The Clutter Diet Blog

I'm Walking While I Type This...

OK, as an update to my last post, I HAVE figured out how to retrofit my existing treadmill to hold my laptop! I have been working on it much of the afternoon, walking at 2 mph (the maximum safe speed for work-walking--hey, is that a new word??). This photo was taken right now while I am writing this! (click photo for a larger version- thank you to my son Reese for taking the photo for me)

I found this Treadmill Desk site that tells you how to build your own. I looked at some of the photos they had and someone had used a dining table leaf across the treadmill rails. So I said, why not? I had some extra shelves from a built-in entertainment center in our playroom, so I grabbed one of those. I put a towel underneath it for padding, as it does shake too much if you don't use something to cushion.

You need to make sure that your safety leash still operates properly with your desk in place, and do this at your own risk. Don't take my word for it, your mileage may vary, disclaimer disclaimer etc.

Today I have burned many calories more than I would have sitting at my desk with my tushie falling asleep! I have walked 3.2 miles in 98 minutes at this point. I guess if I am a true geek I should log this mileage in a spreadsheet and see how long it takes me to walk to LA and visit my friend John. Most importantly, I have done several important things on my to-do list, posted to Twitter a bunch of times, and had fun reading some blogs while I walked. Not bad for a lazy Sunday afternoon.

I would like to engineer this a little better. Mine is an "attached" style and you can do a freestanding desk that would have less shaking. That would be better. I am doing great with typing, but I have had to slow down with my mousing. I would recommend if you know keyboard shortcuts that is extremely helpful, and if you need to do intricate mouse work, go back to your sitting desk.

Just a diversion for a moment on what I have been up to lately-- I finished my book and it's going to print! So I will be able to post more often again. I am coming out of my writing cave. I am traveling this week to work with a writer for a MAJOR magazine and get some photos taken of our work together for a spring 2009 issue. I can't wait to tell you all about it!

Now, if I can figure out how to POWER my laptop like a hamster wheel, that would be even better...

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Walk While U Work

This week's Time Magazine featured a story on Steelcase's Walkstation, an adjustable-height desk with a treadmill built in. Talk about multitasking! (photo from Steelcase's website) You can see a video of editor-at-large Belinda Luscombe using the desk and explaining how it works here.

It goes up to a maximum speed of 2 mph, so you can't get all sweaty or try to train for a marathon while you watch YouTube. I am wondering if I can retrofit my existing treadmill to hold my laptop? That would be awesome! I do spend so much time sitting here at my desk writing and reading...that would be perfect. Anyone know how to do that?

I don't think this desk is particularly good for storage. They should have put in a special shelf just for your extra shoes-- see how her heels are just sitting there on the floor? Obviously you'd need to have your walking shoes stored there permanently, right?

In general, multitasking is not typically the best idea unless one of the simultaneous activities is rather mindless, like walking or folding laundry. Otherwise, managing two important mental tasks at once reduces the brainpower available for either task. So, while people think they are saving time by multitasking, they are actually doing both tasks ineffectively. This is illustrated beautifully by the following exercise (click here to go to YouTube if you don't see the embedded video player):

Here is a text version of the test if you can't watch the video. Name aloud the COLOR of each word:

Red Green Black Blue Yellow Red Blue Black Orange Yellow Green Black Orange Red Blue

Most people have a lot of trouble doing this quickly, because their brains are unable to process both types of information simultaneously. (I apologize to my Kindle readers who are unable to see these colors on their greyscale screens!) This is called the Stroop Effect, named for psychologist John Ridley Stroop.

How did you do? What kinds of multitasking are you successful at doing in your worklife and home life? I like folding laundry and doing dishes while I talk on the phone, and walking while I listen to audiobooks. How about you?

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Wonderful Graffiti- A New Way to Label

You must realize that labeling is a very important thing to me and my tribe. We love to finish projects by labeling the bins, files, spines, or trays and making it all official, mainly because it helps the system stay intact.

I am always looking for attractive ways to label, since you don't want your home to look sloppy with masking-tape-and-marker labels everywhere. I like using metal rim string tags, for example, as an attractive method for labeling baskets. My friend Deborah at Organize.com showed me this new product they have started selling...It's called "Wonderful Graffiti." The description from their site:

Wonderful Graffiti™ letters are very, very thin pieces of vinyl. A light adhesive holds them firmly on the wall until you're ready to remove them. Think Colorforms and Post-It notes. Vinyl makes Wonderful Graffiti™ flexible, durable, and washable. Its extreme thinness and matte finish make Wonderful Graffiti™ look like it's been literally printed on the wall. (And not like vinyl at all). The text arrives prepositioned and transfers all at once; no individual letters to place. The labels won't damage walls or surfaces and won't fade, crack or peel. The easy to install transfer labels stay in place until you remove them.

