stall is made out of a plastic or fiberglass that attracts dirt, mildew, and soap scum like it’s hoarding it. The shower stall has to be deep-cleaned twice a week, otherwise you don’t feel clean when you leave the shower.
All of this cleaning takes a toll on the caulk that waterproofs the shower from the walls and floor. Three times a year I have to scrape up the old caulk and lay down a new strip to protect our home from water damage. Caulk isn’t the most expensive product on the market, but I have to give up space in our basement to store the caulk gun and what remains in the caulking tube.
The last time I was at the do-it-yourself home store (Lowe’s), I came across a product that is saving me a little headache and space:
The packages are 1.25 fl. oz, which is the exact amount I use for our shower stall. I buy the clear waterproof silicone, but it is also available in white paintable acrylic and white waterproof silicone.
If you’re limited on storage space and have a small caulking job in your future, you might consider the convenient Caulk Singles. There is no need for a caulk gun and no leftover caulk to store when you’re finished. It’s an uncluttered home improvement solution.
Popularity: 8% [?]
Opting to stay in a small urban space
The New York Times recently published the article “Move Up? Move Out? Families Squeeze In” on the topic of middle-class families choosing to live in small urban spaces.
“There seems to be a large contingent who don’t move to the suburbs anymore,” Mr. [Andrew A.] Beveridge [a demographer at Queens College of the City University of New York] said. “Oftentimes both parents are working and have lives in the city and don’t want to commute in and then worry about having to get back home. There is a much bigger traction to city life.”
The article looks at families in New York City and San Francisco who live in one bedroom apartments with at least one child. Clutter and stuff in general is eschewed since there simply isn’t space for it.
Setting up a one-bedroom home for a family of four is not easy. In the making-space-out-of-nothing department, Dina Weiss and Jason Severs are master illusionists. A walk-in closet in their one-bedroom co-op on the Lower East Side was converted to a nursery in 2005, when their son, Sam, was born. But when their daughter, Matilda, followed 19 months later, they gave up their master bedroom for the children to share.
“We don’t feel like we’ve compromised,” Ms. Weiss, 35, a part-time teacher, said on a recent tour of their bright, clutter-free home. The couple sleep in the 8-by-9-foot former closet that housed their first baby. It is now a cozy cabin with a wall of built-ins and a queen-size bed tucked into the shelves. “We’d rather have another bathroom,” she added. “In New York people will do anything to have an extra bathroom.”
The article is inspiring and does a nice job exploring the possibilities of small-space living.
Image by Tina Fineberg for The New York Times.
Popularity: 12% [?]
Small living in a refurbished shipping container
I have a mild obsession with prefab housing, specifically small homes built out of refurbished shipping containers.
Image of Lot-Ek’s MDU (Mobile Dwelling Unit).
Each time we run an article about small homes on the site, I get caught up in a daydream about buying land and creating my shipping container home. It’s fun to think about all of the configuration possibilities, and how I might design my structure.
If you’ve never heard about using recycling shipping containers for home construction, you should definitely check out these videos on YouTube.
If you’re like me, and already dream of shipping container living, check out the resource page from containerhomes-info.com and the ISBU blog. Finally, when your daydreams start to seem reasonable, check out companies like Sea Box and TRS Containers, which are just two of many companies that sell refurbished shipping containers in the U.S.
You also might want to check out the recent CNN article “Shipping containers could be ‘dream’ homes for thousands” that discusses how the containers can be used for inexpensive housing.
Image from the Associated Press.
Now I’m off to do a little more daydreaming …
Popularity: 10% [?]
Unclog your commute
There’s nothing like entering a jam-packed freeway to add stress to your early morning. Catching a train is great — if you have one in your area. Although, even in places considered to have good public transportation (New York City, Paris, DC, San Francisco), the roads are still clogged with cars.
What can we do to take cars off the road and help unclog everyone’s commute? Private and public efforts are being made across the country to make our roads less cluttered spaces.
