Clutterbug - Real-Life Hacks and Tips to Declutter, Organize and Clean your Home Fast - How I Use Technology to Get More Done | Clutterbug Podcast # 34

Episode Date: January 9, 2018

I am a huge tech lover, though I am totally tech challenged. I can barely work my computer, but I can still use these cool tech devices and apps to make my life easier and get more accomplished. Isn't that what organization and technology is all about? Saving you time and making your life easier.  So, let's stop wasting cool tech on our Facebook status and instead use it to improve the quality of our lives in a really positive and measurable way.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

So hey guys and welcome back to the Clutterbug Podcast. We're going to talk about organization again today. I know that's what we always talk about. But specifically today, we are going to talk about how you can use technology to help you get a little bit more organized. So thanks again for joining me today. And I wanted to mention that tomorrow is the first day of our Clutterbug series. So we're having a new series called What Clutterbug Are You, where I'm going to be featuring a lot of videos talking about the different organizing styles and specifically tips and tricks that

you can use to get organized if you are one of these styles which most people fit into one of these categories or you can be I guess a combination of a few of these bugs so if you have no idea what I'm talking about I want you to go and take a test on my website you can go to clutterbug.com and I want you to go to a little tab that says what clutterbug are you and and take that test, see what your organizing style is, and then come on back. We're going to do a podcast and a video for each of the different bugs. So that starts tomorrow. We're starting with a butterfly, so I want you to come on back for that. But today, we're talking about technology. And I wanted to talk about different ways that you can use technology in your life to save you time

to just get more organized. And I think that's what organization's, is really about, honestly. It's about saving you time. It's about making your life easier. And technology does that exact same thing. I mean, we have dishwashers. We don't have to hand wash and we have washing machines. We don't have to rub it on a rock or whatever it is that people did before they had washing machines. And we have other technology that's coming out every day and they save us little bits of time in our life here and there. So I wanted to talk about a few of my favorites and how I use them. But I have to start with a disclaimer.

I'm like, I'm a tech junkie. I love new technology. I like trying it. I like buying it. And I am not like a super cool tech nerd, though. I don't actually really know how to use it. I know nothing about how it works. I'm pretty technically challenged.

The fact that I'm working this computer to do a podcast is a miracle. I mean, the irony isn't lost on me. the fact that for a living I do social media when I can barely run a computer. And so, yeah. But that being said, I'm pretty addicted to new tech. And the reason is it is making my life easier. And that's what for me it's all about. It's about saving me time on the mundane crap that I don't like doing.

It's making my life easier. I'm busy. I'm running a business from home. I have three kids. I have pets. I have extracurricular activities. I mean, there's enough going on in my life that if I can find something that I don't have to spend oodles of money on, but it can save me time and work and effort each and every day, I'm all over that. All freaking over it. So I'm definitely a tech junkie. So let's talk about a few though my favorites. My favorite techie things that I used to get more organized and make my life easier.

And the first I want to talk about is my Echo Dot. I now have a new Echo, too, that I just got for my birthday. So like a big Echo speaker, I don't even know what's called. See, I'm technically challenged. I'm sure there's a name for the big one. But it's an Alexa from Amazon. And it's basically like a speaker that surfs the web, I guess, and connects to Amazon. And I started with the Dot.

And I would say I've probably had the echo dot for about two years now, this little Alexa device. Okay, so it's actually hurting me just even thinking about how to describe this thing to you. You probably know exactly what I'm talking about. But if you don't, I want to try to describe it the best way that I can. And basically it's a little speaker. You can either get the bigger speaker or the small speaker. And it sits somewhere in your home and you talk to it basically, just exactly the same way with your phone. And why I find this really convenient is I don't often have my cell phone with me

while I'm walking around the house. I usually have it charging in the bedroom. And so I love the fact that I can have these little tiny devices in my kitchen or in the bedroom. And I can say things like, Alexa, how many teaspoons are in a cup? Or what's the weather going to be like today? And I can add my calendar to it and set reminders. And this is probably one of my most used ways that I do this. I also do this on your phone. So you definitely don't need to have a sort of like Amazon or a Google. Google makes a device exactly like the Amazon Echo. They make a Google Home or a Google Mini, which does the same thing. But really you don't need these to achieve the same thing. You can do this from your phone. but what I've done is add, you know, my Google Calendar to all my different devices. So I've set it up on my laptop and my Alexa and my phone.