You guys, I am cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs over these! Pictures are better than words, so here are some from Organize.com's website:

       

They have wall art too, which is purely aesthetic but so wonderful:    

The wall art reminds me of a cool product I saw last year at a home & garden show called Wallapalooza. They can take photos of your kids and blow them up larger than life and create a wall covering of them doing whatever you like-- playing soccer, doing magic, etc. It's very similar in that you can remove the wall covering and use it somewhere else, even crumple it up and smooth it back out. Very creative and fun!

What's your favorite way to label attractively? Share your tips in the comments.

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Stop Printing, Signing & Faxing- Use Digital Signatures

Most people are familiar with Adobe's PDF universal document format and have the free Adobe Reader that enables you to read them. Some people have Adobe Acrobat Professional software, and that enables you to do much more with the creation and editing of PDF files. PDFs are great because they basically "freeze" the text and images into a final document, disabling someone from changing the text later and preventing documents from not appearing exactly the way you want them to look.

The reason I am writing this article is that I save tremendous amounts of time with their "Digital Signature" feature. It is my favorite thing to do with Adobe Professional, so I was just compelled to share this with you! People keep asking me how I do this, so I am capturing the instructions here for everyone.

You may often receive documents that you need to print out, sign, and fax back. What if you could skip all of that, sign it on your screen legally, and e-mail it back?

Here's how to set it up for the first time (I have Adobe Acrobat Professional, version 8-- yours may vary):

1. In Adobe Acrobat, choose Advanced> Security Settings. Under Digital IDs, choose "Add ID." Then choose "Create a self-signed digital ID for use with Acrobat" and "New PKCS#12 digital ID file."
2. Fill out the form with your personal information, leaving everything to default settings unless you know you need to change them. Click next and set a secure password for your digital ID.
3. Scan an image of your own formal handwritten signature, if you prefer to use a graphic signature as I do. Save it as an image file and convert that image file to its own PDF document.
4. Choose Edit> Preferences from the top menu in Acrobat, then Security. Click New for a new signature appearance. Name the signature at the top, then choose "Imported Graphic" and browse for the PDF graphic of your signature with the File button. Configure anything else you'd like to change and click OK to finish.

To use the digital signature:

1. If the document you need to sign is in Microsoft Word, fill in any blanks by typing them in, such as your printed name or contact information. Save the original document, then choose Save as> Adobe PDF.
2. If the document you need to sign is in Adobe PDF format already, use the Tools>Forms>Text Field tool if you need to create places to write in additional information like your name or contact info.
3. When you're ready to sign, choose the Sign button from the toolbar and choose "Place Signature." (click screenshot for larger image) You'll then be able to drag a box where you'd like it to appear in the signature area of your document.
4. You then enter your password to sign the document, and it will appear like this example, time and date stamped (click graphic for a larger version).
5. You'll be prompted to save the document, which I usually save over as the same name I was working in already. Now you're done! You have a PDF with your digital signature that you can e-mail back to the requestor.

Obviously you'd want to do this under the advice of your own legal counsel, as far as the security of this practice. Only do this if you are comfortable with the idea-- don't take my word for it! I just like saving all of that time and paper and effort.

Unofficially SIGNED,

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More Organizing Sales

The Container Store is extending their Oprah show 20% discount through November 30th, so we are going to do the same! Our coupon code "OPRAHDEAL" will still provide a 20% discount in our own online store at ClutterDiet.com through November 30th, 2008.  (good for products only, not memberships)

Our friends at Organize.com are also having a brief Friends & Family sale through tomorrow, SUNDAY, 11/23. It's 20% off orders of $40 or more, when you use the coupon code FF7891 at checkout.

Discretionary Burdens

Sometimes you read things that are simply best quoted in their entirety. I often feel that way about my friend Pat Katz. Here's what she had to say recently in her PAUSE newsletter:

It was late in the evening just before Hallowe'en. I was chatting on the phone with my daughter, and had just recited the litany of tasks tackled so far that day. It had been a demanding day in the office. I had followed up my post-work exercise class by running several errands on the way home. And, I'd invested a couple of hours getting things ready around the house to host a guest for the weekend.