Last Thursday, I got the chance to talk to RideSpring founder, Paul McGrath. RideSpring is an online service that helps employees find ride share opportunities with other employees at the same company. We discussed McGrath’s journey from employee to entrepreneur, in his current pursuit to offer web-based alternative commute solutions.
He got the idea in the mid-1990s when he worked as an electrical engineer for a 200 person company in Scotts Valley, CA. He enjoyed an 8-mile bike ride up a narrow, snaky two-lane highway to and from work most days. On driving days, though, he wanted to ride share. “For the days I wasn’t biking,” says McGrath, “I thought it would be good to find a carpool partner.” Why not socialize with a co-worker during the ride and tread more lightly on the road and save a few dollars on fuel?
But, as many commuters know, finding a carpool buddy isn’t always easy. McGrath sought public carpoolings systems first. While he wouldn’t mind sharing his commute information within his company, he didn’t want to post it on public sites. “I looked for a product within companies but it didn’t exist.” This led him to search for (and eventually create) a solution.
He dove into market research and found that regional services attracted very few users, which dramatically limited good ride-matching opportunities. For example, in the San Francisco Bay Area, frought with highly congested highways, an organization called 511 exists for the public, but fewer than 1% of commuters have signed up for the system.
His research squashed a number of myths about commuters. “It’s a myth that people aren’t willing to leave their cars at home,” say McGrath.
What he discovered is “There’s a shortage of drivers willing to accept passengers, rather than the other way around.”
Another myth he his company is helping to debunk is the notion that carpooling doesn’t work. However, the US Census reports that carpooling for Americans remains the second most popular way to get to work. This is second only to driving alone to work.
After his data collecting, McGrath could see the need to develop an easy-to-use method for commuters.
Rides
McGrath wanted to get cars off the road and make commuting more enjoyable. With his technical background, he launched a web-based system through RideSpring targeted at companies of 500 people or more. When companies subscribe, co-workers can drive to the same company together. The RideSpring system searches possible ride matches through it’s web process that scans zip codes for people riding in their areas across the US.
The statistics are promising. Some of the companies that subscribe to RideSpring show a nearly 60% sign-up rate for the service. People are actually using it.
Rewards
There are intrinsic rewards that come from finding an alternative commute. You get to do your part for the environment, have a good conversation with a coworker, or even get some important work done. With the US Census reporting that 77% of American commuters drive alone, many companies offer financial and other rewards to encourage people to free up road capacity and reduce CO2 omissions. This allows employers to contribute to the environment, reduce the need for new parking lots, and make their employees happier.
McGrath summarizes RideSpring’s services by saying: “What we deliver is effectiveness. We show companies our proven approach to get people signed up. We make it fun and easy to use and employees will actually use it.”
What do you do to unclog your commute? Does your company offer incentives to commuters who carpool or use public transportation? If your company had (has) more than 500 employees, would you consider using a program like RideSpring? Why or why not? Do any of our readers already use this or a similar service?
Sue Brenner is a regular contributor to Unclutterer. She offers her own eZine at www.actionsymphony.com and if you want to hear her voice, she gives free, monthly goal-success tele-seminars.
Popularity: 15% [?]
Clutter and the U.S. economy
The past couple weeks have opened up the door to strange e-mails coming into my inbox. Apparently, when the U.S. stock exchange goes on a roller coaster ride, this is the time to send angry messages to the editor of an organizing and simple living website.
I haven’t been replying to the messages because I have learned that people who write these messages don’t actually want a response. They don’t imagine a human receiving their rants, and a response only infuriates them. More importantly, they’re not usually regular readers of the site, and I’d rather spend my time helping our constituency.