So when I give myself a reminder, it's emailed to me and I'm getting a notification on all my devices. My iPad, you know, it doesn't matter what sort of device that I'm on. They're all getting the same notification because they're all signed up on my same Google account, my Google Calendar account. So this is probably one of, if not the most effective way that I'm using technology to get organized. And it's because I'm constantly having these thoughts in my brain. Like I'm like, oh man, I should, you know, write this awesome blog post idea that just popped into my head. And if I don't immediately write that down, I'm going to forget about it. And even if I write it down, I may lose that piece of paper.

I mean, my office looks like sticky notes, Post-it notes have exploded. But those posted notes are not as effective as the notifications that I receive. So I've been like using reminders like crazy. And I love being able to use an Amazon little dot as a way of doing reminders because I can just say, Alexa, remind me next Tuesday, the email Paul about that student thing we're working on. or whatever it is that you're, that made sense to me. It probably made no sense to you,

but it totally made sense to me. And then so next Tuesday at 10 a.m., I'm going to get a notification about the reminder that I just said with my voice. Or if I'm, you know, having someone over for coffee and they're like, hey, let's go to the movies next Saturday. I can immediately add it to my calendar without having to look for my phone or do any of that. I can do it with my voice. So this is a big deal for me because it is connected to all of my devices. So it doesn't really matter if I'm at the doctors with my phone or if I'm down in the office. They all are connected to the same Google calendar, which means they're all connected to the same reminders. You can do the same thing with notes. You can add notes to yourself. But I really like using the reminder, the Google reminder,

because I'm going to get notifications and pop-ups at a specific time that I tell it to do. and of course you can add dates and things to your calendar too so that's one of my favorite ways that I use my little Amazon Alexa dot I guess you can also and again you don't need to have the dot you can also have the Google Home or the Google Mini there's so many different things that you can do with it it controls our lights it controls our heat like it controls the thermostat it controls my Roomba it controls so many different smart devices which are very cool and yes see you a little bit of time. But probably another one of my favorite things that I do with it is I use it to listen to podcasts and I use it to listen to audiobooks. And I listen to podcasts and audiobooks

while I'm doing really like mundane things. You're obviously doing the same thing right now. You're listening to a podcast. Maybe you're driving or maybe you're cleaning the house or maybe you're, I don't know, whatever it is that you're doing, you've obviously realized that a podcast Pests can really help you get more done during that time because your body's sort of on autopilot. So you're listening to something. So you've sort of tuned out the physical thing that you're doing. I have definite ADHD. When I'm trying to make dinner, I leave often.

And I don't mean to. You know, I'll start a pot boiling and I'll get insanely bored. And maybe I'll empty the dishwasher or I'll like do something. But then I walk away. I leave. because the dish, I can't watch a pot boiling. I can't be frying something and sit there. I go stir crazy. So what used to always end up happening was I would burn dinner or the pot would overflow, you know, and wreck the stove. And it was like a crazy thing and it would always happen. It's sort of a joke. Yeah, Cass burned everything. Ha ha ha. She can't focus.