As I finished giving report on my day, I heard myself say, "And I still HAVE TO carve the pumpkin before I can go to bed."

Wise offspring played back my very own words. "You HAVE TO carve the pumpkin?" I could hear the raised eyebrow in her voice. She knows how much I enjoy creating those Hallowee'en jacks.

And in that moment, I realized I'd just loaded myself down with yet another DB - a Discretionary Burden.

There are all kinds of tasks and experiences that will take a certain amount of time no matter what our frame of mind:  traveling to a business engagement, attending a community meeting, visiting an elderly relative, even carving a pumpkin.

But the nature of our experience depends on whether we approach it from an overburdened sense of duty and obligation or with a lighthearted sense of joy and service.

Each task that we peg as an obligation adds to our feelings of overload. Those tasks approached in the willing spirit of service have an entirely different impact. They contribute directly to our satisfaction and a sense of purposeful engagement with the world.

ACTION:  The good news is we are each in charge of our own mindset. When you feel overloaded and overwhelmed, watch your thoughts and listen to your words.

See how many tasks you turn into Discretionary Burdens as you make your way through the day. The fewer tasks you tag as DB's, the lighter your load will be.

From the e-zine, 'PAUSE '. Copyright 2008 Patricia Katz, Optimus Consulting. (877) 728-5289 or www.pauseworks.com.

Boy, am I guilty of doing this! "DBs" are my new nemesis. Thanks so much, Pat, for these wise words!

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We're Having an Oprah Sale

Yesterday Oprah did a big show on clutter and offered a Container Store discount coupon of 20% off through next week. In honor of that, we are having our own "Oprah sale" in our shopping cart!

Through Wednesday 11/19/08, you can get 20% off all products in our store (not memberships) when you use the coupon code OPRAHDEAL in the checkout process. If you are a paid member of Clutter Diet's coaching program, this 20% is in addition to the automatic 10% discount you get!

It's a great time to stock up on early holiday gift buying, such as these ideas:

• Internet Password Organizer, for keeping all of those passwords and logins straight
• Simple Division® Garment Organizers, our bestselling product, also available in bulk 50-packs
• Family Facts binders, created by my friend Pam Socolow
• The SpaceScaping® Kitchen Organizing System, our product for strategizing your kitchen
• Museum Putty, our little trick for keeping things from sliding around on shelves and in drawers

We're going to be carrying a new product shortly to help tame charger cords... and my book is coming out in January too!  So check back with us soon.

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Rearrange Your Furniture...Virtually

One of the things I have done as a Professional Organizer is advise clients who are building homes, telling them how to get the most storage space into their plans, consulting on closets, and putting in maintenance-saving ideas. My family and I have also built 4 homes ourselves along the way, and one of the obstacles you often face is being able to communicate your ideas effectively when you may not be the best at drawing them. You also might need to see if your furniture will fit into a new space. I did learn how to read blueprints and draw to scale, and that has been necessary for me to do my work, but I always wished for a good shortcut that would look better and be more easily changeable.

I have now found something that works pretty well! Floorplanner.com is a great way to quickly sketch out a room or even a house, and you can easily add furniture, surfaces, and features as shown in this illustration from their site. (click image for a larger view) You can switch from metric to imperial measurements with one click, so this site is usable by anyone (not just USA readers). Their basic version is free and it is web-based, so it's easy to share. You can even upload an existing blueprint or other drawing and start sketching on it instead of starting from scratch.

If you get a new piano, like my friend Heidi just did, you can see where the piano will fit before you bring it home! And you can spare everyone from the effects of trial and error and changing your mind.

Another thing that comes up in this process nowadays is deciding on placement of flat screen televisions. There is a certain viewing distance that is recommended for each size of screen. I recently found a Viewing Distance Calculator that helps you know where to put the sofa or chairs in relation to the TV, or decide what size TV to purchase based on the size of your room.

Happy Rearranging!

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What Your Stuff Says About You

I have been in hundreds of homes and offices in my capacity as a Professional Organizer, and over the years I have definitely learned how to size up people fairly well from their "stuff." Bookshelves in particular are a real window into a person's interests and beliefs, for example. And seeing a person's desk in its natural state tells me a lot about how their brain works. I know that this kind of insight has helped me tremendously in doing the best job I can for my clients.

