The Clutter Diet Blog

Time Yourself with Your iPod!

I am always telling people to time themselves doing tasks they don't like, so you can be more aware of time in general and even conquer procrastination (read my recent post about this here).

Sometimes you might want to time yourself because you need to have a limit on that activity and you need to get on to other things. There is a little-known feature of the iPod called the "Sleep Timer." On my device it's under the "Clock" menu (also found in the "Extras" menu). Your device may vary-- share with us in the comments where you find it if yours is different. You can choose either 15, 30, 60, 90, or 120 minutes and it will automatically shut off the iPod when the time is up.

Today, for example, I wanted to spend 30 minutes on a home-related project before I started working in my office (for my "garage floor makeover" project we just had to take everything out of the garage and today I was putting the remainder of it back). I know that I am probably twice as productive doing this while listening to audiobooks, so I like having my iPod on. I set the Sleep Timer for 30 minutes, so when it turned off, I knew it was time to get to my work.

You could use this feature to time your organizing projects, remind you to make a phone call, remind you to stop and pick up the kids, or remind you to come in from the yardwork and have a water break... be creative! (Oh, yeah, you can also use it for its intended purpose of turning off your iPod when you go to sleep with it!)

Lorie's Garage Floor Makeover!

This weekend we undertook a big project to resurface our garage floor. It had two different colors of spilled paint randomly all over the floor (dark green and white-- LOVELY!!), along with 6+ years of oil stains and other unknown car liquids. Not very appealing to come home to every day. I have been wanting to do this for years, and this weekend, the kids were gone camping and the weather was nice, so it was just the right time.

Our intrepid handyman, Dave, helped us with this project since he had done it before. We bought the Quikrete Garage Floor Epoxy coating kits at our neighborhood hardware store, which you can have tinted in many different colors. We chose an olive green, and when you speckle it with the included flakes, it looks kinda like granite, if it ever naturally occurred that color.(?) (you can click on all of these photos for a larger version) Anyway, it looked good with our cabinets and we love it!  Basically you buy one kit per garage bay. We also chose to buy the optional clear sealant to put on at the end. It's about $60 per kit, so the cost for the 3-car garage was $180 for the epoxy coating and $120 for the sealant.

It's a 3-day operation... Friday we took everything out of the garage and got the paint off with this stuff called Jasco (thank goodness for that magical potion!). Then we applied the detergent/etcher that comes in the Quikrete kit. This prepares the surface so that the epoxy will bond properly.

After it dries for 24 hours, you can do the epoxy coating. You paint with a normal paint roller in little sections and then sprinkle the flakes on it in a nice pattern. Saturday Dave did the rolling on of the coating, and my husband followed behind doing the sprinkling. Here is a photo of my sweetie sprinkling the flakes on one of the last sections at the end. It's kind of like a parmesan cheese shaker!

Sunday, after it dried another 24 hours, we put on the final clear coat. Now we are supposed to wait to park our cars on it until at least Wednesday (sigh). Here is a photo of the final product. We keep going out there to admire it!

I realize there are a lot of garage companies out there who do this as a service, and they claim to have higher-quality epoxy, etc. I am sure that is probably true, but this works for us right now and I will let you know if it isn't holding up. However, it really may be worth your time to have someone completely do it for you, since it is pretty time-consuming.   

I hope you like it! It was fun to do... I really believe in making your home a nice place to come home to, and this is the first thing I see when I am driving in.

Throw Out Your Manuals With Confidence!

We are always telling our clients that manuals and user guides are obsolete the moment they are printed. Of course there are some you may use more frequently and those are great to hold onto, but there are some you probably never would use. You can now throw electronics-related manuals away with confidence because of this great website called "Retrevo." You search for the electronic gadget you have and it pulls up the manual for you, usually in PDF form. Try it! They also have great product reviews and buying information if you just need a new printer, for example.

I looked up my printer, my cell phone, and my camera and all of the info was there. You may want to verify that the information is online before you throw the documentation out, and keep in mind that the information may also be very easily available on the manufacturer's own website too. Retrevo appears to be just for electronics, but this concept of finding the information online applies to appliances, software, toys, and many other things too.

These kinds of booklets take up a LOT of space in file drawers and on shelves in many people's homes and offices. Liberate yourselves and liberate the space!