As soon as I started listening to podcasts and audiobooks while cooking, suddenly I didn't feel that urge to get bored and get destroyed. and to start doing other things and start doing other tasks. And then I realized something else. I was getting my housework done in record time. And it was the distractions while mopping, while vacuuming, while dusting, while putting away laundry, especially putting away laundry. It was those little distractions because I was bored of the mundane task that made it so much longer than it actually had to. I would wander off while putting away laundry. I would do this little thing and I'd be putting away the socks and then suddenly I'd be reorganizing the sock drawer or then I'd be like, oh yeah, I need to add windex to the shopping list and I'd be in the kitchen

and then I'd notice there was a mess on the counter and I'd start doing that. And when I finally got back to the laundry, it'd be like an hour later and I'm like, oh my gosh, putting away laundry takes forever. But it was because I couldn't focus on it. It was just way too boring, let's be honest. As soon as I started listening to audiobooks and podcasts while putting away laundry, I was putting the way of the laundry like a champ, like super fast. And I realized I wanted to keep listening to the book, so then I would carry on doing other little tiny tasks around the house. Maybe I would declutter the junk drawer or I'd organize this or that.

I'm telling you, when I have a new audio book, my house is sparkly clean. And I'm listening to a book at the same time. And the best part is, you don't have to necessarily. I definitely have my phone. I have my wireless headphones, which was a really great task. investment, let me tell you. Really great tech investment is some wireless headphones. You can cut the grass. You can walk around the house. You don't have to be strapped to your phone. But I also like having these little echoes or dots because it doesn't matter what room I'm in or what device I

listen to it last on. It picks up wherever I am and starts playing again. So those are a couple of ways how I absolutely love using my little echo dot to, I guess, get more done really, and organize my thoughts, declutter my brain. And just by saying it and putting it into that technology to be reminded about things later, or using it to totally distract myself from horrible everyday mundane tasks. So moving on, a little bit more technology that I love and I'm pretty much addicted to. I mean, you guys already know, but I'm a huge fan of Arumba. And the first of my purchased Arumba was, I think about, I want to say eight or nine years ago. And it was pretty darn like, changing. I remember picking one up for $100. It was on clearance. It was the very first model that

ever came out. I had never even heard of it before. Our vacuum broke. I needed one. I saw this robot vacuum. I impulsively picked it up, came home with it, charged it, pushed that button, and have not looked back. My favorite thing about it is obviously it cleaned your floor without you having to pull out the vacuum, which is pretty amazing in itself. But it's a lot. But it's a lot of It saves you so much cleaning time in other ways. And I'm going to talk quickly about how those, what I mean by that. So my rumba's, I have a lot of them, but my main rumba upstairs runs every single day. It starts at 8 a.m.

It cleans all my floor within an hour. And then at night before I go to bed, I usually run it again. Just to get those crumbs from after dinner, let me tell you, I don't even own a broom. Like, there is not a broom in this house. I don't own one. I'm very lazy and if the kids spill crumbs or the dog comes in with leaves all over, I'll just push that Roomba button and it takes care of it. I rarely bring out the vacuum.

I'm going to be honest, if ever. Sometimes I'll use it to do the stairs, but I have a little hand vac that I use, and occasionally I will use it to vacuum the furniture. Not as often as I should occasionally, but 90% of the time, 99% of the time, it's just my Roomba vacuuming my floors and they are always spotless. But even more than that, here's the great thing about having your floors vacuumed daily. You hardly ever have to dust your furniture. It must be that the dust, I mean, I remember having to dust all the time.

And I've even noticed there are times where I don't run my Roomba or it gets stuck on something and I just like leave it for a few days. and the dust builds up on my dressers and my surfaces and my furniture. And it's because most of that dust is coming from your floor. And it's getting stirred up while you walk or maybe through the furnace. And it's landing on your furniture. So when you vacuum your floor every single day and again, sometimes it vacuums twice a day, you rarely have to dust. So not only you're saving time on the vacuuming, but you're saving time on the dusting too.

and your house just basically perpetually stays clean. I'm not talking about tidy. I mean, kids still drop their junk and there's still clutter that accumulates with day-to-day living. I'm talking about, like, the actual cleaning part. Vacuuming is a time-consuming thing. Dragging it out, vacuuming the house, it can be a time-consuming thing. But for me, dusting was the really time-consuming thing. Moving things and dusting and picture frames and the top of surfaces and dressers.