So you can imagine how fun it was for me to stumble upon this book: SNOOP: What Your Stuff Says About You. (click here for the Kindle Edition) And even more fun was discovering that the author, Sam Gosling, is a professor at UT right here in Austin! I devoured his book, marked about 30 pages with sticky notes, and immediately asked him out for coffee.

Sam Gosling is like a modern Sherlock Holmes (or Encyclopedia Brown), with the ability to make many deductions and even predictions based on the evidence of stuff. The first chapter tells how he examined a Mystery Box containing a hairbrush, a CD of music, a photo of a sink, and a tube of skin cream... and correctly deduced that the owner was a gay Asian male.

Today the professor of Snoopology and I had a lot to discuss. Here are some highlights from our conversation and from the book:

• Sam analyzed Charlie Gibson's office for Good Morning America and found that his "aspired self" wanted to be organized, but he just couldn't seem to follow through with his intentions. We agreed there are three types of people who crave organization-- those who implement it for their intrinsic need for order, those who organize because they are just extremely practical and can't stand to waste time (like me), and those like Charlie who truly understand the value of organizing and yet can't seem to get it done. (More on my previous post, "Form vs. Function: Which One Are You?")
• Some people are much more organized at work vs.at home (see my previous post, "Are You More Organized at Work Than at Home?"). Sam initially found this at odds with his behavioral psychology background, thinking a person just "is who they are" and demonstrates this personality at all times, but his research and experience bears out that people do really vary across contexts. We discussed how observation, accountability, and "payoff" are motivators for changing one's normal behavior.
• Can someone change what are innate personality traits? Fundamentally, no. Strong biological tendencies toward introversion, for example, mean that person will never be quite as comfortable at a party as an extrovert would. But that doesn't mean that someone can't apply strategies, coping mechanisms, and other support to create the behavior they truly desire. If someone is lower on what their research scale calls "Conscientiousness," they will have to put in more effort to be organized, but it absolutely can be done.
• There is an important distinction between a "TIDY" room and a "TIDIED" room! You really can't fake it to a true Snoopologist. Good organizing systems go deep, and five minutes of cleaning might look good on the surface, but it doesn't hold up upon further inspection.
• Sam's book says that inspirational posters in someone's office may betray that they are easily stressed and worry a lot. And notice whether someone's family photographs, awards, and other personal displays are pointing in the direction of their own viewpoint or the viewpoint of a visitor. What messages are this person trying to convey with the objects?
• What's the single biggest window into your soul? Perhaps your iPod "top 25 most played" list!

I hope this post does not decrease my chances of being invited over to anyone's house for dinner. People already are afraid I might see their closets. What useful things have you discovered in your own life about other people's stuff?  Share your stories in our comments!

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Recalibrate Your "Enough" Meter

It's November already, and Thanksgiving is coming right up (first we all have to VOTE- don't forget)! I have grown to like Thanksgiving almost more than any other holiday, because it's when we focus on gratitude. I just wrote my monthly article for Connections for Women, which is abridged here. Click here to read the article in its entirety.

When we are grateful we are more in touch with what “Enough” means. I mean Enough with a capital “E”… the sense of being abundant, satisfied, happy, peaceful, and content in all areas of your life. Enough means you know when to stop buying, eating, doing, and accumulating.

Even in a troubled economy, we still have tremendous choices and a bounty of consumer products available in our country. Given this abundance, having a clear sense of Enough is crucial to getting control of both physical and mental clutter in your life. Sometimes I have worked with people whose “Enough meter” clearly needs to be recalibrated. They have too many toys for their children, too many clothes (many unworn with the tags still on them), too much food in the pantry, too many cosmetics, more books and magazines than could possibly ever be read, scattered unfinished projects of various kinds, rented storage units, too many activities and responsibilities, and a collection of other unused belongings that continues to accumulate despite the excess. Many times people with a faulty “Enough meter” have a body weight problem as well.

Gratitude is the first step to a cure… and is one of the best ways to recalibrate your “Enough meter.” Oprah and so many others have encouraged us to keep a Gratitude Journal, and for good reason. It really works! Writing down what you are grateful for each day (most experts suggest five things) is a way to focus your mind on what you have and get your mind off what you don’t have.

In our Clutter Diet program we talk about how getting organized is very much like losing weight, and in just the same way that you should push your plate away when you’re full, you can stop acquiring “stuff” and prevent clutter from getting in the door. Remember…you do Enough, you have Enough, and you are Enough.

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