Category: Small Business Information

Keep Your Cool Technology From Getting Cluttered!

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My family really loves technology. I have a few tech items that I am extremely attached to – my IPhone 5, my IPad and my laptop. But those are just MY gadgets.  Everyone else has gadgets, too. We even loaned the 9 year-old an old IPhone 3 to use as an IPod touch (music, games and apps, no internet or phone usage) on a recent long-distance car ride.

So between 5 people, we have 4 phones, 3 IPod touches, 3 Nintendo 3DS handheld games, a couple of Kindles and digital cameras, and my IPad. Plus 3 laptops and a desk top computer, and an xBox 360 and Wii.

We embrace our technology, but the accompanying clutter can be maddening! Here are some ways we clear our tech clutter, try a few for yourself this week!

Tame the snake pit— I mean— chargers and cords.

1.  Dedicate 1 charging station. Image

  • We use a surge protector strip on the kitchen desk. Maybe you need more than one, for different family members, but limit yourself to one or two stations, to help keep track of necessary items and share resources. (Do this when you travel, too, so things don’t get left behind!)
  • Charge where you work. I leave my IPhone charger cord plugged into my laptop, and charge my phone while I work. My husband keeps an extra phone charger at the office.
  • I received a MOS organizer, http://mosorganizer.com/, to review and test in my office setting. A great gadget, the MOS Organizers is a magnetic object that holds the end of your charging cord between charges. The attractive 3.5” whiImagete triangle holds the charger cord end and keeps it from dropping off your desk/ charging area when not in use.
  • My hubby also received a very cool “Powerbot” wireless charger for his phone. He only needs to place his phone on the disc, and it charges! No more cords! (this only works for select tech items, though).

2. Match up your chargers with your current tech gadgets (phones, cameras, IPod, etc.).

3. Label the chargers / cords:

  • Tag the chargers with labels listing tech item type (camera, GPS, cell phone, etc.), date and owner’s initials. If you don’t have a labeleImager, you can also fold a blank mailing label around the charger cord, and jot the initials on that.
  • Bundle the cords. Most are longer than necessary. We use cord coils (picked them up at Office Max), to rein in the chaos.
  • ImageOr try bundling the cords with different colored Velcro straps (each person gets their own color), or even patterned craft tapes.
  • I have to share a suggestion to hang charger cords in the inside of a cabinet door with command hooks when not in use (check out all 34 of these awesome ideas, http://www.buzzfeed.com/peggy/how-to-de-clutter-your-entire-life
  • Or these handy charging ideas, http://www.workingmother.com/content/desk-control .

4.   Any chargers or cords not matched up with a tech items? Put them in a freezer bag, with today’s date and an expiration / recycle date on it, about 6 months from now.

5.  When in doubt…   Occasionally, I will put all the cords away in the drawer under the charging strip. I figure, everyone knows which cord is theirs, and will take out what they need. And things will look tidy for a while!

Keep your Apps and Updates up to date. At least once a week for my phone, I download all the app and system updates available. I update my IPad occasionally, too, but not as often as my phone.

Set limits.  No phones at the dinner table, or after 10 pm. The wi-fi to the kids’ IPods turns off at 10 pm, and all tech items are left in the kitchen overnight. No one needs to send or receive texts after 10 pm. When the boys were younger, we set TV limits, too, for example, the TV in the basement was set to only age appropriate programming.

And unplug sometimes. Seriously. I love my technology, but I like to just talk to people, too. And nap. And read, like an actual book. And go hiking. And tickle my son.

So, spend just a little time this week, and clear some tech clutter!

Less Searching, More TIme, Less Dirt, More Focus? Must be Clean Off Your Computer Day!

Today is “Clean Off Your Computer Day”, designated by savvy IT people to clean old files off your computer – Embrace it!  I am a PC user, and not familiar with Mac, but some suggestions are universal, so read on for ideas to make your system work better for you!