However, I realized that I may not be the only recipient of similarly themed comments. If you are someone who chooses to live an uncluttered lifestyle, people may be saying comparable things to you. (Granted, they probably have more tact than what I receive in anonymous e-mails.) So, I have decided to address a few of these questions here, to help you formulate a response if confronted by a person who disagrees with your choice to live simply during times of economic flux.
“You are so stupid!! How can you suggest that people get rid of things when we’re headed toward a Great Depression?”
Owning clutter is never a financially prudent endeavor. It costs money to store objects (mortgage, rent, heating, cooling, humidity control, storage supplies), and the more clutter you own the more money you have to spend to store your things. If you have things piled on your floor, it restricts air movement in your space, and the fan on your heating or cooling system has to run longer and harder–which costs you more money. If you have stuff shoved into closets and cabinets or crammed into your basement, it is difficult to notice little cracks, leaks, and other problems in the structure of your home. You don’t see the small issues appear, and then you have to spend thousands of dollars repairing what would have been an inexpensive quick fix earlier in the game. It’s also difficult to identify if you get bugs or pests in your home because you won’t see them until you have an infestation. Additionally, if you have clutter in your car, you earn worse gas mileage than when your car is lighter. A cluttered car costs you more at the gas pump. The list of ways clutter costs you money is virtually endless.
“You’re promoting the recession by telling people not to buy things!!!”
Regular readers of Unclutterer.com know that we support smart consumerism. We define smart consumerism as buying products and services that are high quality, built to last, have consistent utility for the person using the product or service, and improve and/or inspire your life. Regardless of economic recession or growth, this is the type of consumer behavior we recommend. Frivolous buying for the sole purpose of owning more things is always a bad idea.
“Once again, you recklessly suggest that people spend money to buy something when you should be telling people to save their money.”
See the previous response, and add the following: Buying products and services when they are necessary and/or extremely useful can sometimes save a person time and money over the long term. (Note the example with home repairs discussed in my first response.)
“I’m looking forward to when the depression hits and you and all your readers wish they wouldn’t have taken your advice.”
Wow. Looking forward to a depression is messed up.
Seriously, though, it isn’t typically the organized, productive worker making money for his company who is laid off in leaner times. When companies have to make layoffs, they often start with the employees who don’t have a positive impact on the balance sheet. This isn’t always the case, good employees can be let go when a company goes out of business or for lots of other reasons, but it’s still a decent rule of thumb. The productivity and office organizing advice we provide on our website hopefully helps people to be more efficient workers and stay in their jobs as long as they want to be in them. We can’t promise the moon, but sharing what we know about productivity and office organizing seems more responsible than keeping it to ourselves.
***
Have you run into any simple living nay-sayers? What have you heard and how did you respond?
Popularity: 13% [?]
Lifetick: Goal-setting software that actually helps you achieve your goals
On Thursday, I wrote in my column on Real Simple’s website about a few goal-setting systems that might not currently be on your radar screen. Today, I wanted to talk here in more detail about my love affair with one of the programs I mentioned, Lifetick.
As the tagline on the website mentions, Lifetick is “Goal setting. Made simple.” And, after a couple weeks of using the service, I have to agree that it is simple. It’s also well designed, stable, and extremely useful.
When you first log into the system, you are asked to set up your core values. I based mine on the main areas of my life I address in my Strategic Plan. (For example, three of my core values are health, marriage, and career.) After you establish your core values, you then create goals and tasks for these areas of your life. Each time you create a goal, the system prompts you to write a task and provide a deadline to help you achieve that goal. I also like that the system then asks if my goals are SMART.
If you’re unfamiliar with the SMART philosophy, it states that goals are easier to achieve when they are: S-Specific-State what the goal will achieve, M-Measurable-How will you measure if you have achieved a goal, A-Achievable-Can the goal actually be achieved, R-Relevant-Is the goal relevant to your life’s values, and T-Time Specific-When do you want to achieve the goal?
