Neat vs. clean

Every few weeks, my husband and I give our condo a deep clean. While this certainly involves picking things up and putting them in their proper place, it primarily comprises scrubbing, dusting, vaccuuming, and laundering. In between these cleanings, we try to keep the house neat by putting things away where they belong, staying on top of dishes, and taking out the trash.

A wise friend once told me something very simple but poignant about keeping house: There is a big difference between neat and clean. For the most part, Simplified by Sarah focuses on the "neat," or how we can keep things organized and efficient.

However, I would argue that "neat" facilitates "clean." If you have a well-organized and clutter-free home, then it will be much easier to scrub, vaccuum and clean when needed. Simply, you'll have fewer objects in the way to contend with!

Consider both "neat" and "clean" as you continue on your organizing journey. Are you excellent at scrubbing but bad at sorting? Do you hate dusting but enjoy decluttering?  When you clean, try to figure out if there's anything in your way that you can quickly sort through or get rid of. When you tidy, think about what could use a good cleaning.

For example, today I consulted my husband about the big, decorative floor vases we have on either side of the TV stand. I like them just fine, but whenever we vaccuum we have to slide them out of the way--and the vases always need a good dusting. We decided to keep them where they are but it was great to take a minute and ponder whether they were still worth the real estate they take up in the living room.

Likewise, as I cleaned the bathroom today, I decided to go through a basket that we keep in there, which holds a few toiletries and hair brushes. I discovered really old cologne and hair spray, and tossed them. Sweet!

Would you categorize yourself as more "neat," more "clean," or a good combo of the two?

Taming the to-dos

I don't know about you, but I think September's gone by in a flash! Fall is such a busy time of year. School starts, the workforce collectively awakes from its summer slumber, and suddenly lots of things need to happen simultaneously. Organization is a must!

I'm a huge fan of the to-do list.

Call me old-fashioned, but there is something incredibly gratifying about making a little box, writing a task next to it, and crossing it off upon completion. Here is my work to-do list for this week:




Why I cross out the whole line instead of just putting a check in each box, I'll never know...

 I digress. If handwritten is not your style, I'll offer some alternatives at the end of this post.

Now, some productivity gurus suggest organizing your list into subsections (e.g., Work/Home/School; Project A/Project B; Calls to make/Emails to send/Letters to write; and so forth). I disagree--that's too much work and your list will quickly become a mess!

Instead, I keep a running to-do list for work at the office, and make a home to-do list only as needed, usually on the weekends when I have lots of errands to run and personal projects to complete. Thus, the lists don't get organized by type of task, but rather the task will fall onto one of two lists: the one at work or the one at home.

The key is really to use the list actively, crossing items off upon completion and adding new tasks as they arise. In fact, the golden rule is to honor the to-do list or it's worthless.

Prefer a 21st century method of to-dos? Here are some options and my personal thoughts on them:

1. The Tasks module in Microsoft Outlook
To be fair, I didn't use it long enough to discover all of Tasks' functionality, but for some reason I felt it was more work to enter a task into Outlook than it was to just write it down. The deadline feature is great, but to me, it all felt like enough of an extra effort that I couldn't keep it up.

An alternative in Outlook: Add urgent to-dos to your Calendar so that you will get pop-up reminders about it throughout the day. Going back to the Golden Rule, though, you have to make sure to honor and complete whatever tasks you put into your calendar! "Dismissing" the task will be detrimental as once the next business day starts, you run the risk of forgetting all about the task.

2. Remember the Milk
This service played a critical role in my wedding planning. My husband and I would add tasks on an almost-daily basis, setting deadlines, assigning each task to a specific person (read: him or me), and tagging each task so that we could view our to-dos by category (e.g., reception, ceremony, photography, entertainment, attire, etc.). We could both access it from anywhere. The best part: it's free! The iPhone app does cost money, though.

3. Jott
To describe this simply, Jott transcribes to-dos for you on the go. This free service assigns you a phone number. You call it. It asks you what you want to jott. You tell it, and tell it where to send your jott. It will transcribe your words into an email, text, add it to your electronic list (such as Outlook or Remember the Milk), and more. A couple of years ago, I used this for a few months and found that the transcription was generally quite accurate. Ultimately, though, because I was only using it to jott reminders to myself, I found it more efficient in the end to call my work voicemail and leave myself a message with the reminders. A quick glance at their website today, however, reveals greatly expanded functionality--including jotting your Twitter updates, having your RSS feeds/news read to you and apparently much more!

