Real Simple Blogs: Home & Organizing

Review: When Organizing Isn't Enough

Erin Doland — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 07:30:00 -0400

I have been a fan of Julie Morgenstern's for more than a decade. Her book Organizing from the Inside Out is on my top-five list of favorite organizing books. She is gifted at explaining organizing techniques and systems, and isn't afraid to speak from personal experience.

Her latest book When Organizing Isn't Enough, SHED Your Stuff, Change Your life looks beyond storage solutions and tries to get at the root of a person's problems with disorganization. SHED is in capital letters because it is an acronym for Separate the Treasures, Heave the Trash, Embrace Your Identity, and Drive Yourself Forward. Her theory is that "by releasing your attachment to obsolete, tangible items in your space and schedule, you will gain the energy, insight and clarity to make decisions about the big stuff. SHEDing creates the space to think; it fortifies your identity and eliminates old, unhealthy belief systems."

The goal of her system is impressive. Who among us wouldn't want to have more energy, insight and clarity? Sign me up for a hefty dose of those three things! But, does her system work? Does it provide a way for people to achieve these lofty aspirations?

I think it can, but it's not an overnight, quick-fix method. To purge one's life of clutter, which she defines as "any obsolete object, space, commitment or behavior that weighs you down, distract you or depletes your energy," Morgenstern outlines a plan of introspection, assessment, purging, and maintenance that require some discipline to complete. It's not impossible, and I think it's one of the more realistic methods for change that I've encountered.

Her writing gets a little cutesy with names ("treasure guidelines" and "radical release" are a couple that come to mind), but the principles behind the titles are inspired and well-conceived. She asks readers to create guidelines and motivations that ring true on an individual level so that you're more likely to personalize the advice and stick with the system in the future. Clearing junk without a vision or purpose will ultimately result in more junk coming back in and filling up the empty space. Her system makes every effort to keep this from happening.

My biggest complaint about the book is that it assumes all clutter is grounded in an emotional or psychological cause. Unfortunately, experience has shown me that this isn't always the case. For some people, ADD or ADHD make order and focus difficult endeavors. Other people have just never had a need (unlimited space or a full-time staff to handle their lives) or haven't been taught the fundamentals of organizing (many teenagers fall into this category). I don't think it's a bad book because of this oversight, I just don't believe that it is the perfect book for all people. I highly recommend it, though, for people embarking on life transitions (new baby, retirement, marriage) and for people who feel stuck in a rut and need motivation to change.

Wrangling Receipts

Erin Doland — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 07:30:00 -0400

I have an extreme hatred for receipts. They're the one thing that no matter what I do to try to get them under control, they still plague me. Usually, I just cram receipts into the bottom of my purse and only remove them as the seasons change and I change my purse. I had a receipt scanner next to where I keep my purse in the house, but never used it. I placed a small box on my bedroom dresser to pile receipts into at the end of the day, but crammed other stuff into it instead. And, the giant stack of receipts cluttering up my husband's desk is a sign that he doesn't have them under control, either.

We recently decided that our problem with receipts had to find a permanent solution. We sat down and devised a plan, and I thought you might enjoy seeing how we're tackling this issue.

First off, we identified that we need to process three different categories of receipts: 1. Receipts for business expenses, 2. Receipts for large ticket items, and 3. Receipts for everything else. Then, we discussed how we plan to handle our receipts in these categories from this point forward.

1. There is no way around retaining receipts for business expenses--it simply has to be done. My solution: I grabbed a zip top bag out of the pantry, wrote "Business Receipts: July 2008" on it with a permanent marker, and put it in my purse. On the first of August, I'll swap it out with a new bag. The July bag will go into an envelope labeled 2008 and sit at the back of my filing cabinet. At the end of the financial year, I'll spend an hour or two scanning all of receipts and then pass them along to our accountant in their monthly bags.

2. Large ticket items (furniture, appliances, etc.) are rare purchases for us, so we simply have to make a conscious effort to scan these receipts and file them when they come into our home. This is the only type of receipt that we have correctly managed in the past, so I'm assuming we'll keep this under control into the future.

3a. When I return from the grocery store, I'm going to put the receipt for the week's groceries in the egg keeper on the door of the refrigerator. (We keep our eggs in their carton until use, so the egg keeper is wasted space anyway.) The next time I go grocery shopping, I'll digitally photograph the old receipt and swap it out with the new one.

3b. Receipts for everything else consumable (restaurant receipts, movie concessions, Starbucks, etc.) I'll just photograph with my digital camera and immediately toss at the store or restaurant. When my bank statement comes, I'll check the purchase amounts against the images and be done with it. (The only exception to this is if the receipt has my full credit card number on it. If this is the case, I'll take it home and shred it.)

3d. All other receipts are being stuffed into a plain zip top bag in my purse. Once a month, I'll photograph or scan the receipts and reconcile them against my bank statements. A more elaborate system wouldn't be used, so I'm not even going to try. My husband is going to put a zip top bag on his bedroom dresser and nightly shove receipts from his pockets into it.

Would this system work for you? How do you keep receipts from overtaking your home? Let us know about your experiences in the comments!

Before and After: Reporter Organizes Office

Erin Doland — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 07:30:00 -0400

The article "Clutter expert gives writer a clean slate" appeared on MSNBC.com last Tuesday, and within minutes of it going live three people e-mailed me about it.