That took way more time than actually dusting. and I hardly ever have to do that anymore. So you're kind of getting a double whammy. I mean, it's not going to eliminate all the dust from your home, but I can promise you it's going to eliminate most of it. If your floors are perpetually clean and dust-free, your surfaces will be too without you having to dust them all the time. Okay, so I also have the brava mop.

Now, I'm going to be honest, I don't use this as much as I do my rumbuz. It's a little bit more of a pain in the butt, and honestly, I don't mind quickly grabbing out my little spot mop and doing a quick spot mop, but I do run this every day in the bathrooms. I just set it down, I push a button, I walk away, I come back, my bathroom floors have been mopped. And I have to tell you, it's a little bit of joy in my life. It's one, like, less thing that I have to do. And that is what technology is all about. I mean, we have dishwashers. we have washing machines, we have things to save us from doing the time.

I feel like a Roomba and like a mopping jet are just like the next part of that when it comes to technology, the George Jetson style life. I mean, soon we're going to have cars that drive us. Of course we would have robots that do our housework. And yes, they are expensive. I mean, you can find them secondhand, though. A lot of people get rid of them because they don't, they feel they're too noisy or they're just not. liking them for whatever reason so you can pick these up secondhand quite often but I truly feel

that this is an investment that can save you a ton of time and you deserve it they last for years and they really do cut down on your cleaning time if you really love having clean floors and you're sick of bringing out the vacuum every day treat yourself to a little bit of technology with a robot vacuum I promise you you will not be disappointed. So lastly, I wanted to talk about an app that I actually really like. Now, there are a lot of apps to get organized. There is Trello and there's a lot of different things that can help organize your to-do lists and all of these things digitally. But honestly, I don't use them. I'm not really technically savvy and I struggle to use those things. But there is an app that I use

all the time that I wanted to share with you and it's called Flip. It's F-L-I-P and it's a free app and it's not really about I guess organizing it is an app that gathers all the flyers from your area and sort of puts them together in one searchable and usable app and I have this on my phone and I use it for price matching so if I'm at the grocery store and I know at a grocery store that I don't usually go to you know something's on sale I can just tag it circle it and then show it to the cashier when I'm checking out and they can do the price matching so I get the lowest price without having to bring in a bunch of flyers or worry about any of that. But a way that I use it even more is before we buy a purchase, especially a bigger purchase,

I always just search and flip and it tells me all the places that it's on sale. So if you have in your head something that you want to buy, maybe it's a treadmill, maybe it's a new computer, maybe it's even, I don't know, something small, like, I don't know, brand new windshield wipers, you can see where they're on sale by searching all of your local flyers at once. And it tells you exactly what it's on sale for and where to get it. Like it searches all of the flyers. I love this app. Again, it's free to use and it really does save you a ton of time. And it sort of helps organize your shopping in a way, especially if you're really into flyers, clipping coupons or you're a person who loves price matching. So I use this flip app.

Every time before I go to the grocery store, I think about the main things we want to buy, and I see if they're on sale anywhere else. I touch them, I circle them, I store them all together, and I can quickly do price matching. And again, I also use it before I go shopping for anything bigger. Like maybe I'm looking for a new desk lamp or new furniture or something. I can search all of the flyers before I even leave the house in like an instant, in a millisecond, and find out where these things are on sale. So I had to share that with you guys. And I hope you're inspired, I guess, to use a little technology in your life. Obviously, you're already doing that by listening to this podcast.

And that's exactly what I mean. Using technology in a way to make our life a little bit easier, get a little more done, and save us a little more time because that's what it's all about. So thank you guys so much for listening. I hope you enjoyed and I will see you next time. Thank you.