At Home « An Extra Hour Every Day

Nov

16

Save time by planning your TV consumption

by Nicolas

One of the main sources for procrastination and wasted time is the TV. The purpose of the TV is to provide us information and to entertain us. Both can be done at specific times with specific programs.

Don’t run the TV in the background. Chances are high that suddenly find something interesting and stick to it.
Don’t flip through the channels without a clear target. If you are not looking for something specific switch the TV off.
Consider renting movies rather than watching them on TV channels with advertisement breaks. In total you spend less time to watch the movie and you benefit from uninterrupted entertainment.
It might sound a bit old-fashioned but the radio also is an excellent source of information. It is easier to listen to the radio than watching TV when doing something else at the same time (e.g. in the morning in the bathroom).
Consider using alternative sources for information on the Internet or through your mobile phone.

I am not against TV in general. It is about the right balance. Consider how many hours you spend in front of the TV in your life and how many of your dreams could be true now already had you been working on them instead.

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Nov

02

Buying and storing cleanser at home

by Nicolas

Every household keeps a collection of soap, shampoo and other cleansers. We usually do not change our brands frequently and the containers contents does not perish.

It therefore makes a lot of sense to buy cleansers in large containers, so that you do not have to purchase them frequently.

On the other hand I recommend small dispensers. A friend working at Procter and Gamble once told me that they like selling big dispensers, because it unconsciously gives consumers a feeling of abundance which results in higher usage. A smaller dispenser has a notion of scarceness so you that you just use what you need. You have to refill the container more often but it saves you real money.

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Oct

31

11 “now” habits to keep your home clean

by Nicolas

A few very simple habits can significantly contribute to a clean home. The basic philosophy of these habit is: Do it now. Whenever you are in one of these situations, remind yourself the “Do it NOW” and it will slowly become a real habit.

1) Coming home from a trip:

Unpack your bags immediately. Put the clean stuff in your storage and put the dirty stuff directly into the washing machine.

2) Coming home from sports:

Unpack your bag, put your clothes directly into the washing machine and clean the equipment or accessories.

3) Washing:

After the washing machine finished directly put your clothes into the dryer or on the clothesline. Otherwise they get a bad smell and you have to wash them again.

4) Cleaning your shoes:

Clean your shoes when arriving home. Otherwise you might want to leave and realize that your shoes need a brush, you might not have the time to do this.

5) Undressing:

Put the clean things directly on a hanger and put the dirty things into the basket.

6) Mobile devices:

When arriving home directly connect mobile devices to their chargers, so that you never run out of battery just because you forgot it.

7) When cooking:

During cooking directly throw away the waste and keep cleaning the kitchen in between. You then do not have to clean a huge mess after you finished eating.

After eating:

Directly clean up yourself and wash everything directly or put it into the dishwasher.

9) Receiving mail:

When you open envelopes and boxes directly throw them away so that they are around for days or weeks. If you have to file something you better also do it immediately.

10) Getting up:

Make the bed just after you got up.

11) Tools:

After using gardening or other tools tidy them. This also increases safety in your household.

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Oct

26

Get the best bed you can afford

by Nicolas

There are at least two reasons to think about our bed and its accessories. Sleep represents about one third of our life’s. Secondly a good sleep has high impact on our well being and productivity. In order to get most out of our time management techniques we need to be fresh. I therefore want to share a few thoughts on our sleep and the related equipment.

1) Get the best bed you can afford:

Buying a good bed can be a major investment. Considering the negative impact of bad sleep on your productivity and its eventual negative impact on your income I recommend buying the best bed you can afford. Many manufacturers offer a complete package including the frame, the mattress and other accessories. This of course is very convenient but it will rarely entirely fulfill your individual requirements. I therefore deal with each component of a bed one by one, so that you can made a comprehensive decision when purchasing a new bed or just some components.

2) The bed frame:

One of the first questions to be answered is the size of the bed frame. This depends on the number of people to sleep on it, the size of your bed room as well as the space you need to feel good. Part of this of course is also the length, which mainly depends on your body size. When two people sleep in the same bed you disturb each other less the larger the bed is. You can check how space you need by taking your typical sleeping position next to each other in the shop.

Another basic decision is if you want to have one large mattress or if you plan having two in order to accommodate different needs of two persons (e.g. two people with a strong difference in weight). In case you want to have two the frame must allow having two separate box springs.

Is it important to you that the head and or feet sections can be elevated (for the entire bed or separately for each person)?

Do you want to use the space under the bed as storage with drawers or do you want to have open space?

Depending on how often you move your household an important criteria might also be how easy it is to assemble and disassemble the frame.

3) The mattress:

When buying a new mattress you must look for comfort and support. Whereas comfort is important in order to relax, support is important to keep your body in a healthy shape over your eight hours of sleep.