One of my goals was to plan a weekend getaway with my husband. I assigned it to my marriage core value, and then created tasks for how to plan the getaway. One of my tasks included calling the resort and finding out their weekend availability, another task was to sit down with my husband and coordinate our schedules, and the final task involved calling the resort to make the reservation. When I finished the tasks, the program asked me if I had completed my goal or if I needed to assign new tasks. I clicked the button saying that my task was complete, and it gave me a gold star. Who doesn’t love a gold star?!
You can also set Lifetick to send reminders to your e-mail account before tasks need to be completed, and it will also drop you a note when you’ve failed to complete a task on time. It’s a simple nudge to keep you on track, and keep you involved with the service. It syncs with iCal, Outlook Calendar, and Google Calendar, too, so that task items automatically appear on your daily schedule.
I initially thought that I would just use the system for personal goals, but I’m starting to use it for some of my Daily Grind work goals, too. Since it pushes data to my Google Calendar, I don’t have to enter tasks into multiple locations. Also, it’s helping me to remember that some of my work is done for a larger purpose than just keeping my head above water.
There is also a Lifetick application for the iPhone, and you can keep a private Lifetick journal to comment on your progress with your goals.
You can sign up for Lifetick and create up to four goals for free. If you want to work on more than four goals at a time, then there is a $20 a year charge. I suggest starting with four and seeing if the program helps you to keep on track with your goals. I really like the program and am enjoying putting it to use.
The screen shots used in this post were courtesy of Lifetick. I felt weird about putting up my personal goals for all the internet to see, and they happily supplied me with generic alternatives.
Popularity: 20% [?]
Creating a personal strategic plan
Setting goals, working on projects, and tackling action items are three things I do on a regular basis to keep my work and personal life afloat. They’re the backbone of what I refer to as the Daily Grind.
The Daily Grind doesn’t happen by accident, though. I’m not a person who sits around and lets things fall into her lap or wish for the perfect opportunity to open up to me. I try to have purpose to my actions and am proactive in my dealings. Because of my desire to live with purpose, guiding my Daily Grind is a personal Strategic Plan. Much like a Strategic Plan that guides a business, my plan guides who I want to be. It keeps me on track, helps me reach my goals, and keeps me from feeling like I’m in a rut or walking through life as a zombie.
Similar to how a business creates a Strategic Plan, I created a plan for myself. In the book How Organizations Work by Alan Brache, strategy is defined as “the framework of choices that determine the nature and direction of an organization.” If you replace the words “an organization” with “my life” you get a solid idea of a personal Strategic Plan.
Brache continues in his book to discuss how to create an effective Strategic Plan for a business. Building on his ideas, but with a bent toward the personal, I created the following process for how to create my plan and how you can create a plan, too.
Five steps to living with a personal Strategic Plan
- Collect data and analyze your current situation. What are your strengths? (The book Now, Discover Your Strenghts can help you answer this question.) How do you process information? What in your life do you love? What activities in your life do you look forward to or wish you had more time to complete? What are the activities you loathe and want to get out of your life completely or reduce dramatically? What competes for your attention? What are your core beliefs and how does your life reflect those ideals? Do you like the things you say you like, or is habit guiding your behavior?
- Make the tough choices. How far into the future are you willing to work with this Strategy? (I recommend no more than three years.) Review the data you collected and analyzed in the first stage, and put into words your core beliefs that under no circumstance are you willing to break. State what obligations in your life you must fulfill. State your strengths and which of these should continually be highlighted in your life. What stands out the most in your life as being the positive force for your actions? More than anything else, what makes you happy?
- Communicate (draft) your personal Strategic Plan. Put into words the plan that will guide your Daily Grind. Write it in words that you understand and trigger memories of why and how you chose your plan. Your Strategic Plan isn’t a mission statement, it can fill more than one sentence of text. It probably won’t be a 20+ page document like many businesses create, but it should be at least a page or two containing the gist of your vision. Be realistic and let the document wholly reflect who you are and who you want to be. This is just for you, not anyone else, so let it speak to and for you.