Here are my suggestions:

  1. Grab a note book.  These types of projects generate a lot of other to-do items.
  2. Clean up your actual computer:
    1. Turn off and unplug (if possible) everything.
    2. Locate and wipe off your computer’s fan(s).  My IT guy says this very important step is often neglected, and skipping it can hamper computer performance.  Keep your computer area de-cluttered to maintain good airflow.
    3. Grab your can of compressed air, and blow out your keyboard.  It’s amazing (and disgusting) what lands in there.
    4. Since everything is turned OFF, with an ALMOST DRY antibacterial wipe, wipe down your keyboard and mouse. I said ALMOST DRY, so if you do this wrong and screw up your electronics, I have 100s of witnesses who read “ALMOST DRY” and who know I am not responsible.  Let everything dry completely.
    5. With a DRY and clean microfiber cloth, wipe off your screen.
    6. Since the compressed air is going to blow stuff around, use a slightly wetter wipe and wipe down your work area.  It’s typically a very germy place.
  3. I often get asked:  HOW DO I WIPE AN OLD COMPUTER SO I CAN RECYCLE IT?
    1. Every computer is different, so run a google search on “How do I remove the hard drive from xxxxxxxxxxx (brand and type of computer)”.  You will receive an instant answer involving a screwdriver and about 20 minutes of your time, and perhaps even links to you-tube videos to walk you through the process.
    2. Once the hard drive is removed, google E-Waste recycling in your area and get rid of the old computers, monitors and printers.  Many towns have permanent drop sites for such things as old computers and printers, TVs and almost anything else with a cord.
  4. Storage:  Back up, back up, back up.  External hard drive or cloud, take your pick.  This will be a blog for another day.  Just know you should be backing up your computer.
  5. Manage Your Hard Drive Better:
    1. Operating systems are getting cleverer with their search capabilities, but you can still save time by setting up your system better now to find things later.
    2. When you search for something, sort documents in your hard drive in reverse chronological order, all the time.  Click on the “Date modified” column on your Documents Library page until your most recently used documents are listed at the top.
    3. DO NOT just have one large folder with everything in it.  Just thinking about that idea makes me cringe.  A single cluttered directory makes finding anything very frustrating.
    4. Use Naming Conventions and subdirectories when you save your folders and documents.  For example, my business subdirectory contains a folder called “Presentations”.  Within that folder, I have subfolders for each type of presentation I give (so, Time Management, Kitchen and Menu Planning, Paper Management, etc.).  Within those folders, I have the actual presentation notes, but also the Handouts associated with the presentation, all starting with HO plus the presentation name, so I know which is which.  I use similar rules for naming other things, too, to quickly find files when I need them.
    5. My IT guy saves his documents first to large folders per Application.  For example, he has both a C:Excel and C:Word folder.  He suggests this strategy helps him find things faster.  Within those very broad “type” names, he then breaks down his files into categories.
    6. My saving method is categorical.  For example, I volunteer with Cub Scouts, Choir and Baptismal Prep Ministry.  Each of these important-to-me categories has its own sub-folder in my main drive, with a folder for each year or project, again to help me find my files quickly.

My clean-out-your-computer day activity may be deleting any documents more than 2 years old, or within category folders if those categories no longer pertinent (for example, “completed clients from 2012 and before”, etc.).  Clearing computer clutter will help you save time and focus more clearly.  What will your clean-out your-computer day activity look like?

“Cleanse Your Power Center”: I organized my office, not my chakras.

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work shelf photoI received an email last week entitled “Cleanse Your Power Center”.

I thought “Great idea!  My ‘power center’ sounds like my office, and it does need cleansing.”  Upon actually reading the article, I realized the writer had a more spiritual intention, and I was supposed to be cleansing my chakras.  I organized my office instead. My chakras will have to wait.  And for the record, I did the deep breathing recommended while reviewing papers!