Finally, if you want to read up on to-do lists and productivity, I highly recommend David Allen's Getting Things Done.  And he's built an organizational fiefdom here if you end up wanting more GTD!

How do you track your to-dos?

Simplified writing, patriotic style

Given that it is the weekend of 9/11, I hope you don’t mind my saying that I have the greatest affection for symbols of American patriotism: our National Anthem, the bald eagle, the Statue of Liberty, military songs and marches, the monuments and memorials in Washington DC, Ground Zero, the 4^th of July, apple pie, and baseball, to name just a few.

Today, I had the deep honor of singing the National Anthem (or one verse of it, anyway) at a wonderful fundraising event in Boston.  It was moving to look out on the crowd of hundreds of cancer survivors, supporters, and uniformed officers saluting the flag and singing along to this important American song.

As I rehearsed the song at home last week, I began to think about why many singers--including me--find it so tough to perform.  I came up with the following reasons:

• There are few natural places to take a breath because each lyrical phrase (or sentence) is so long. As a result, most singers breathe in between “can you see” and “by the dawn’s,” and again between “star-spangled” and “banner,” which you wouldn’t do if you were speaking the phrases.
• The tune starts off quite low and ends quite high; you need to be aware of the vocal range required to sing the National Anthem and prepare accordingly. It’s never good if someone starts singing the song really high…that means they’ll need to end on a super high note! 
• Although beautiful and rife with moving imagery, the words are more poetry than song lyrics. (In fact, the lyrics come from a beautiful poem written by Francis Scott Key.) It takes a solid reading or two of the lyrics to really absorb each word's literal meaning.

 So, what in the world does all of this have to do with simplifying your writing?

I would like to use the treasured National Anthem as an example of how to simplify your writing. Of course, you will see that my “translation” has none of the original’s impact or imagery. Certainly, I’m not saying that the lyrics of this song need to be changed; rather, I encourage you to think about when it’s best to simplify your writing versus when it’s best to provide more descriptive language in order to inspire and engage your reader.

Original song	Simplifed version
Oh, say can you see by the dawn's early light, What so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s last gleaming?	Does the morning sun show what we hailed so proudly during the night?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars thru the perilous fight, O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming?	The item whose broad stripes and bright stars were seen streaming gallantly over the defense walls?
And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air, Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.	The light from the rockets and bombs proved throughout the night that our flag was still there.
Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?	Does that star-spangled flag still wave over the land of the free and the home of the brave?

Perhaps the simplified version helps the modern reader to ellicit a quicker understanding of the song, but it clearly lacks the panache and timelessness of the original version.


Is there something you've written recently--a report for work, an essay for school, a blog post--that you'd like to revise to make it more word-efficient OR more elegant in its style? If so, I'd love to see a before and after!

In conclusion, there is certainly a line between elegance and efficiency--though that's not to say you can't achieve both. Here's a parting example:

I don't think my Senior Vice President would want to read a briefing from me that read, "Mr. White's supreme devotion to our institution is worthy of your undying praise and time at next week's luncheon," but instead she'd probably want to see, "You will meet Mr. White for lunch next week to thank him for his involvement with our organization."  An attempted marriage of efficiency and eloquence might be: "Your goal in meeting Mr. White for lunch next week will be to express your deep appreciation for all he has done in support of our institution."

Share your simplification!

Do you have a home or office organization project coming up, be it tackling a junk drawer, closet or entire room? If so, I'd love to feature the transformation here on simplified by sarah!

Simply send before and after photos along with a brief description of the process, including how long it took and what you found to be the most important simplification steps in the project. Featured projects can be anonymous or can contain your name, a link to your blog/website/Facebook page/Twitter feed, and the humble adoration and emulation of many.

Please send submissions to consensa (at) hotmail.com.  In the interim, feel free to ask questions or seek tips via the blog's comment feature.