The third e-mail contained six convincing words, "You have to see these pictures!" And, I couldn't pass up a tempting offer like that:

Woah! Quite the change! Kudos to Eve Tahmincioglu for allowing her office to be photographed in its "before" state. I don't know if I have that kind of courage:

But something happened a few hours after Bergeron left me in a sea of organization. I found a copy of a key research paper I needed for a project that I thought I had accidentally thrown away. I had a working pen handy when I was on the phone and wanted to write down some information. My husband asked me for a large paper clip and I was able to hand him one within seconds.

I know, it doesn’t sound like a big deal. But I have to admit, it’s only been a few days and already I feel more productive.

It's not the most glowing argument in favor of order, but I believe that the pictures say what the text may not.

Speaking of pictures, I'm a huge fan of before-and-after organization photographs. If you have pictures of projects you've completed, I would love for you to send me a digital copy at erin at unclutterer dot com. I'll put together a post of reader projects and be inspired by your hard work!

Image from MSNBC.com

Free Room Design Software Applications

Erin Doland — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 07:30:00 -0400

One of the benefits of having an organized home is that you can easily rearrange furniture in a room. When you don't have clutter taking up space, it's not difficult to move a table or slide a bookshelf. Also, you can take measurements without obstruction to see if you have space to move in new pieces.

Recently, I've come across some terrific free computer programs that allow you to virtually design your space by entering the dimensions of your room and the furniture in it. Would a round or a square table work best in your kitchen's breakfast nook? Would it be easier to watch television if it were on the other side of the room?

Planning Wiz 3 is an online program I discovered through Lifehacker. In Planning Wiz 3, you can customize floor coverings, select wall thickness, and even e-mail your final renderings. You can even make walls crooked if that's how they are in your home.

Another find through Lifehacker was Furnish. This is a downloadable program for Windows that allows you to see 3-D side-views of your space. You also can draw items of furniture if the interface doesn't have a similar template already in its system.

icovia's Space Planner software has a price tag with it, but you can play with a free trial version. It has an easy-to-use interface that likely makes it a more attractive option for professional designers who render hundreds of rooms instead of just one or two.

Google SketchUp is my last recommendation of the day. It has an amazing 3-D modeling system that caused me to lose a couple hours playing on it. Sketchup isn't limited to just interior designs -- you can render virtually any object with this program. The 3D Warehouse lets you look at designs other people are modeling using the Sketchup program.

And here is an example of a rendering created by an architecture firm that can be seen in 3D Warehouse:

Are there any programs I've missed? Have you worked with any of these applications? Did you like/dislike your experience with the software? Let us know in the comments!

Uncluttered freezing techniques

Erin Doland — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 07:30:00 -0400

There is a gorgeous farmer's market that pops up in my neighborhood once a week during the summer months. The market is large compared to most I've seen -- close to 25 food vendors and another 25 flower and craft vendors. And, to sell food in our market, the vendors have to be located within a 100 mile radius of the market. It is a locavore's dream.

Some weeks, the fruits and vegetables are so appetizing that I am persuaded to buy them even if I don't have a plan to use them in the coming week. How can I turn down the most scrumptious, sweet, juicy strawberry I've ever encountered? Well, I can't.

Usually these impulse buys are consumed on the walk home from the market. A fresh, ripe peach isn't long for this world when it's in my hand. But, sometimes Tuesday rolls around and I haven't touched the fruits or vegetables I purchased. If I don't have a plan for them by Tuesday, they're more likely to rot than to be consumed.

When this happens, I will prepare the food for freezing. I'll cut corn off the cob, core and slice strawberries, or dice green peppers. Then, I'll vacuum seal it into separate, individual-size portions and have dozens of little bags in my freezer waiting for me when I can use the food.

Biggie, author of the bento box blog Lunch in a Box, offers up an ingenious way to store these same foods in your freezer without using a vacuum sealer. She suggests using water bottles:

The water bottle is a wonderful, uncluttered idea. They take up very little space, can be resealed easily, and are perfect for measuring out exactly how much of the item you need. I wish that I would have known about this when I was single, because it seems like a great way to dole out individual servings.

If you've never explored Lunch in a Box, I recommend giving it a visit. She has a lot of great ideas for organized food storage that go beyond the freezer. Now, get thee to a farmer's market and enjoy the great local summer produce!

(via Slashfood)

Handling Inherited Clutter

Erin Doland — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 07:30:00 -0400

In June, the New York Times ran two articles addressing inherited clutter. "The Tyranny of the Heirloom" and "Mother, It’s Too Elegant! And Other Lies to Protect Your Home From Unwanted Heirlooms" give light-hearted nods to the frustrations we can feel when family members pass along unwanted heirlooms.

In "The Tyranny of the Heirloom," reporter Joyce Wadler discusses how to detach yourself from the idea of throwing away your father when you might choose to get rid of some of his belongings:

There is no shortage out there of experts intent on helping us get past our inheritance hang-ups. For legatees whose legators are still living, Jane Hammerslough, the author of “Dematerializing: Taming the Power of Possessions” (Da Capo Press, 2001), feels it’s important to remember that family members who are forcefully urging their possessions on their relatives don’t want those items in their homes either.

“Everybody thinks everything they own is so valuable, then you find out things are really a dime a dozen,” she says. “EBay is kind of the great resource for those tortured by possessions, because you can see what this fabulous and rare thing is worth in a completely objective way, and separate it from, Oh, my God, I am selling my father.”