Test the mattresses available in the shop by laying down on it for a while. Play particular attention to areas of your body such as shoulders, hips and the lower part of your back. You can test the support when laying flat on your back. Put your hand under you back. If you have a gap the mattress might be too hard. If there is no space for your hand the mattress is probably too soft.

Buying a new mattress is not the most exiting thing and most of us tend to push this back as much as possible. Investing into durability will therefore give you a longer freedom until you have to renew it. The durability is determined by the material the mattress is made of and you should ask the sales clerk to spend a lot of time explaining the differences to you.

Never buy a new mattress without exchanging the box spring. When your mattress is due to renewal normally the box spring is due too.

4) Pillows:

Your pillow is the accessory requiring the highest frequency for replacement. Since we all are unique this is a very individual decision. A few questions shall help finding out what best works for you, mostly depending on your sleeping position.

Sleeping on your stomach: try a low and soft pillow
Sleeping on your back: try a firm or medium firm pillow
Sleeping on your side: try a firm or extra firm pillow

If you suffer from allergies you should ask the sales clerk to show you suitable offers of synthetic material.

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Oct

25

Personal care for men

by Nicolas

Men seem to increasingly spend time for personal care. Optimizing the daily personal care routine can significantly save time and contribute to contentment with oneself.

Sort your neckties by color and get rid of those you don’t wear anymore
Sort your shirts by color
Give your shirts to a cleaning company and receive them folded - especially if you travel a lot
Use shoe trees. If you don’t like stooping down to take care of your shoes, put a rack on the wall in the entrance
Use industrial shaving foam on working days
Use an electric shaver on working days since it is faster

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Oct

22

Rent instead of buying

by Nicolas

Most people tend to buy things even if their use is seldom. The benefit is that it is always available when required. The disadvantage is that purchasing binds capital, requires space for storage and often also some kind of maintenance.

Have you ever though of renting things instead of buying?

Media: Books, Music and Videos
Gardening equipment
Any kind of machinery
Vehicles (cars, bicycles, etc.)
Items for babies and kids
etc.

With rental services you will pay only when you use things and you don’t have to take care of maintenance etc. You keep your household, company or balance sheet clean from items that are used rarely only. Another advantage to goods with a long life period is that you often can use a more recent model from rental companies since you have to keep a bought one many years - even if newer technology is available.

I am sure that you find such companies in your town directory.

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Oct

19

Get the best office furniture you can afford

by Nicolas

Have you ever thought about how much time you spend at your office or desk? If the answer is “a lot” it is worth investing money to get the best office furniture you can afford. This includes the desk and chair cabinets as well as equipment such as computers, printers, etc.

Good furniture not only increases your productivity by supporting your organization and increasing fun but also lasts much longer, so that it might even result in lower total cost of ownership over a long period.

Before buying a new furniture you need to become aware of your needs.

Are you going to use it for meeting too?
How much storage do you require?
How much equipment such as computers, printers, chargers, shredder, etc. do you have?
Does it have to be representative?
What kind of things to you personally enjoy in a office.

Even if you have to keep going with your existing office furniture, it is worth going through these questions and optimize the current set-up.

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Oct

18

Shoes for rainy days

by Nicolas

Rain is not good for your shoes and they require lot of maintenance to stay in shape after becoming wet.

I therefore recommend having one pair of shoes dedicated to rainy days. These shoes could be older than your other shoes or more robust. If you now go to buy a pair of shoes for rain consider the following criteria:

A sole of thick rubber
A strong tread so that you don’t slip
A surface easy to clean (such as patent leather shoe if you like this)

I am pretty sure that women have more tips on this and hope some of you to post some more ideas in the comments

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Oct

12

Private documents to keep in a save place

by Nicolas

Houses can burn or be broken in. A big portion of the hustle afterwards is related to the loss of many important documents. If you think about it, you don’t need most documents to be stored close to you physically. I therefore recomend to scan the documents, so that you have the information available, but to physically store them in a secure safe at a bank or other specialized institution. Here is a collection of typical document falling under this category:

Birth certificates
Marriage certificates
Passports
Citizenship papers / Visas
Diplomas, school transcrips
House & property deeds
Insurance policies
Medical records
Wills

I keep most important documents scanned and save them on the Internet with the advantage of being backed up better than I ever did privately, being accessible from anywhere in the world.

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Oct

11

Have a box for each family member in the entrance

by Nicolas

The entrance of a home is one of the most important room. Everything that come in or out of the home will go through it and it also has a representative function since the entrance is the first place a guest will see.

Whenever we come home or return we are handling a couple of objects such as keys or our wallet. We empty our pockets and also need to make sure that we do not forget these when we leaving our home. This can become especially difficult when a few people are involved.

I good idea to organize this important place is to assign a box to each person in the household. Every person can have its own - very individual - container to collect the objects that are important when leaving or returning to the home. Things will not get mixed up or forgotten anymore and the entrance will look much tidier.