Thanks and happy simplifying! :)

Take advantage of vertical space

We have a tiny kitchen. The cabinets and drawers simply don't offer ample room for our basic gadgets, pots, pans and cooking utensils. So, we got creative and figured out how to maximize the wall space, from eye level all the way up to our ceiling (thankfully, we have high ceilings!). Last year, we took a trip to IKEA, hoping for a fairly cheap and sophisticated-looking fix. As usual, IKEA didn't disappoint. Here are the results:

This wall faces the kitchen entrance and fits between the refrigerator on the left and cabinets on the right.

A nicely hidden storage shelf over the kitchen entrance for items used infrequently.

Directly over the sink, this setup provides convenient access to heavily utilized items.

In case you're wondering, the IKEA products that appear in the above images are as follows (I wish they paid me for this, but alas, I just like sharing info about good organizational deals!):

Photo 1 (kitchen wall):
EKBY shelves/brackets
GRUNDTAL long rail
GRUNDTAL large hooks
GRUNDTAL small hooks

Photo 2 (above kitchen entrance):
LACK wall shelf

Photo 3 (over the sink):
GRUNDTAL short rail
GRUNDTAL wall rack
GRUNDTAL small hooks

We love these organizational improvements but we've still got one or two projects left in the kitchen. For example:

 

We use the top of our cabinets as storage. This is okay for now, but we would love to find some shelving to run around the top of the three main walls in the kitchen.

I'd also love to organize the inside of our cabinets by installing pull-out shelves and the like. I'm pretty happy with the utensil drawer but most other drawers and cabinets need a little work.

What large or small kitchen project could you tackle today? This weekend? Next month?

Systematize magazine pages

Like all mail, magazines and catalogues accumulate constantly. For me, they make great, lightweight train reading and I recycle them or pass them on once I get to the office.

But what happens when there's that one product you really want to buy from the Crate and Barrel catalogue, or that one fantastic recipe in Cooking Light that you simply must try?

This tip comes from my neighbor Cheryl, who's an organizing queen in her own right: Rip out the page(s) of interest and file them into labeled folders. I'd suggest a "recipe" folder, a "to purchase" folder, and so on.

Once pages have been filed, use the folder actively. For recipes, Cheryl and her husband keep newly ripped pages on top and completed recipes at the bottom of the pile. Recipes they've tried but don't like get tossed immediately.

The "to purchase" folder (my riff on Cheryl's recipe folder concept) must also remain active. First, as a person trying to simplify, I'm sure you'd never add much to this folder in the first place! :)

Second, set a date to make that purchase online or in-store and add a reminder to your calendar. Once the date passes, if you haven't made the purchase, toss the page or reschedule.

Now, if you're saving pages for holiday gift ideas or a big purchase, I'd recommend finding a weblink to the product and starting a spreadsheet or document listing the items to reduce clutter. Then recycle the physical pages.

How do you manage your magazines and catalogues currently, if at all?

We have a plant stand that I coverted into a magazine holder. I go through the basket periodically to recycle or read old issues (and now I will rip out/file/use pages of interest!). The living room is a great place for this--nothing better than some coffee or tea and a magazine on the couch Sunday morning!

P.S. If you found this post via Facebook, I'd love for you to leave a comment here on the blog as well as on the Facebook post. Thanks!

Storage unit makeover

Glamorous, I know! My husband and I have minimal storage space in our condo, so we rent a small storage unit a couple of miles from home. Three yard sales and lots of charity drops later, we've finally got our storage-unit possessions down to what we truly want to keep: holiday decorations, musical instruments, off-season clothing and shoes, luggage, photo albums, golf clubs, nice picture frames and the like.

Despite our best simplification efforts, the storage unit was not at all organized:












Tsk, tsk. Items thrown into paper bags and shoved into the storage unit randomly. No placement of like with like. Unnavigable, inaccessible heavy boxes stored precariously sky-high.

This past Saturday, we bit the bullet. We took advantage of tax-free weekend here in MA and purchased a set of heavy-duty shelving and an extra plastic storage container just in case it would be needed. We then proceeded straight to the storage unit.

Corey built the (heavy!) shelves, which only required a hammer for assembly. I took bags, boxes et al out of the unit one at a time, examined the contents, threw away what I could (including tons of ripping paper bags holding random items), and clustered like things.

