Yesterday’s post talked about creating a daydream file to save items you want rather than impulsively buying them. I think it’s fairly obvious that the list you create could become a pretty handy wishlist if the occasion ever came up…So what about using it to give?

I’m probably more apt to compulsively buy something if it makes me think of someone else. “Oh, my [sister | mom | bff | boyfried | brother | dad | friend] would LOVE that!” is a phrase that commonly precedes me immediately clicking “add to cart.” But then a birthday finally comes around and now I have all this stuff to give them and maybe the inside joke that prompted it is so old by now it makes no sense anyways…well you get the picture. I had a cluttered closet with gifts that never even saw a gift bag.

Using the same concept as a daydream file, I created a digital presents file. If you use the Amazon wishlist feature, you can easily create additional lists for people you shop for often. In Evernote you can create a gift notebook and tag each gift with names of friends and family. (Make sure to set them to private!) 

This way I still get the joy of finding something that fits someone’s style oh-so-perfectly, without overburdening my closet or my credit card. When a gift opportunity comes around, I go through the file and pick out the best option. The ones that don’t make it? You can always send the person a link to the product (even if it’s just a random Tuesday) with a little note saying “this made me think of you! hope you’re having a great day!” on Facebook or email or wherever, because as you know, it’s the thought that counts.

*Photo credit: Muffet (Flickr)

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In my line of work I spend a lot of time online, and I work with a lot of clients from different industries. That mix has a lot of potential to lead to a bad case of wanting things that I don’t really need or wouldn’t fit into my life right this second. That could be really cool furniture, clothes, accessories – you name it! And the way that advertisers have gotten so good at targeting and retargeting – it’s hard to resist sometimes.

The best way I’ve come up with to deal with this daily battle against desire is to start a daydream file. Anytime I see something I want – for me, my home or my future, I digitally clip and save it. It doesn’t matter how you do it, I use a mix of an Evernote notebook for big future items (furniture, vacations, etc) and an Amazon wishlist for personal things (clothes, games, books, etc), as long as you’re consistent. (Side note: both of those tools provide a browser button for easy clipping.)

It feels good at the time, because while you’re resisting buying it today, you’re still ”saving it for later.” Then when later rolls around, and you get a bit of money saved up and you decide to redecorate the living room, you can flip through the file and pick what you really want. Maybe all of a sudden that table you HAD to have a month ago isn’t as cool as some of the other tables you saved over time.  By resisting the impulse buy you can save money and avoid cluttering your house with things you don’t really want.

*Original Photo Credit: Juan23for (Flickr)

Another great vacation is coming to an end and I’m faced with my largest clutter battle – sentimental clutter. With everything else I find it fairly easy to toss things I no longer use or keep things put away. But ticket stubs, postcards and other paraphernalia is way too hard for me to get rid of and never seems to have a place to stay. With Valentine’s day just wrapping up I’m sure many people are faced with the same problem with cards and mementos.

This tip from YoungLove inspired me to take steps towards fixing this problem. If you create a cute way to display and, or store trip mementos and other sentimental items you can put them away guilt free. You could also take a snapshot of them arranged on the table – put the snapshot into the photo album or scrapbook with your other trip photos and save them that way rather than physically keeping them.

What do you do to keep sentimental clutter from taking over your life?

My boyfriend is a pilot and when he takes me flying I can’t help but notice the detailed checklists he follows. There is a laminated sheet with checklists for pre-flight, take-off, landing and emergencies. And he follows it exactly. If it says “flip this little switch thingy off and on again” (I’m paraphrasing) he flips it off and on. As tedious as it sounds, it ensures he never forgets anything.

I think there’s a lesson in there that can apply to the rest of us:

For instance, to a process you repeat regularly – like your morning routine. Repetition of anything can lead to carelessness and forgetfulness, you’ve done it so many times you’re on auto-pilot and the next thing you know you’re in the car without your lunch. Following a checklist eliminates that.

Or to any particularly busy day, event or week. Why do you think event planners use checklists as well?  Being stressed and overwhelmed can lead to slip ups. The next time you have a busy day or event coming up, channel your inner pilot and grab a piece of paper. Write out every single thing you need to do, to the last detail. Even put them in order. You’ll be surprised how much it takes off your mind and how much it will help you remember.