I also really enjoyed in "Mother, It’s Too Elegant! And Other Lies to Protect Your Home From Unwanted Heirlooms" the statement: "2. Remember that even the ugliest lamp acquires a rare beauty when a sibling wants it." So true!

Be sure to give the two articles a read if you're plagued by inherited clutter!

How to Return from Vacation without Feeling Punished

Erin Doland — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 07:30:00 -0400

I'm getting ready to take some time off from work and, to be perfectly honest, a part of me doesn't want to go. Granted, this part is very small, but I really dislike all of the things that build up while I'm gone that make returning to work atrocious.

The first day after returning to work from being absent usually feels like a punishment. There is a seemingly endless supply of e-mails, voice mails, and briefings in addition to all of the work that needs to be completed that day. I will spend the next three to four days in catch-up mode, and I really dislike catch-up mode.

I have decided that this time will be different and these are the steps that I'm taking to (hopefully) make my return to work after being gone much more enjoyable:

Delegate. When you're out of the office, someone else should be checking your e-mail for you. If you have the luxury of an assistant, this person should be perfect for the task. I don't have an assistant, so I have set up filters on my e-mail account so that my mail is sorted for me. Ask other people to help you on projects that you don't have to do yourself.
Work ahead. Try to get as much done before you leave to cover work while you're gone and for the week AFTER you return. Instead of zoning out the few days before your break, work harder than you have ever worked in your life. Make your time off really feel like time off and let your re-entry afterward be easier.
Schedule. Create your schedule for your week when you get back to work before you leave. Block off time every day to do catch-up work and try to stay within those bounds. You aren't going to get all of your catch-up work done your first day back, so plan for that now.
Clean before you leave. Nothing is worse than returning to work to a messy desk. Plus, if a co-worker needs to find anything while you're gone, it will be a lot easier if your space is orderly. You're less likely to receive an emergency call while you're away if your colleagues can easily find what they need. (I also plan to clean my house before I leave so that I won't have the weight of home chores weighing over me when I know I'll have work stresses.)
Inform. The more people who know that you will be gone from work, the fewer who will try to contact you during that time. They'll find other avenues to obtain information and decrease the demands you'll have to respond to when you return. So, my advice is to tell everyone you know that you will be gone and not doing work on specific dates.

What other tips and tricks have you found along the way to help make re-entry more enjoyable? I don't leave for a few more days, so any advice you can give to me also is appreciated!

Furniture with Form and Function

Erin Doland — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 07:30:00 -0400

Shopping for furniture is never a simple task. Finding the perfect piece that works with your style, room, and needs can be difficult. One thing to keep in mind, especially if you have a small space, is that multipurpose furniture can help you to increase storage while also looking attractive in a room. For example, coffee tables can be more than, well, a place to rest your coffee cup.

Coffee tables with drawers are always functional. You can find pieces with simple storage that are round, square, or rectangular.

Macy's is carrying the Kanson table, which hides four storage cubes that also can be used as additional seating.

Ikea has a modern-inspired table with hidden drawers in its Ramvik model.

Crate and Barrel has the Tres Table, which is three tables in one. The second and third tables pull out to create additional surfaces or seating.

Old or new trunks are also wonderful pieces to serve double duty.

If storage isn't your issue, but space is still at a minimum, you might consider an ottoman that can work as a coffee table, footrest, or extra seating.

And, do-it-yourself types might enjoy this article from Popular Mechanics that has instructions for a "maple coffee table with a built-in storage compartment."

Next time you're in need of bringing furniture into your space, remember that you have options for form as well as function. Also, I'm interested in reading in the comments about pieces you have in your home that serve multipurposes!

Getting rid of ear worms

Erin Doland — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 07:30:00 -0400

On a fairly regular basis, I'll be walking along, thinking about nothing in particular, and then BOOM! "I want my baby back, baby back, baby back ..." song gets stuck in my head.

If it's not the Chili's jingle, it's the Outback Steak House "Let's go Outback tonight ..." song. Sometimes it's the chorus of a catchy tune in high rotation on my local radio station.

I really dislike earworms. In fact, I think that earworms are the worst kind of mental clutter. They're there, playing over and over and over as a disjointed soundtrack to life.

I shake my fists at you, "eight, six, seven, five, three, oh, niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiine"!

A recent Wired magazine article gives a magical cure for getting rid of earworm clutter:

Getting "Eye of the Tiger" stuck in your head is the result of a glitch in your auditory cortex. This part of your brain processes sounds and stores them for later recall. It powers up and can start crooning uncontrollably after hearing just a few notes of a familiar tune. Want it to stop? Listen to the whole song or do some math.

Brilliant!! Now, whenever I get a jingle stuck in my head, I create a math problem and work to solve it. It's so simple that I'm shocked I never knew about this trick before now--and it actually works! Mr. Oard, my high school math teacher, would be proud to know I'm using all those geometry proofs on almost a daily basis.

When Good People Won't Stop Forwarding You Junk Mail

Erin Doland — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 07:30:00 -0400

Merlin Mann appeared June 11 on the Canadian radio show Spark discussing the practical topic "How do you deal with unwanted email forwards." He doesn't just look at junk mail, but specifically he addresses how to get someone you love to stop forwarding you junk mail.

You can listen to the episode by selecting the play button at the bottom of this article. Mann's interview begins around minute 13:00 of the episode and lasts until minute 19:30.

One of the suggestions he makes that sits well with me is to have a heartfelt conversation with the person who keeps forwarding you the mail. He recommends letting the person know that you worry that you will miss something important (like baby photographs or meeting times) because you receive so much e-mail from them. Such a conversation is honest, it shows that you care, and it really gets to the heart of the matter.