The result:









We were surprised at how little time this project took; it lasted maybe two hours tops. Now items are easily accessible and we know we've kept only those things we truly want and need.

What's your storage situation in your attic, basement, storage unit?

P.S. If you found this post via Facebook, I'd love for you to leave a comment here on the blog as well as on the Facebook post. Thanks!

Tackle the toy box

Today I received this email:

Dear Simplified by Sarah:
 

My toddler's toybox is always a mess. It's hard keeping toys organized within one big box. I would like to find assorted-sized mesh bags in which I could grouped his toys by type. This should make it easier to find various items within the toybox. Sounds like a good idea, right?

Unfortunately, in doing a quick search on Amazon, I come up empty-handed; I'd rather not spend more than a dollar or two per bag. I suppose we could do zip lock bags, but he won't have much chance of opening and closing those on his own.

Do you have any tips on where we might find sheer/mesh organizing bags on the cheap?

Thank you!
A Loyal Reader

This is a great question and I would love for you parents out there to offer your own solutions in the comments.

In the meantime, I'll give it a stab. 

To recap, the reader is looking for some sort of storage containers that are:

• cheap ($1-2 each) 
• preferably mesh bags of assorted sizes
• easy for a toddler to open and close 
• transparent (I added this! Clearly the parent and child would want to see the contents of each storage container.) 

My first thought: mesh wash bags.  These come in various sizes and are typically used to launder delicate clothing. The example to the left comes from Anna's Linens and includes two bags for $3.99.

I then did a Google search for "mesh storage bags" and got several neat (but expensive) results:

• Equinox Mesh Stuffed Bag ($6.85) 
• Three mesh travel bags ($12.98)
• Large mesh bag with drawstring ($4.43)
• Mesh duffel bag ($13.78)
• And then I found these 18"x24" bags:

Intended for use by coaches, these bags are color-coded and tabbed for each player on a team. However, this would be a great way to keep like toys organized. Unfortunately, they cost $5.46 each.

Although mesh bags seem like a great and easy idea, I could not find inexpensive bags, nor do I like the thought of having to order multiple unmatched bags from various websites. 

Instead of mesh bags, I'd recommend purchasing various sizes of big Ziploc bags. They're cheap, durable, and come in L, XL and XXL. Purchase gallon sizes and under with the easy zip feature for smaller toy groupings.

If bags are not your speed, I'd go for plastic totes with a hinged lid. The ones I found on Amazon cost $20.80 for a dozen. 

Ideally, though, you'd find plastic boxes that stand vertically and have a lid on top, which would allow for easy access to the toys inside. Kind of like this but bigger:

Or how about clear stacking bins that fit snugly inside of the toy box?

Perhaps I could interest you in not-terribly-cheap IRIS storage bins of assorted sizes intended for pet food? (Casters can be removed.)

Although there's no one solution, I hope some of the above leads help. And I might even suggest placing smaller Ziploc bags into plastic storage containers to further organize items as needed; this is a step beyond the simple notion to keep like things together.

 

Eliminate word waste: Tip #1

Oddly, I get great satisfaction from slashing words. My previous job required writing that fit into very specific, small word counts. That experience changed my writing style completely. I consider concise writing part of my overall quest to simplify.

Concise writing aims to eliminate "word waste." One way to do this:

Scan your writing for prepositions / common prepositional phrases and replace with a shorter description if possible:

• In the fullness of time --> Someday
• Under the management of --> Managed by
• Due to the fact that --> Because
• In an attempt to --> To
• As a result --> Thus
• Over the moon --> Excited
• In a rut --> Bored

See if you can identify the wordy prepositional phrases in the following paragraph. How would you simplify? (Don't peek at the answers below!)

Jane wrote me in regards to the lease. She is over the moon about the fact that the rent is so low. In due time, the rate will increase beyond the limits of her rent budget, but at the present time, due to the fact that the rent is within her price range, Jane is happy.

Did you try shortening that?




Jane wrote me in regards to about the lease. She is over the moon about the fact excited about that the low rent is so low. In due time, Eventually, the rate will exceed increase beyond the limits of her rent budget, but for now at the present time, due to the fact that because the rent is affordable within her price range, Jane is happy.