Get Organized Modularly

Wow! Pottery Barn has come up with a very cool modular system for what we at Clutter Diet refer to as the "Communication Station" for your family. It's called the "Daily System," and it consists of a display rod that is mounted to your wall, with components that slide onto the rod as you see fit. Here are the components they have (photo from PB's website):

• A recharge station for your cell phones and iPods! Cool! It's combined half and half with a whiteboard.
• Corkboard
• Letter bins (not my favorite as these tend to become "nests"...but if you have a defined purpose for the bins they are great)
• Office organizer (ditto on having a defined purpose for these little compartments- Bonus: they have key hooks)
• Linen pinboard
• Magnetic chalkboard
• Magnetic whiteboard calendar
• Magnetic canister accessories for holding small push pins and the like

I actually bought these for my own house a while back, probably several years ago, but they did not have all of these components at that time. I have only the magnetic whiteboard calendar and the magnetic chalkboard.

What I learned: Don't buy the magnetic canisters if there is any chance you might possibly brush by them and knock them down. (Don't ask... argghh!!) And the magnetic whiteboard calendar works for our family really well, but if you want to have a "permanent record" of your family's calendar to refer back to later, erasing this whiteboard calendar could be a problem for you. Also know you'll have to write all the numbers in yourself each month.  And, as always, you need to measure carefully before buying so you'll know if you have enough wall space.

Here is a great tip for any magnetic whiteboard situation: You can glue small round magnets to the lids of your whiteboard markers with E6000 Glue--let it dry for a long time. Then your markers can just be magnetically stuck to your whiteboard and stay out of the way.

And by the way, I am not a paid endorser for Pottery Barn on this, if anyone is wondering. I just like it! Cheers!

Tired of Toy Clutter? Rent Instead of Buying!

This very enterprising mom in Houston created a new business that people are calling the "Netflix for kids." It's at www.babyplays.com. In just the same way that you can rent movies and even handbags online now, you can sign up for a monthly subscription plan for either 4 or 6 toys to be mailed to you. Your kids play with them and you mail them back at any UPS Store location (without additional shipping fees!). You can keep them for a while since, like Netflix, there are no late fees.

What a great way to declutter the playroom-- just ship 'em back! And kids get a great rotation of new toys instead of accumulating a large collection over time. Brilliant!

National Clean Out Your Computer Day 2/12/08

Yes, it's National Clean Out Your Computer Day on Tuesday of this week! It's a great day to take a few minutes to streamline your virtual workspace. Here are my top five pointers:

• I don't believe in spending too much time deleting old files. Memory space is cheap, certainly cheaper than the value of your time! If there are obvious things, then yes, delete them... but don't open up everything and examine it to decide whether to keep it, etc. If it's old and in your way, archive it to a DVD or move it to a folder where it won't be distracting.
• I do believe in keeping a clear desktop. Delete unnecessary shortcut icons and add shortcuts that are really useful to you. I love using the "Quick Launch" toolbar in XP, which puts frequently used icons where you can always see them. Click here or click this thumbnail screenshot for instructions on how to use the Quick Launch toolbar. If you use Quick Launch for a shortcut, you can delete that shortcut off the desktop, keeping it much less cluttered.
• Clean out your "My Documents" folder, creating new subfolders as needed to match up with your current projects and business structure.
• Make sure you have a great backup system in place. I like www.carbonite.com and friends of mine also like www.mozy.com. Read about how Carbonite saved my hiney last fall.
• Take a moment to check on running important utilities like spyware scans, virus scans, and defragmenting. This can really save you some heartache and even make your PC run better.

Go forth and make your computer lighter and your day better! Enjoy!

How to Quit Holding Yourself Back

We always say that getting organized is about having the education, motivation, and support required to make personal change. Education and support can come from others, but motivation ultimately has to come from within you... so how is it that we keep holding ourselves back?

I am reading a fantastic book right now called Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, by Carol Dweck. It's one of those books that makes you start to filter the whole world through its lens after reading it. Basically, the idea is that there are two mindsets one can have:

1. The Fixed Mindset. You believe that your intelligence, abilities, talents, and personality are all fixed quantities. Because you believe this, you are reluctant to push further and learn more because you are afraid of reaching that limit and becoming "a failure."