He also provides questions to ask yourself to discover if you're a person forwarding unsolicited mail. I, um, oops, uh, may have answered "yes" to one of his questions!!

The interview is fun and I recommend giving it a listen if you are currently in the position of receiving tons of junk mail from a loved one.

Politics and Simple Living

Erin Doland — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 07:30:00 -0400

One of the unique attributes of living in Washington, D.C., is that everyone you meet has an opinion about politics. When you ride in a cab to the airport, you talk politics with the cabby. Every comedian, performer, and speaker who comes to town mentions politics in their presentations. Politics are even discussed at cocktail parties in the same manner as the weather or latest episode of American Idol.

As a result, one of the reasons I love my job is because I don't have to talk politics to do it. Clutter doesn't care if you're liberal, conservative, or politically apathetic. Getting organized and living simply don't require any of these views, either.

If you're motivated to live simply because you want to have a smaller impact on the environment, that is cool. If you want to live simply because you worry about how your consumption impacts the developing world, that is cool, too. If the only reason you want to live more simply is because you want to be able to spend less time cleaning and more time living, that is great!

If someone chooses for completely selfish reasons to live simply, the side effects are the same as if they do it for altruistic ones.

As we get closer to the presidential election, just remember that your decision to live without clutter is completely free of political commitment. Whatever your views or motivations, simple living doesn't require a political party agenda.

Creating a Personal Restaurant List

Erin Doland — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 07:30:00 -0400

Growing up, I went out to eat at a restaurant with my immediate family five times. I'm not speaking hyperbolically about this fact. Five times. That's it. We were a family that ate at home. (To qualify, I sometimes ate lunch out with friends, but never dinner because it was at home with the family.)

Now, I probably eat out at restaurants with my husband about once a week. Compared to many, this is still a low number, but to me it is quite extravagant. The reality is that often meal times are the only chance we have to meet up with friends, and it's faster and less stressful to go out to a restaurant.

Deciding where we should go, however, can be an ordeal. When you live in a major metropolitan area like Washington, D.C., there are literally thousands of options for dining. My local Barnes and Noble has an entire shelf of books dedicated to DC restaurant reviews and guides. Add to that the Washington Post's entertainment website and Washingtonian magazine's recommendation list, and you can give yourself a headache thinking about all of the options.

Instead of being the person who says, "I don't know, where do you want to eat," I've started a personal restaurant list. I keep mine in a Moleskine notebook, but it would be just as simple to create one on a PDA or cell phone that supports lists. The idea is to keep the lists in a portable format so that you can have them with you when you need them.

I have five separate lists. The first three are listings of every restaurant within 15 minutes of my home broken down by inexpensive, moderate, and expensive. There are asterisks next to the restaurants we've never tried and details next to restaurants that have specials (half-price bottles of wine on Monday, etc.). Restaurants we don't like are simply erased from the lists. We created the list by using many of the resources I've already discussed, as well as hitting the restaurant button on our friend's GPS system and seeing what appeared.

The other two lists in my notebook are: 1. Restaurants I want to try, and 2. Favorites. These lists cover the whole metropolitan area, and I've written the address, metro stop, or neighborhood next to the restaurant name, as well as the price range.

Since creating these lists, we haven't wasted time trying to decide where we want to meet up with friends or grab a quick bite when we're on the go. Plus, I've found it to be a nice resource when friends and family are visiting from out of town. I'll just hand them the notebook and let them take it with them when they're sightseeing downtown.

Thirty Minutes to Organization Inspiration

Erin Doland — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 07:30:00 -0400

Last week, we had a full-fledge tornado warning where I live. Sirens blared and we all headed to the basement.

Sitting there for 30 minutes forced me to stare at all of my stuff in my basement. I was amazed at how much crap I had down there. A lamp that used to be in our bedroom but doesn't work with the new design, a fold-up grocery cart from when we didn't have a car, a broken vacuum cleaner, a wobbly amplifier stand, and about 50 other items were crammed into a corner of the room. Instead of dealing with these things properly, I had just shoved them into the basement hoping that they would go away on their own.

After we received the all-clear from the National Weather Service, I asked my husband if we could take the next hour and clean out the basement. He eagerly agreed (I think staring at the mess had affected him, too). We ended up spending three hours sorting, clearing, and relocating everything in the basement except for the furnace, water heater, and washer and dryer. The next morning, I put in a call to a local charity to schedule a pickup for the things that could be donated, threw the recyclables on the curb for pickup, and made a trip to the dump with all of the big trash items.

Now, I can't stop walking down to the basement to sneak a peek of its beautiful state. I'm thinking about taking 30 minutes this week and sitting in my garage to see what I can discover about that space. I know that half an hour will inspire me to do some organizing there.

Feel welcome to give this inspiration technique a try. Grab a chair and head to your most cluttered room. Then, just sit in it for half an hour. Look at all of your stuff and think about all of the clutter-free possibilities for the room. Don't start acting immediately, identify the problems and mentally create the solutions. Finally, do what you need to do to make the space beautiful. Good luck!

Studying economics to help get rid of clutter

Erin Doland — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 07:30:00 -0400

When clients tell me that they are having difficulty getting rid of clutter, I ask the following questions:

Have you ever gone to the movie theater and seen a really bad movie? If so, did you leave the theater before the movie was finished?