As you write emails, documents and perhaps even your own blog posts, watch for those prepositions and see if they're attached to disposable phrases.

The next post in my periodic "Eliminate word waste" series will discuss passive voice.

Live simply

My friend posted to Facebook a New York Times article on what makes consumers happy. While I can't see myself paring down to just 100 personal items (if you're intrigued, go here), the article contains lots of interesting food for thought on determining how dollars can translate into maximum happiness (e.g., buying "experiences" as opposed to expensive things).

For me, the article is a general reminder about what's important: social interactions with friends and family, and creating meaningful life moments.

I do not advocate for getting rid of nearly everything you own, but I agree with taking stock of your possessions and being conscious of what's a nicety versus a necessity. This will give you the freedom to decide for yourself which of the niceties you want to keep--and ultimately decide how best to organize them along with your necessities.

Organizing often involves introspection about what kinds of items are important to you and therefore worth creating space for. Who knew it could be so deep!

Is there anything in the NYT article that inspires or annoys you?

Doctor yourself

Simplifying is good for your health. Really! Take a little time to check the contents of your medicine cabinet and you'll be safe and ready for all of the little illnesses and aches that come your way.

So, what should you do?

1. Get rid of expired medicine! Check the expiration dates on all of your over-the-counter and prescription medication. Expired meds lose their potency--and I'm not a physician, but if I don't mess with expired food, why would I mess with meds past their prime? 
2. Be prepared. Stock up on the essentials now so that you don't have to go shopping later. There's nothing worse than dragging yourself out of bed to buy cold medicine or getting a minor cut only to find that you're out of bandages. Real Simple provides a great, basic checklist to get you started.
3. Decide whether to separate medicine from toiletries. Depending on the space available in your bathroom, you may wish to dedicate your medicine cabinet entirely to, well, medicine. Toiletries such as shampoo, shaving cream, razors, soap and so forth could be better placed elsewhere in the bathroom if you have the space. At chez moi, we have a tiny bathroom and purposely bought an oversized medicine cabinet to hold meds as well as several toiletries. Use your best judgment; ultimately, keep like things together, no matter where they are in the washroom.

What's the oldest expiration date you can find on the medicines currently in your cabinet? Promise to toss all of the old stuff?

Disclaimer: I have no medical background whatsoever. You should consult a physician for advice on the types of medicines you should and should not take based on your medical needs. Right then!

Let go of old clothes

Keeping clothes organized remains one of my biggest personal simplification challenges. We will discuss my closet transformation in a future post!

For now, I'll state that it's important to do a clothing audit at least once a year. When attempting to purge clothes, ask yourself the following questions for each piece--and answer honestly:

• Have I worn this in the past year to 18 months? (If not, place in your "give to charity" pile)
• Is this still in good shape? Are there holes, tears, stains, or buttons missing? (If you or a professional can't fix the item, toss it.)
• Am I still this size? (If not, place in your "give to charity" pile)
• Was this part of a fad or is this item classic/still in style? (Old fad = give to charity)
• Why am I keeping this item of clothing? (Practical reasons = keep. Sentimental reasons or it was expensive = give to charity or sell online)

What one piece of clothing is hanging in your closet that you know you should get rid of, but can't? (Mine is a pair of quality jeans from high school that I am determined to fit into again someday. Oy!)

Put a lid on your manuals

Operational manuals seem to come with everything, don't they? From coffeemakers to cameras to cell phones, every gadget and appliance comes laden with instructions. I have a hate/love relationship with manuals: I hate having to keep them, but I love them when I need to troubleshoot. I hate not being able to find the right manual when I need it (did I put it in a cabinet? a kitchen drawer? did I toss it?).

My simple solution: Create a "manuals" box. When you get a new toaster oven, vacuum or alarm clock, just throw the manual in the box. Once a year, leaf through the box and recycle manuals for those items you've gotten rid of. My manuals box is a little taller and wider than a shoebox, and it sure holds a whole lot of manuals!

Happy reading. :)

Take the immediate next step

Here's a great tip I learned from David Allen's excellent book, Getting Things Done.

When you've been procrastinating about completing a task, just ask yourself, "What's the immediate next step needed to move this forward?" By breaking down a seemingly daunting task into its most basic next step, you'll find it a little more surmountable.