A few years ago, I had a work space custom-built, including a flat work space, a shelf above my work space and closed cabinets above the shelf, and 3 drawers for supplies and things.  I also have a file cabinet, though after this weekend only ¾ of one drawer contains files.

So how to get started?  Set aside a few hours and focus on your space.  As with any project, focus your efforts on small spaces to start.  Attacking the office all at once can feel overwhelming!  And imagine if I tear apart my office and then have to stop organizing to go somewhere or do Work – I’m left with a torn-up mess and no place to work.

1.  Start with the Easy Stuff.  I removed a small table because it just collects stuff.  I took out the trash and recycling, emptied the shredder and took some old electronics to the car to be recycled this week.  Whew, better already!

2.  Organize Your Horizontal Work Space.  Your office will look better immediately!  I intentionally built a not-too-big work space.  I don’t store papers on it, and I am dedicated to putting stuff away at the end of every day.  The work space is  comfortable, well-lit, welcoming (to me), and typically clear.  This is actually the easiest place for me to start, requiring 5 minutes to clean out pens, clear off my bulletin board, and wipe everything down.  My Power Center is looking cleansed!

3.  Tackle Valuable and Visible Storage Space.  This is where you should store really important, active papers.  Perhaps this is on your desk top.  In my office, it’s the shelf above my desk.  The items on it are physical reminders of projects and responsibilities I need to tend to.  It is literally and figuratively Work hanging over my work space and head.  If it starts to look overcrowded, I start to feel stress!  So maintaining a clean and streamlined appearance on the shelf helps me feel positive and motivated about work!  In addition, this shelf is visible to everyone walking by, so it’s important that it looks nice.  This shelf, too, needed just a little work.  I cleared out my reading pile, re-labeled some items, and set aside a few binders that hold in-active materials.

4.  Tackle Valuable but Closed Storage Space next, like the cabinets above my desk. I cleared out old books (donate pile), obsolete organizing and tech products and manuals (recycle!), and Cub Scout resources that I can store in our scout storage room at our program location.  Clearing out just these three types of materials opened up space for the binders of in-active materials from the open shelf.

5. Drawers:  I took a quick glance through my drawers next, but they, too, are pretty tidy.  Mostly, I dumped some old marketing materials and more dead electronics, and cleared some space.   It’s easy to waste lots of energy organizing these little spaces, so don’t fall into that trap.  Spend just a little time on the desk drawers and supplies, then move on.

6. Files:  My last stop was my File Cabinet.  I am slowly moving towards a paperless      office, but I am not there yet!  And my challenge, just like everyone else, is finding the time for maintenance.  I file papers in my files, expecting to refer back to them some day.  But I rarely do go back to them, and there they sit.  I cleared out almost every paper that was more than 2 years old, and re-titled files to find important stuff more quickly.  I even went the extra step, grabbed my label maker and made all the tabs consistent and snazzy.

For a couple of hours of work, my “Power Center” is “cleansed”, my office runs more smoothly and feels better, and the ideas are flowing freely.  I feel better, and I’m pretty sure the “power center” article writer would approve.  What one or two ideas can you take from this article to work on your office this week? Let me know!

Boost Summer Productivity with Tech and Routines

my portable office

my portable office

My sons are home with me this week since school has ended for the summer and activities are just starting up.  And while I really like my family, they are quite fabulous, the schedule changes and having them home with me in my office threaten my professional and personal productivity.

The lure is strong, to ditch my computer and take everyone out to lunch, or go on an adventure, or curl up on the couch and watch movies with them.  Also, the interruptions increase, which is a small price to pay for being with my family, but again, those interruptions damage my focus and make simple tasks take way too long, or not get done at all.

So….. what is a working parent to do? A dear client last week suggested that I get a desk that folds out of my van, so I can work anywhere.  I like the image of folding out a desk, but I already can work from anywhere, thanks to cool technological tools.  Here are some of my ideas, maybe they will work for you, too!