To date, the responses have always been "yes" to the first question and "no" to the second. The justifications are usually that they paid money for the tickets, so they stayed for the whole movie.

The same explanation is used by a lot of people when they decide to hold onto their clutter. They find it difficult to part with an object because they "paid good money for it." I have definitely fallen prey to this line of reasoning -- especially when computer equipment is involved.

The idea that we paid money for an object (or experience, as with the movie) is not a valid reason to hold onto something, however. The money has already been spent. We can't go back in time and unmake a purchase no matter how much we all would like to. Therefore, letting an object's purchase price be part of our decision to keep it in the future is irrational. We've stopped evaluating the current merits of the object and are instead evaluating costs we can't recoup. This line of thinking is so prevalent that it is studied in economics and is called the sunk cost fallacy.

Simply stated, if you don't have use for an object, then the real value of that object to you is zero -- not what was spent on it when you bought it. You don't need it and you don't really want it. Instead of holding onto it, you should consider donating the object to charity or selling it to someone who places a higher value on the object than you do. I enjoy knowing that something I once enjoyed has been set free into the world to be valued by someone else (or at least that's what I tell myself when I part with the clutter).

Reminding ourselves about the sunk cost fallacy is one way to get past the "but I paid a lot of money for it" excuse for holding onto things we no longer value or need. Although it's a difficult task, it can be helpful when tackling an uncluttering project to keep in mind the current value of an object, not its purchase price.

Sky Mall: Friend or Foe?

Erin Doland — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 07:30:00 -0400

On Unclutterer, we like to poke fun at the Sky Mall catalog. The potential for clutter abounds on most every page of the publication. When I get on an airplane, one of the first things I do is grab the Sky Mall catalog and look for baubles and gadgets to use in upcoming Unitasker Wednesday posts -- The Hot Dog Cooker! The At-Home Cotton Candy Machine! The Martini Shaker!

Recently, I was on a flight and noticed that a few useful objects have made it into the Sky Mall catalog. I'm not tempted to buy any of them, but I was at least glad to see some multi-tasking finds. Here are some of my favorites:

The Versatile Console to Card to Dinner Table with Folding Chairs: Granted, I haven't seen this item in person to know if its quality matches its $550 price tag (the description says "hardwood solids and veneers"). However, the space saving functionality seems impressive. It may be poor in form, but the idea of it is terrific.

Charging Station and Valet: This product would be nice on a bedroom dresser or a desk to hold all of those things you carry in your pockets. There is a power strip with a surge protector inside the enclosure so that you can charge all of your handheld electronics safely. I wonder if my husband would use something like this??

Heavy Lift Garage Elevator: If you have unused vertical storage space in your garage, this rope and pulley system could work well for you. I don't think I'd put a wood chipper on it like in the picture, but I think it would be great for out-of-season sports equipment and exterior holiday decorations.

One Week, One Room

Erin Doland — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 07:30:00 -0400

Here's an idea for an easy way to approach clutter control:

Instead of stressing about the state of your entire home, just focus on keeping one room free of clutter for a week.

If your living room has been frustrating you, take a week and dedicate yourself and your family to keeping it in tip-top shape. If your bedroom has been a disaster area, make a commitment to clear up the clutter and keep it spotless for seven days. Set a timer for 15 minutes each evening and do what you can for that single space.

One of the benefits of focusing on a single room is that you get a clear idea of what is causing clutter there. Do you throw down your briefcase in the same spot every night after work and then never move it? Do your kids take off their shoes and leave them strewn about the room? Are there storage solutions you should implement to handle these problems? Should behaviors be changed? Does your furniture need to be rearranged? As you become more aware of the clutter, you'll get a better understanding of what you need to do to find a solution.

When your week is done, consider identifying a new room for the next week. By the end of the summer (or the winter, if you're in the southern hemisphere), you will have focused on all of the rooms in your home and will have accomplished a great deal with very little stress.

5 Organization Books I Love

Erin Doland — Thu, 29 May 2008 07:28:00 -0400

After Holly's 5 Decorating Books I Love post ran last week, reader Lucy e-mailed me and asked if I might be able to write a similar post about organization books. It was a terrific idea, Lucy! So, now I present to you five organization books that inspire me:

1. Peter Walsh's It's All Too Much. If you are seeking motivation for why you should get rid of clutter, Walsh's book is one you'll want to read. He's practical and speaks plainly about the disadvantages of having clutter in your home. I think of this book as organizing theory.

2. Regina Leeds' One Year to an Organized Life. This is the most realistic home organization book on the market. Leeds doesn't tiptoe around the issue that organizing your home is a process and that it will take time to reach your goals. I wish the book had a less daunting title, but that's my only serious complaint about the work. If you're looking for a long-term solution to your organizing problem, you'll want to read this book.

3. David Allen's Getting Things Done. People who need help with time management and curbing paper clutter need to look no further than the master Allen. I don't follow his system exactly, but his advice is woven deeply into everything I do at work. He focuses on getting rid of the anxieties caused by worrying about the things you have to do.

4. Gina Trapani's Upgrade Your Life. I spend the majority of my time behind my office desk, and organizing my digital data and workflow is a must for my sanity. Trapani's book provides more than 100 tips and tricks for making your work more productive. I enjoy that her solutions recognize that one method doesn't work for everyone, which is also a strong belief of mine.

5. Julie Morgenstern's Organizing from the Inside Out. Morgenstern presents a system that teaches people how to organize their homes. She's one of the first big names in organizing, and she earned her title for a reason. Methodical, solid advice that is helpful to anyone in the first stages of the organization process.