2. The Growth Mindset. You believe that intelligence and abilities are not fixed and can be grown and expanded. You love learning for learning's sake and you understand the potential of any human to grow through effort. You are not afraid of trying new things because you expect to learn from them, and you don't worry about the limits. You're not afraid of failure because it's all learning.

This week I heard a speaker who said that Michael Jordan did not make his high school basketball team. Isn't that incredible? That is such a great illustration of the Growth Mindset. Instead of taking that as a failure and stopping himself from going further down that path, he just worked harder. It's all about learning, effort and practice.

So often I hear our Clutter Diet members use permanent language like "I AM so disorganized," instead of saying, "I am improving my organizing skills." There is a big difference! One is a defeating Fixed Mindset sentence and one is an empowering Growth Mindset sentence. You CAN improve by focusing on effort and learning.

Catch yourself being in a Fixed Mindset... you CAN change, learn and grow!

Does This Clutter Make My Butt Look Fat?

My charming colleague Peter Walsh has just released his new book entitled Does this Clutter Make My Butt Look Fat?:  An Easy Plan for Losing Weight and Living More. He'll be on Oprah tomorrow, 2/7/08. (book cover photo from Barnes & Noble's website)

Peter and I agree that both organizing and weight loss are all about PERSONAL CHANGE. This book discusses weight loss directly, while we here at Clutter Diet just have a lot of fun with the weight loss metaphor as we help our members get organized. But we both know it's not about the food...or the stuff. It's about the courage to face the real personal change and hard work required to lose both.

Congratulations to Peter on hitting the mark with his new book! It's going to be a huge success. We're here to help you if you want to lose those Clutter-Pounds(SM), and Peter can discuss the body pounds too!

Results of NAPO Los Angeles Organizing Awards

Thank you to everyone for your support and your votes. We did not win the award, but as always, it is a true honor to be a finalist! Here are the winners for this year's awards. I will post some photos here later...  Update: Here are a few photos (thumbnails below, click for larger images)!

Best Organizing Product Retailer
Container Store

Best Closet Design Firm
California Closets

Best Garage Design Firm
Garage Envy

The Green Award for Most Ecofriendly Organizing Product or Service
Hecht of an Organizer

Best Office Organizing Product
Kangaroom Stackable File

Best Home Organizing Product
Securita Vital Records PortaVault

Most Helpful Organizing Technology
Kangaroom Phone/PDA Charging Station

Best National Organizing Show
Mission Organization

Best Organizing Book
Patience and the Porsche, Valentina Sgro

Best Organizing Magazine
Organize Magazine

Best Organizing Blog or Website
Your Life...Organized, Monica Ricci

Most Valuable Educational Resource
OnlineOrganizing.com

Best Organizer as Coach or Mentor
Jean Furuya

Most Innovative Organizer
Dorothy Breininger

Most Supportive or Organizer-Friendly Charity
National Council of Jewish Women

Me with my lovely blogger friend and very special overall person, John Trosko, from the OrganizingLA blog!

Joyce Dorny, editor of Organize Magazine, with me and Deborah Shearer from Organize.com.

More photos to come when I get them... I should have some "red carpet" ones from that night soon (these were from a brunch event the next day).

iGo- Don't Leave Home Without It

I am in Los Angeles today, where tonight we find out if Clutter Diet won the "Best Website" award for our industry at the LA NAPO Chapter Organizing Awards. Wish me luck!

Since I am traveling, I am once again delighted to the point of almost squealing about using my cool iGo charger. (OK, I am a geek...) I wanted to tell you about it because it saves so much room in my suitcase and cuts down on lots of cord clutter. (photo here from the iGo website)

This one charger has interchangeable tips for the various things I need to charge. I have tips for my iPod, my Treo phone, and my laptop. And it can plug into an airplane seat plug as well as a regular wall outlet! When charging the laptop, I can charge one of my other devices AT THE SAME TIME because it uses this "jump cord" accessory off the main charger. If you have ever traveled with a bunch of gadgets, you know how great this is!

Hopefully other geeky people out there and road warriors can appreciate my zeal for the iGo... what are your favorite travel space savers?