Once you’ve written it out, all you have to do later is follow your own instructions.

I’m just getting started here at the {un}chaotic and am about at the point where daily posts are a possibility. But if you find yourself craving more chaos fighting goodness in between posts check out the brand new More Resources page. This page will display links from my delicious account in various categories. So check it out! If you want to be updated whenever there’s a new link you can follow @theunchaotic or get an RSS feed of the links.

This Christmas I got a few new (awesome) electronic gadgets. When I got home it was pretty apparent that I’d need to do something to make charging all my devices a little easier, and a little less of an eyesore. I looked at some typical charging stations for sale, but they didn’t really fit my needs. Most were sized to accommodate about three gadgets and all of them pocket size – no good for my netbook or Kindle. A quick Google search brought back some great DIY projects, but all of them seemed to require tools I didn’t have or building skills I definitely don’t have.

I finally came up with a solution that I could do myself in under 20 minutes. If you got some new electronics this holiday season it may work for you as well.

Supplies: I went to the store and picked up two baskets of slightly different shape. One larger (base) basket and one smaller (accessory) basket that would sit on top without falling in. I also made sure these baskets had ‘handles’ or holes that the wires could be fed though.

Setup: When I got home I cleared out an area under my desk and set up the baskets one on top of the other. Then I threaded the wires from a powerstrip on the wall, through the handles, and into the devices. I adjusted things just a little bit and I was done.

Bonus: One added benefit of this setup versus other charging stations is that it’s fairly easy to unplug the wires and remove them entirely. That way if I need to take the wires with me somewhere it’s not too much of a hassle.

Finished look:

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Love lists? You need to check out Listography. It’s a cute little site where you can write and save as many lists, on as many different topics, as you can think up! You can list restaurants to try, places you’d like to visit, books to read – maybe even those shiny New Year’s resolutions you just made…whatever you want. You can browse the Sample User profile for more ideas. On the site you can customize the theme and create a profile, then share (or not) any lists you create. Here’s what the creators have to say:

Listography provides users (listographers) of all ages an easy-to-use tool for creative list writing and sharing. Through list making, you can shape an autobiography. Therefore, your listography is a perpetual work in progress, a time capsule you can share, and a map of your life for friends and family.

I’ll admit, some of the things they suggest you list actually make more sense, to me at least, to save in other places (for example: saving a list of movies you want to see in your Netflix queue) but this is a great catch-all for those lists that don’t have a home yet. And the ‘autobiography in lists’ idea is fairly interesting and isn’t something you would get from a Netflix queue or Amazon wishlist.

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I actually got this tip from a long-time friend and ex-neighbor of mine. Some people have a hard time identifying their limits with alcohol at the time when they are actually at that limit. To avoid over-indulging he would decide how many drinks he meant to have before he started drinking. That way, later, when his judgement got a little impaired he only had to remember what he already promised himself instead of having to decide right then whether another drink was really a good idea. I used to make fun of him, but I think it may actually be a decent system. This way, you can enjoy yourself without worrying about going too far. I’m going to give it a shot this New Years eve – here’s hoping everyone has a happy New Year!

*Photo credit: ori2uru (flickr)

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Christmas is coming up fast and I’m sure I’m not the only one running out of time to get things done. I think this is the perfect time to introduce you to my favorite to-do list site: TeuxDeux.

The thing I like best about it is it’s simplicity. I prefer when my to-do items area listed out visually under the dates they need to be done (as Office 2007 does, or even a normal paper planner will). The interface is incredibly easy, dates scroll left to right with lines under each date. Just type what you need to do on the appropriate date  and click enter. You can even drag and drop items to move them around. When you finish a task, click it, and a satisfying line will cross through it.

It’s simplicity is it’s biggest asset, but it loses some functionality for that. It doesn’t let you organize tasks by topic (holiday, work, home) or assign priority or even include subtasks, notes or descriptions. But for particularly stressful weeks, it does one thing very well – it helps you balance the load across several days and manage your time to get it all done.

It even has a “someday” list to keep track of those things you want to do but don’t fit on a particular day. New Year’s resolutions maybe?

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If you’re addicted to the snooze button like I am – some mornings are a little more hectic than others. I keep a small bag in my makeup drawer so I can quickly gather the essentials and throw it in my purse to finish the job later.

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