What organizing books inspire you? Let us know your favorites in the comments!

Cleaning products I can't live without

Erin Doland — Tue, 27 May 2008 07:30:00 -0400

If you were to take a photograph of my cleaning supplies every few months, these are the products that would appear in every picture --

Mrs. Meyer's Clean Day Countertop Spray: This is my preferred all-purpose cleaner. It cleans floors, counters, and stove tops. If you have this in your home, you can clean most anything safely.

White vinegar: I keep some vinegar in a spray bottle diluted with a little water to use to clean mirrors, windows, and the inside of my microwave. I also use white vinegar mixed with baking soda as a paste to clean bathroom fixtures, sinks, drains, and stained plastic and surfaces. Check out the Heinz Vinegar website to discover even more uses.

Baking soda: Mixed with water or vinegar, this bad boy creates a mean abrasive cleaner. It's gentle enough, however, to use to polish silver (when mixed with water) and strong enough to tackle your oven. In it's dry form, it is great at eliminating odors in refrigerators and small spaces. My aunt has dogs and sprinkles baking soda on carpets, lets it sit for a while, and then vacuums it up to reduce pet odors in her home. Check out the Arm and Hammer website to discover even more uses.

Mr. Clean Magic Erasers: When baking soda doesn't pack enough punch as an abrasive cleaner, I turn to the Magic Eraser. It's not the most environmentally sound cleaner out there, but it's definitely far from being the worst chemical offender available on the market. And when you're faced with the impossible job, the Magic Eraser saves the day. I use it to clean caked on soap scum and mildew off my shower walls and on my flat painted drywall to remove black scuff marks.

Cut-up t-shirt squares: When shirts are past their prime, I cut them up and use them as cleaning rags. Great for dusting and scrubbing, they find a good home along side of my cleaning supplies.

Which cleaning products save the day in your home? I'm interested in hearing from you in the comments!

Strategies for Staying Productive Throughout Your Day

Erin Doland — Thu, 22 May 2008 07:30:00 -0400

One of the reasons we all want to be more organized is so we can be more productive and have time to enjoy the things in life that truly matter.

Each person has a different rhythm to when she is productive and when she's not. For instance, I'm incredibly productive in the morning and then again in the late afternoon. Between 1:00 and 2:00 every afternoon, however, I'm a pile of rocks. I've cut back on carbohydrates at lunch, and it doesn't matter. It's just my body's natural down time.

If you don't know your productivity ups and downs, I recommend checking out Rescue Time. It's an online service that allows you to track your work and determine when you are at your best (and worst). Rescue Time also provides analysis of your data so that you can understand how you're spending your time and use it to your advantage.

Unfortunately, my to-do list doesn't disappear just because my mind isn't working at its best. As a result, I have to trick myself into being productive during these times.

Here are some suggestions for how to work through the slow productivity periods:

Similar to what you might do when exercising, play music with a rhythm of 120 to 140 beats per minute. This will help set the pace for your work.
If you drink caffeine, consume it during this period in small, frequent amounts.
Set goals in 2, 5, or 10 minute increments. Identify what you want to accomplish in a very short amount of time, and then set a timer and go for it. Repeat until your normal work pattern returns.
Accept defeat and use the time to catch up on reading journal articles or another work-related activity that requires minimal attention and focus.
Run errands. If you need to take a file to a client, step outside and walk to the client site. The exercise will get your heart rate up and you'll be back on track when you return to your home or office.

What do you do to stay productive during your low waves? Leave your strategies in the comments!

Creating maintenance-free and uncluttered flower boxes

Erin Doland — Tue, 20 May 2008 07:30:00 -0400

I'm going to let you in on a secret: I dislike gardening. I appreciate people who make their lawns and flower boxes into works of art, but it's just not for me. The less time I have to spend doing yard work, the better.

Recently on Unclutterer, Matt wrote about low maintenance perennials to create an uncluttered garden. The plants he listed, and the ones that readers mentioned in the comments, are all terrific examples of stress-free plants that will return year after year. But, there is one low-maintenance option Matt nor any of our readers mentioned: fake plants.

I avoid gardening at all costs, so the flower box on the front of my house is filled with nothing but plastic. And, I'm being completely honest, no one has any clue that they're not real. Using quality fake plants is a low-maintenance alternative to gardening if you invest a little time and money at the start of the project. Like me, you'll be able to let the years pass and enjoy not having to think about your black thumb.

Here's how you can do it, too:

Make a diagram of the space you plan to fill with fake plants.
Head to your local lawn and garden center and sketch out how you might use real plants in the space. Include visual descriptions of leaf size, color, and height.
While you're at the garden center, you'll want to purchase bags of soil if you don't already have some in your flower box and wood chips to stave off weeds sprouting up in your fake garden.
Leave the garden center and head to your local high-end craft store. There, recreate what you have in your drawing with quality fake plants of similar characteristics. You should know that good fake plants are usually the same price as their real counterparts. Up front, you won't be saving money, but you will over the course of the long term since you won't have to replace dead plants or annuals.
If necessary, fill the area with soil. Then, cover the soil with a thick layer (approx. 2") of wood chips.
Based on your diagram, you'll then want to arrange your fake plants in the soil. Be sure that the base of the fake plant is embedded well into the soil and not just the wood chips.
Enjoy your maintenance free garden!

