So, I have some news. I’ll be sharing the organizing love (twice a week) with the lovely readers at Unclutterer.com as a writer. I’ll still be here at OTR and so will a few awesome guest bloggers, so not much will change here.

Check out my intro post and be sure to say something nice about me over there! ;) Oh, and while you’re visiting, take a gander at what I have to say about Unstuck.

A little teaser for you: It’s an app. It’s free. It’s almost human. It could really help you get off your duff and get that project finished!

Ok, now off you go.

“Here’s why we’re so obsessed with saving moments instead of savoring them: We’re wired to hoard. Humans are competitive…we love saying that we’ve ‘been there, done that.’ Social media platforms create…follower counts and virtual photo albums that make our experiences seem more tangible, giving us a false feeling of accumulation. It’s as if our most important experiences are now collectible.”

Read More:

Stop Documenting, Start Experiencing | HBR.org | 4.26.12

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I want to try every time management app there is! Are you like me? Looking for the right one for you? …the one that will stop you from goofing off?

I want that, too, but I’m a little fickle. I find one I love (like this one and this one and this one), then I start to think that some other app could be sweeter. Enter my wandering eye.

Don’t follow in my footsteps, though. You’ll have to spend some quality time with a few apps at first, you know, to get to know them. Make it a fruitful experience and ask yourself these simple questions:

1. Which is the easiest to use?
2. Which one’s the most intuitive?
3. Does it do all (or most) of what you need? *Sidebar: Do you know what you need? 

Ultimately, you’ll have to settle down with the one.

If you choose multiple apps, you’ll probably get confused. Or, worse – you’ll do double duty and have to enter data in several places. Not a good use of your time, right?

So, in my quest to “see what’s out there,” I came across a few articles about good time management apps. Check them out and let me know which one you decide to use. Or, if you’ve already found your true match, I hope you’ll kiss and tell.

• 5 Time Management Apps for the iPhone (HowStuffWorks.com)
• 15 Awesome Time Management Tools and Apps (DumbLittleMan.com)
• Time Management Apps for iPad (AppleSlut.com)
• 5 Great Time and Task Management Apps for Android (TechHamlet.com)

“People reply to their close friends, on average, within seven hours of getting the email. Professional contacts take a bit more time: We don’t hit send for nearly 11 hours. On average, it took us 50 hours to reply. In other words, there’s a surprisingly easy way to figure out how you feel about someone—just count the hours before you hit the ‘reply’ button.”

Read More:

The Science of Email | Wired.com | 12.10.11

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“Seventy-five percent of them [1,000 American mobile users] admitted they used their phones while on the can… Forty-seven percent of mobile users from the Silent Generation (born 1946 or before), 65 percent of Baby Boomers (1946-1964) and 80 percent of Gen X-ers (1965-1976) use their cell phones in the bathroom. But as expected, Generation Y has the highest percentage of multitaskers, using their phones and the john at the same time.”

Read More:

Toilet Texting, Conference Canning and Bathroom Buying | ABCNews.com | 1.31.12

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I’m on a mini-sabbatical but while I’m away, check out these tips from Productivity501.com on how to be more efficient at writing e-mails. Might shave a few minutes off your day…and who couldn’t use a few extra minutes?

E-mails can be a big drag, especially when you have thousands of them that you still have to read. Sometimes, someone else is clogging your inbox. Other times, we’re clueless about how to send a message that is concise AND has all the necessary info the reader needs. Those of you who like to write e-novels, this one’s for you.

Productivity501.com has a few tips on how to become better at writing e-mails. Here are two of them:

#2 Include necessary background information – I will often write a short email asking a question and then at the bottom add additional background or clarifying information.  For example, if I’m writing to someone who is new in their position, I may include a bit of background history explaining the current state of affairs.  By putting it after my signature, they can continue reading if they have questions, but it does not make my message overly long for people who are already familiar with everything that is going on.

#3 Anticipate questions - As you compose your email, keep asking yourself “what questions will this statement likely prompt from the reader?” Sometimes this may lead you to add another sentence that will clarify your meaning.  Sometimes it may prompt you to add an attachment of related information.  In some situations, it might even make sense to put a FAQ (frequently asked questions) at the end of your message.

See All Tips @ Productivity501.com

“We exchange the highest volume of email with those people we know the least. These are folks you almost certainly wouldn’t talk to on the phone. You also probably wouldn’t bump into them on the street. But email allows us to communicate with them all day long.”

Read More:

The Science of Email | Wired.com | 12.10.11

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“83 percent of American adults own some kind of cell phone and…a lot of people find it difficult to switch off once they’re at home.”

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So, you know I’m all for passwords, but I recently learned that changing them frequently is a bit of a waste. You actually need a group of tools to keep your e-stuff safe. You can read more about that here.

…and, you can watch this cool video by Lorie Marrero of Clutter Diet about how to better organize the passwords you do have.

Get the Internet Password Organizer

Are you getting enough sleep so you can be truly productive and less stressed? Are you aiming for a specific number of hours? 7? 8? 10? Not something you normally think about?

That’s ok, SleepTiming will help (thanks Lifehacker for the skinny on this app). Enter a few pieces of info (like how long it normally takes you to fall asleep and length of your sleep cycle) and SleepTiming will tell you what time to go to bed so you can wake up feeling refreshed. 

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“We feel most refreshed waking up at the top of the cycle, whereas if the alarm clock wakes us up from deep sleep, we may feel groggy and not well rested, no matter how long we slept.”

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It also has a “going to sleep now?” function that will tell you what time to set your alarm so you can wake up with a full dose of fabulosity. Give it a shot and let me know how it works for you.