- Work with your Strategic Plan as your guide. Make decisions about how you spend your time and all aspects of your Daily Grind under the guidance of your plan. Try your best to keep from straying outside the bounds of your Strategic Plan. Live with purpose.
- Monitor and maintain your Strategic Plan. Sometimes life throws us a wrench when we were looking for puppies and rainbows. Or, something even better than you ever imagined can happen. Update and monitor these changes and see if your Strategic Plan needs to be altered as a result. If no major change has taken place, evaluate your performance within your plan and check to see if you’re getting lazy and letting things slide. Maybe you realize that your plan wasn’t broad enough, or maybe it was too specific. It’s your plan, so work to keep it healthy.
Ideas and Suggestions
What you choose to put into your plan is a deeply personal choice and how your plan looks is as unique as your finger print. If you’re looking for ideas or suggestions to get you started, consider the following:
- Your relationship with your children, spouse, parents, siblings, friends.
- Your spiritual and philosophical beliefs, how you practice those beliefs, and how you incorporate them into your daily life.
- Your career goals and how much energy and focus you choose to commit to these achievements.
- Your time and how you choose to spend it.
- Your health and your objectives regarding your health.
Your strategic plan shouldn’t be a list of goals about these topics, but rather the guiding philosophies behind those goals. For instance, if in your Daily Grind you have action items about losing five pounds, those action items might reflect your Strategic Plan: “I enjoy the time and active relationship I have with my growing children. Staying healthy and in good physical condition allows me to have energy for this time with my children and allows me to work when I’m at work. Good health also is one way that I can work to have more years with those I love. It is important to me that I make healthy choices with regard to nutrition and exercise.”
Do you have a Strategic Plan? Does it help to keep clutter — especially time and mental clutter — from getting out of control? If you haven’t written a personal Strategic Plan before, do you think this is a tool that can help you?
Popularity: 20% [?]
Living in a garbage truck
Apartment Therapy recently reported on a guy who lives in a refurbished garbage truck! To live in such a small space, one must be very organized or clutter can take over in the blink of an eye. And, as I looked at the photos of this garbage truck apartment, I was impressed by the storage capabilities of just about everything in this space, especially the kitchen drawers. The drawers (pictured) look to have a specific space for every kitchen need. It puts what little space the owner has to great use.
Living in such a confined space is not for everyone (nor is living in a garbage truck), but it does make one wonder if you’re putting space to good use. Obviously, by looking at all of the photos from this unique living space, the inhabitant is very organized and makes use of every nook and cranny. For more photos of this incredibly organized small living space visit Apartment Therapy. The interior of this tiny apartment would never lead you to believe that it is inside a garbage truck.
Popularity: 12% [?]
The uncluttered exercise routine
Minutes after I read Leo’s “Minimalist Fitness” article on Zen Habits a few weeks ago, reader Kate sent us an e-mail asking about our take on the minimalist workout:
Surely there are basic “apple-a-day” type workouts that require little to no equipment, can be done at home, and generally simplify the whole process? Of course, one workout wouldn’t fit all, but I get so confused by all the different and complicated advice I read and hear. I clipped one “timesaving workout” that took up an entire magazine page and had at least 15 different steps! Who can remember all that? And not everyone wants to spend 45 minutes a day working out (which turns into at least an hour and a half, when you factor in packing your gym bag, changing clothes, showering, travel time, etc.). I’m sure I’m not the only one who needs help simplifying their exercise routine. Can Unclutter help us get back to the basics?!
My plan isn’t anywhere close to being as elaborate as Leo’s or one that people follow in a gym, and it follows the idea of simplicity that Kate is seeking. It’s also based on my grandmother’s fitness plan — and my grandmother turned 99 two weeks ago.
- Briskly walk at least 20 minutes EVERY day.