Organization Solutions for Renters

Erin Doland — Thu, 15 May 2008 07:30:00 -0400

Renting an apartment or house may be a wise decision in the current real estate market, but that doesn't mean living in these spaces is necessarily ideal -- especially when it comes to storage and organization. Often, you're not allowed to put nails in the walls or take on any remodeling projects. You're expected to keep the space exactly as it was when you first moved into it, which means that you may have to deal with things like poorly designed closets the whole time you're there.

Thinking outside the box is crucial when you're a renter. So, here are some "out of the box" options to help you better organize your space:

Add more shelves to a closet or cupboard with variable height shelving or undershelf baskets:

Hang a lower rod in a closet without drilling holes into the wall with an adjustable closet rod expander.

Create a portable closet in a corner of room:

Cedar lined under bed storage boxes are good for holding out-of-season clothing:

Take advantage of closet doors with over door pocket storage, rods, or hooks:

Build extra shelving of all kinds with InterMETRO shelving:

What out of the box solutions have you found to help organize your rented space? Any tips, tricks, or products you've found are welcome in the comments!

Eight Ways to Avoid Being a Searching Sally or Stan

Erin Doland — Tue, 13 May 2008 07:30:00 -0400

Whenever I misplace an item, I call myself a Searching Sally. Searching Sally is usually irritable and irrational with everyone and everything she encounters. Calm, even-keeled Erin is gone. Get in my way when I can't find something, and I'll be snippy and frustrated with you until I find whatever it is I'm seeking.

Do you know Searching Sally? Maybe you know Searching Stan? Do either of them come to visit you when you can't find an item?

In most cases, the reason I can't find something is because someone has used an object and not returned it to where it belongs. Often times, I'm the one who hasn't returned the object to its place, so my frustration is with myself. The time and effort I waste looking for an object annoy me greatly.

To keep these negative situations at bay, I try my hardest to have a place for everything and keep everything in its place. If I use something, I try to put it back when I'm finished. If I bring something new into my home, I immediately find a place for it to live.

If something doesn't have a permanent place to live in your home, then it will get in the way and create a mess or cause clutter. And, the likelihood that you'll misplace it is pretty high.

Here are 8 ways to avoid being a Searching Sally or a Searching Stan:

Have a landing strip for your keys, purse, and/or briefcase.
Have a charging station for your cell phone, iPod, PDA, and other handheld electronic equipment.
Don't have more clothes than you can fit in your closet and dresser when everything is clean.
Keep a trash can and small shredder near the entrance to your home so that junk mail never makes it into your living space and valuable mail never gets confused with junk.
Use a label maker or index page to properly identify what is contained in storage boxes in your basement or attic. PackAndFind.com is a good online resource to use for setting up an inventory system.
Pin socks and gloves together before laundering so that you know you have a pair going in and a pair coming out of the wash.
Create a place for your television remote to live when not in use, like a small basket or space in a drawer of a side table.
Try not to save things for the last minute. The more pressed you are for time, the more likely you are to get worked into a frenzy when you can't locate what you need when you need it.

It's inevitable that something at some point will be misplaced, but creating permanent homes for your objects will minimize these occurrences and will benefit your overall happiness and stress level.

Organize a Summer Fun Kit for Kids

Erin Doland — Thu, 08 May 2008 07:30:00 -0400

Unless you're sending your children off to sleep-away camp for the entire summer, you may be worrying right now about what you're going to do to keep the "I'm bored!" chanting to a minimum when your kids are out of school. Day camps and swimming lessons can keep them entertained for a number of hours, but you will still be faced with many evenings and weekends full of warm weather and kids who want to take advantage of their free time.

To stay ahead of the game, consider making a Summer Fun Kit. The purpose of the Summer Fun Kit is to have a book with a seemingly endless supply of ideas for summer fun. You'll need to do some brainstorming and decide how much you want to spend on possible activities, but it doesn't require much work after these decisions have been made.

To set up a Kit, you will need plastic sheet protectors, paper, and a three ring notebook. You can either print ideas on the top of each page with your computer's printer, or you can write them with a magic marker. Whatever is the easiest for you, go with that idea. You want to keep the majority of the page blank, however, so that your kids can write about when they completed the activity and provide pictures and reviews in the blank space. You'll want to use the sheet protectors so that you can put tickets and passes in the pages ahead of time and the kids can put mementos into the pages after an activity is completed. (For example, if you have a local pool, you can keep the pool passes in the sheet protector so you don't lose them.) At the end of the summer, your children will have a book full of memories and you'll have notes on what worked and didn't work when you're making plans for next summer.

Except for planned vacations or theater productions, I would avoid scheduling when an activity takes place. This will leave the choosing up to your children and give them some control over their summer.

Here are more than 15 ideas to get you started:

Picnic in the park
See a movie on the big screen
Family bike ride to [X]
Sleepover at grandma's
Trip to local children's museum
Afternoon at the zoo
Painting piggy banks at the pottery center
Trip to the amusement park
Watch favorite movie at home complete with popcorn and soda
Create a sidewalk chalk art gallery
Rainy day board game tournament
Morning hike to [X]
Build sand castles at the beach
Paddle boats at the lake
Rainy day living room maze building
Create a puppet show
Family talent contest

Being organized and prepared with a Summer Fun Kit will reduce your stress and help keep your kids entertained. Please add more ideas in the comments section so that everyone can have the best Kits possible!