Examples:

• Clean the basement --> Bring in trash bins
• Make plans to celebrate Father's Day with Dad --> Call Dad to ask him if there's something specific he'd like to do.
• Prepare for Friday's meeting --> Review notes from last meeting
• File auto insurance claim --> Gather information about the accident (involved parties, police report, witnesses' contact info) and have all of it in front of me.

Then, determine the immediate next steps after that:

• Brought in trash bins --> Create spaces for "trash," "recycle," donate to charity" and put the trash bins in the "trash" space
• Called Dad --> Find the phone number of the Italian restaurant he would like to go to
• Reviewed notes from last meeting --> Write down any relevant points from the last meeting that will be important for me to revisit
• Gathered information about the accident --> Locate the phone number of my insurance representative.

And it goes on until the task is completed. You can see how turning general tasks into little "bites"--even teeny ones such as "call dad"--will get you started moving in the right direction! Take things one immediate next step at a time and before you know it, your to-do list will be all checked off!

Keep like things together

If you were to look in some of my drawers at home, you might be surprised. For the most part, they are not pristinely organized with dividers and labels.

I tried that before in my sock drawer, purchasing those long plastic containers that are supposed to help you keep things neatly arranged, but I never ended up having the time or inclination to maintain that level of order. It's much easier and quicker to just open the drawer and throw in the folded socks. :)

Instead, I've adopted one simple principle: Keep like things together. We have a pen/pencil drawer in our desk, and while the contents may not be organized by "pencil," "red pens," "blue pens," and so forth, we know that the only items that go in that drawer are pens and pencils. They don't belong in any other drawers in the house, and no other items belong in the pen/pencil drawer.

Now, some things do need a little extra help in the drawer, like utensils. It'll just be quicker for you at dinnertime if you can easily reach in and pull out the forks and knives you need. So, it's just a matter of thinking about which things need an additional level of organizing and which things would be overkill to divide further. (Not to worry: we'll delve into this in future posts!)

It may seem elementary but if you apply this principle across your home--books stay with books, socks with socks, take-out menus with take-out menus, tools with tools, spices with spices--and stick with it, you'll find yourself well-organized in a very manageable way.

Other examples from our home: mail, umbrellas, utensils:

Lighten the shoulder bag

For women and men alike, pocketbooks and shoulder bags have a way of becoming heavy black holes. I try to keep my work bag contents down to what I consider my essentials:

• The lightest and most compact umbrella I can find
• Small Moleskine notebook and 1-2 pens
• Small packet of tissues
• Wallet
• Cell phone
• Keys
• Compact
• Lip balm
• Lip gloss
• Blotting wipes
• Half-dollar sized compact containing concealer
• Tide pen
• Work ID badge
• Business card case
• Gum/mints
• Hand sanitizer

To this perpetual list, I’ll add whatever is needed for a particular day (sweater, book, magazine, sunglasses, etc.).

Once every couple of weeks, while on the commuter train, the subway, dead-stopped traffic, or the shuttle that takes me to and from different buildings at work, I’ll do the following:

• Remove old papers and gum wrappers from my bag.
• Check for the number of pens/pencils in my bag. Two is my max. Extras go back into my desk at work or home.
• Leaf through my wallet. Heavy amounts of change? That’s going in the change jar at home later. Expired/unimportant receipts? Trash.
• See if anything else is unnecessarily weighing me down, and take those items home or back to the office.

What are your work bag essentials? What’s in your bag now that you can get rid of?

Let's get started.

Hello, there! I’m thrilled that you’ve discovered Simplified by Sarah.

I’m not a professional organizer. I’m a busy 30-something married woman with a full-time career and varied interests that keep me on the go. I’m buoyed by quick lists, multitasking, easy organizing methods and decluttering. I make it easy to keep everything in its proper place without being too proper about it!

If you’ve got a lot going on at home, work, or school—or all of the above—welcome. You’ll get practical, simple tips on keeping it all together.

What will we organize?

• Rooms (home, office, dorm)
• Specific spaces (desk, cabinet, closet, drawer)
• Stuff (decluttering, grouping)
• Ideas (outlines, brainstorming)
• Words (helpful lists, effective note-taking, concise writing)
• and much more.