That’s it. Eating healthily also plays a big role in staying fit, but, as far as exercise is concerned, this is all the exercise I’ve ever known my grandmother to complete. If I’m pressed for time, walking is the one thing I won’t let drop from my routine.
Usually, I incorporate a few more steps and adjustments into my routine, but it remains fairly simple:
- Briskly walk at least 20 minutes every day, OR complete 20 minutes of aerobic exercise on the Wii Fit or do a few laps around an indoor track if it’s cold outdoors.
- 50 situps
- Three days a week, do as many pushups as I can do (I’m working my way through the six-weeks to 100 pushups program … I’m on week 3 and definitely getting better)
- I try to say “yes” every time a friend asks me to do something fitness related or I get the inclination on my own (hiking, bike riding, touch football, softball, tennis, yoga, Frisbee, etc.)
Walking, situps, pushups, and saying “yes” to athletic activities are my regular minimalist workout. Coupled with a nutritious diet, I have a good BMI and lots of energy.
One last word of advice: Before starting any exercise regime, check with your doctor. My doctor is a wealth of knowledge when it comes to nutrition and fitness, and I imagine that your doctor is, too.
Popularity: 12% [?]
Say goodbye to perfume clutter
I like the idea of perfume, but have never really supported the whole “signature scent” concept. Wearing the same fragrance day after day isn’t my style, so I usually just go without perfume because it costs a lot to have many options. I also don’t want a whole dresser top full of large glass bottles tempting my cats. I find, too, that after a year or two the perfume goes stale and loses its oomph!
Reader Amanda sent us a terrific idea for men and women wanting to get rid of large bottle cologne and perfume clutter. Similar to the Use it up! advice reader Elena sent us for shampoo, Amanda’s suggestion is to only purchase perfume in very small amounts through websites like LuckyScent and ThePerfumedCourt:
“This keeps the price low, I can try different perfumes (some not available locally), and I hide them in a box in a dresser drawer, freeing (uncluttering) the top of my dresser.”
LuckyScent has an option at the bottom of every page of perfume that gives you the choice to purchase a sample (1/32 oz.):
And, ThePerfumedCourt only sells trial sizes:
“What we do is spray, pour, or use sterile pipettes to take perfume from its original large bottle and repackage it in a smaller bottle (we only use brand new sterile glass bottles) so that the consumer can try as many fragrances as they desire before buying a full bottle.”
Thank you, Amanda, for such a terrifically simple idea for men and women who choose to wear a fragrance!
Popularity: 17% [?]
College Life: Back-to-school basics
Today we present Intern Julia’s first installment in her series on back-to-school preparations.
As students everywhere start preparing to head to college this fall, I want to talk about the art of small-space living. College students are a demographic that have particular stock in simple living, as well as anyone with more possessions than space. Whether it be a 500 square foot New York City studio apartment or a shared room with a sibling, it can be difficult to live in a space the size of a dorm room.
Most students arrive at campus for the first time, all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, with a minivan containing all of our worldly possessions. This is great until we’re affronted with a dorm room approximately the size of a large closet.
If this sounds like it could be you, here are a few basics for maximizing your living space. For my first post in my series on tiny living, I want to begin with the obvious tip:
Reassess your stuff.
The best way to fit your stuff into an itty-bitty space is to have less stuff. Only take the essentials with you. You shouldn’t abandon all of your trinkets at your parents’ place, either. Photograph and get rid of the napkin from prom and donate those t-shirts from your middle school musical to a local charity.
If your dorm room is a suite and has a kitchen, do you really need that minifridge, toaster, and microwave? Are any of your roommates bringing those items? There is no sense in having three blenders, even if you really like “smoothies.”
Do you really need to have your CD collection at college, in the age of iPod? Or DVDs? Take advantage of your school’s student programming and see films for free.
Unless you are in the business school, do you need that suit? Do you really need that commemorative Coors Light bobblehead, under any circumstance?