How To Work from Home

Erin Doland — Tue, 06 May 2008 07:30:00 -0400

A friend of mine is a psychologist who specializes in child and family treatment. I ran into her last month and before I could get out the standard niceties, she was bombarding me with questions.

"How do you do it?" she asked. "How do you work from home? More importantly, how do you work from home with your husband without getting on each other's nerves?"

Since she and her husband don't telecommute, my assumption was that she must have a client who has just started working from home and is having difficulties. I told her that I would forward a list to her that I started about a year ago on this very subject. After I sent her the list, I realized that some readers also might benefit from seeing it. So, if you're considering working from home, here are some tips for making it an easier task. A few of these items are specific to working next to your partner at home, but most of them apply to anyone who is telecommuting.

Must Have/Do:

1. Designated workspace with a door.
You need to be able to shut the door on your work, literally and figuratively. There are times when you just need to put physical and mental space between you and your work. Also, there are times when the creative process takes control and your desk becomes a mess of outlandish proportions. Most importantly, though, you need to find a way to feel that you’re not always at work when you're at home and a door is a good starting point.

2. Separate workspace from your partner.
I’m not advocating that you need two rooms in your house set aside for offices (our desks share the same room), but each person needs a defined "my" space. This means that you need two desks, two computers, and two phones. Experience shows that the minute you need to make a phone call is the minute one of his clients calls with an emergency.

3. Knowledge of your UPS/FedEx/Mail carrier’s first name.
Delivery people are not accustomed to your being home during the day. Make friends with these people so that they will actually ring the doorbell and wait for you to answer the door when they have deliveries.

4. A cleaning service.
Feel like procrastinating from your work? It’s amazing what you’ll clean when you don’t want to write a report. Additionally, it keeps you from being upset about working somewhere that isn’t clean. An office building has a cleaning staff, you need to afford yourself the same luxury. I’m serious about this one, even if it’s just twice a month.

5. Earphones.
Ultimately, there will come a time when you’re in "the zone" and your spouse decides to play music, talk loudly on the phone, or feels compelled to tell you about something funny one of his clients just e-mailed to him. Music playing through the earphones allows you to tune out his conversation or bad music selection. Additionally, if he wants to be chatty and distract you from work, he most often chooses not to do so if you’re wearing earphones — even if you’re not actually listening to music.

6. A dedicated work phone line with a Do Not Disturb button.
Often, clients assume that because you work from home that it's okay to call you at all hours of the night and on the weekends. If you worked in an office building, they would never have the expectation that you would answer your phone at 2:00 a.m. Just because your office is in your home doesn't mean that your home is in your office. When your work day is finished, press the Do Not Disturb button on your work phone and let it ring straight to voice mail.

7. Your desk and television in separate rooms.
You won't be tempted to watch television when you should be working if work and the television are in different rooms.

Good to Have/Do:

1. Single brew coffee maker.
My husband likes dark coffees and I despise the foul nastiness, preferring milder blends. Instead of brewing two pots, we simply brew our own cups. I highly recommend the Nespresso C190. Plus, you order your coffee over the internet and the nice UPS delivery person you’ve befriended delivers them right to your door. Yes, the machine is expensive. However, it’s much cheaper than going to the local coffee shop everyday. We learned that the hard way.

2. Get ready at least a little bit every morning for work.
It’s fun to work in pajamas, but it’s not fun to work next to someone who hasn’t showered in three days. Brush your teeth, it’s good for your teeth and your relationship with your family.

3. Leave the house once a day.
You need to get out into the big blue room at least once a day, if not more.

4. Agree when work will be done for the day.
I usually finish working around 6:00 and my husband typically finishes around 6:30. I will answer e-mails, start a load of laundry, or just play busy quietly until 6:30. Flipping on the tv or doing something to rub in the fact that you're done isn't fair to the other person. The same applies to family members coming home before your work day is complete. They need to know that you're in the office until a set time and respect that boundary.

5. Have breakfast and/or lunch together.
Take turns making meals and spend time together. One of the benefits of working at home together is being able to spend quality time with each other.

Do you telecommute? What must have/do or good to have/do items would you add to this list? I'm interested in hearing your advice.

New Homes for Old T-shirts

Erin Doland — Thu, 01 May 2008 07:30:00 -0400

Based on my wardrobe when I graduated from college, one might have assumed that I attended every fraternity party and school event ever held. The majority of my t-shirts, shorts, and jackets bore logos for parties, concerts, events, and organizations. I wouldn't have been caught dead in a Polo shirt, but branding for the Phi Delt date dash in 1992 was totally fine. (Too funny ...)

Within weeks of starting my job and saying farewell to collegiate life, I packed up the logo-laden clothing and had them sewn into a quilt. I'm not really sure why I went this route, but it made sense at the time. Now the quilt hangs out in my closet unless someone comes to visit and needs a blanket. It's a little cringeworthy, but my friends from college days get a laugh out of it when they see it.

Unclutterer reader, Megan, recently sent us a suggestion for an alternative to making the college t-shirt quilt, and I think it's really terrific:

After 7 years, I decided it was time to get rid of my sorority and fraternity t-shirts (I had over 20). While I've heard of making a keepsake quilt out of them, I see that as a lot of effort just to create more clutter. I took my old t-shirts back to my sorority where they were warmly embraced as cool "vintage" items.

This is a really wonderful idea, Megan! I can think of so many of my friends who were still in school who would have accepted my t-shirts -- I wish I would have thought of this.

If you have old t-shirts that still have some life in them, consider passing them along to others who might find them "vintage" cool.