  1. Know what is in your in-box.  I have been making a conscious decision to check my work email on my smart phone while I am leaving a client appointment or meeting, instead of waiting to get home.  This may seem like another distraction, but I actually find it beneficial to my focus, deleting unneeded messages right away and spending some of my commute time mentally preparing for the work waiting for me when I get home.
  2. Make your office portable.  I take my IPad everywhere.  I can write up client notes and send them right away, instead of having to wait to get home to compose, edit and send the notes. I also added duplicate apps to my IPhone and IPad, like WordPress for managing my blog, Paypal for invoicing clients, and Evernote for sharing documents among all my devices.  We traveled this past weekend and I took just the IPad instead of my laptop.  I had everything I needed for work and for fun (downloaded movies and my Kindle App) right at my fingertips.
  3. Make it easy to manage and receive your money.  I have been using Paypal a lot lately for my client billing, which shortens the wait between completing client hours and payment – awesome!
  4. Go Paperless.  I cancelled my PO box in May, which may seem trivial to you, but for me it is huge!  I’ve had that PO box since I started my business!  However, steadily over the last 12 months, I have moved my correspondence to strictly on-line so that I could let go of the PO box, with its added expense and maintenance.  In addition, I receive some monthly publications on my IPad now, instead of in print.  My office is not yet Paperless, a goal for 2013, but I am one step closer.
  5. Share the calendar.  I am slowly warming up to the idea of sharing our family calendar online, through google calendars or a similar platform.  I figure summer is the time to decide, before the school schedules start up again in August.

Routines:

  1. Get up early.  I am still getting up before 6 am.  I heard a quote recently, something about how you never hear about the hero of the story sleeping in and taking it easy!  So, I get up and enjoy a very productive 60-90 minutes before my boys get up.
  2. Shave your head (or not!!).  I shaved my head back in March for a fundraiser, and it has taught me a lot (a blog for another day).  It seems extreme, I know, and I am NOT recommending that anyone should shave their head just to save time in the morning, but it is remarkable how much time this change has opened up!  Are there parts of your daily routines that you can streamline for summer?
  3. Maintain your focus.  I am so grateful for my accountability partner, especially right now.  Most summers, I struggle to get even the basics done some day.  With the focus that comes from accountability, I feel I am still moving forward on professional goals despite the summer urge to slack!.

So, what will you try this week to streamline your work and increase your productivity this summer?  Give one of these ideas a try, or share one of your own, I would love to hear it!

Productivity Where Ever You Work

Over the weekend, I found myself out of the house and half an hour early for an event.  Luckily, there was a nearby coffee house with wi-fi, nice music and a quiet place for writing, so I got some work done.  Which proves:

a. you should always check the time on your invitations; but more importantly for today,

b. we can work from anywhere these days.  Let’s call any hours worked outside of a traditional office setting “working virtually”.

Having the capacity to work from anywhere presents challenges.  How to focus on work amid the distractions of home, family, the people at Starbuck’s or in someone else’s home?   What should the workday look like in an un-traditional setting?  Working from everywhere, all the time?  Productivity is the same, no matter where we work.  We want to be able to get down to business, accomplish today’s necessary tasks, do them well and confidently, then move on to something else.

Regardless of where we work, we can reap benefits from structure and routines, just like a traditional work environment.  Keep these ideas in mind:

  • Regardless of where you work, clearly begin your day.  Shower and get dressed, check in with your co-workers or community, grab a cup a coffee, turn on the music that helps you work, check your email.  Set a timer for 15 minutes of transition time, then get to work.
  • Take a lunch and take breaks (but not too many!).  I read a suggestion recently of “Work For 50 minutes, break for 10”.  This works well for me, and helps me take advantage of working from home to take care of home tasks like laundry.
  • Give yourself many opportunities during the day for a Re-Set.  I read an article from the blog the Daily Om that suggested an “Inner Sunrise”.  The idea was that any time during your day is a good time to re-focus energy to what we are supposed to be doing.  This keeps us from working hard all day, but having nothing to show for it at the end!  I try to do this every few hours.
  • No one  needs to know that you are working virtually, or that your conference call requires a hard stop by 3 so you can pick up your kids.  In all likelihood, the others on the call are working virtually, too.