Good luck to everyone heading off to school in the fall and stay tuned for more back-to-school tips in the coming weeks. Also, even if you follow this advice, be prepared to bring a lot of things home for Thanksgiving break.
Popularity: 26% [?]
Help Evan find the perfect desk
Reader Evan sent us the following question:
I’m an engineering student, with tons of books and papers, so I love having a big open desk to work on, but I won’t have the space in my new flat. I have an idea of using a folding desk so that when it’s not in use, it’s not in the way. Plus, it’ll force me to put away all my junk! The problem is, I can’t find anything that seems to fit the bill — all I see are cheap card tables! Can you help me find something functional, yet attractive? Of course, if you have any other tips, I’d be delighted to hear them!
I immediately thought of numerous possibilities for Evan … and then noticed he said “flat.” An inquiry proved that he, in fact, is in London. Not a single one of the options that came to my mind could be found in the UK.
Instead of sending him a reply of “sorry, I can’t help,” I thought I would open up the comments to our European readers to lend Evan a hand. What suggestions do those of you across the pond have for him? Evan and I are interested in seeing your responses!
Popularity: 27% [?]
Work life creeping into personal life? Try a battery-only weekend
I want to start this post by professing my love for the Internet, my computer, and my job. I love the digital age and this blog, and shiver with fear at the thought of living without Internet access.
That being said, I spend a significant amount of time on my computer beyond normal work hours doing non-critical work things. It’s a safe estimate that on a weekday I’ll spend one to two hours behind my laptop in the evenings. On a weekend day, bump that number up to three or four hours. Seeing as I officially work somewhere between nine and twelve hours a weekday, I’m surprised I want anything to do with a computer or work in my free time–let alone HOURS more.
On July 3, I decided that I was going to take a break from my laptop and from work for the three-day holiday weekend. Unfortunately, I had a few small tasks I needed to do over the weekend, so I knew I couldn’t go cold turkey. I decided instead to unplug my computer at the end of the workday on Thursday and not plug my computer back in until showing up for work Monday morning.
I would survive for the holiday only using my laptop’s battery power and nothing else.
I was able to finish the majority of my work on Friday morning and was confident that I would be able to get through the weekend fine. I opened up my laptop a few times throughout the rest of the day, but I didn’t think anything of it since the numbers were in the 70s, then the 60s, then the 50s. Saturday morning, however, when I checked my work e-mail, I noticed I only had 35 percent power left.
I was a little stunned that my Saturday morning number was 35 percent. My first thought was that I must have a lame battery. A good battery wouldn’t be on 35 percent in just a day! Except, when I stopped to calculate my usage on Friday, I realized I had easily spent three hours on my laptop. My battery was working fine, it was user consumption that was to blame.
On Sunday, I opened my laptop and saw 8 percent. About half an hour into checking my e-mail and other little site tasks, I got a message on my screen announcing that my computer was operating on reserve power. I immediately closed my laptop and decided to save the last bits of remaining energy in case of a work emergency.
The only problem is that it takes energy to power-up a laptop after its lid has been closed. I discovered this truth after lunch, when I thought I could eek out a few seconds of power just to see if the website was doing okay. But, all I got was a blank screen.
My computer officially died with 20 hours to go before work started on Monday.
I don’t like the idea that I used all of my computer’s battery power before the three-day weekend had come to a close. What I took from it is that I’m having difficulty drawing the line between work and free time. I think about work constantly and would like to be able to turn those thoughts off and relax at least once in a while.
So, for the duration of the month, I’m going to have battery-powered laptop weekends. Work matters a great deal to me, but so does taking advantage of my free time. I hope that this process helps me to better prioritize my time away from work and relax and rejuvenate to make my official work time more productive. Clutter comes in all forms, and, right now, it’s in the form of working through my weekends. If you’re in a similar position, consider joining me in the battery-powered challenge.
Popularity: 16% [?]