We are on the move, right?  So create a work environment that travels, too.

  • Bring along the laptop or IPad, and Communications and Information (IPhone, in      my case).
  • This could also be a phone and Your reliable planner with your schedule and      contacts, as a decision making tool
  • Also, use the same naming conventions for your paper management system and your computer hard drive.  For example, “Client – last name, first initial and date of appointment” is the same title I would use to name a file on my laptop, in my paper files and in Evernote.
  • Make your work, planner and information portable and consistent.  I do this by synchronizing all my devices all the time, at least a couple of times a day.

Increase focus by cutting mental clutter. This also heads off the tendency to procrastinate!

  • Choose your three top tasks for the day, and keep them in mind throughout your work sessions.
  • When  you start your work, you can either prime the motivation pump with a few easy and quick tasks, or tackle that big icky one first.
  • Know your self and your prime work hours.  I respond to email at 5:30 am, and get a lot of my writing done before 7 am.  I was a night owl until I had kids, now I love to work in the quiet early morning.
  • Avoid interruptions.  Turn off the phone, or be selective about what you answer. Not everyone understands the idea of “working from home”.  Set boundaries.  I don’t respond to work emails on weekends, unless pre-arranged.

Where do you do your work?  And how can we make it work better?  To quote a productivity article I recently read, “More than ever, work isn’t where you go, it’s what you do.” (Rob Keenan, head of UK portfolio management and deployment readiness management at Siemens Enterprise Communications)  So, Go Do It!

Workflow: “Initiation to Completion”

     Last week, I offered suggestions for cleaning off and setting up your workspace for National Clean Off Your Desk Day.  The next logical step is to look at your workflow, and make it work better for you.  Wikipedia defines “Workflow” as “The sequence of industrial, administrative, or other processes through which a piece of work passes from initiation to completion.”

      “Workflow” sounds rather business-y, but refers to anything any of us need to complete, professional, personal or other.  The term “workflow” suggests water to me.  Sometimes water pools and sometimes it moves along, just like work.  Water is necessary to survival, plentiful and refreshing, but can also overflow and escape.  Just like work.  Our work needs to flow into our life, through our processes, reaching completion and leaving our workspace.  The whole point of workflow is movement and action. Here are 4 tips to keep your work flowing!

  1. National Clean off Your Desk Day reminded us that a clean desk can enhance workflow. 
    • Your workspace is sacred, only today’s active work should be there.
    • To decrease interruptions, keep your work and necessary resources to do complete it close at hand.  If you repeatedly have to get up to retrieve a resource, move it closer. 
    • Get non-work stuff out of your workflow, with recycling / shredding / trash close at hand.
  2. Consider your work, and know the path your work should take, from start to finish. 
    • Large companies industries define workflows for different types of jobs, like “idea for article / writer / editor / production”.    
    • Molly’s Example:  I set up a work space for a new bookkeeper last week for a client.  The first thing we did was discuss Molly’s responsibilities and workflow.  Her workflow demands efficient use of her office time, since she’ll be there only a few hours a week.  It includes, in order, reviewing all mail and sorting it into three piles, per the three different business entities she will manage.  From there, the bookkeeping process is the same, regardless of which entity she is working on.  Open mail; sort into Payables, Receivables, Other work, Paper to go to someone else, shred, recycle, etc; do actual bookkeeping; write checks; send those to the manager for clearance and signatures; then mail payments and file the rest.  Done!
    • Kate’s example:  Another client needed to pay her January bills.  First she needed to balance her check book, though, and before she could do that, she needed a print-out from her bank.  For her, the workflow was: call the bank; pick up the printout; balance the check book; pay the bills; and mail the bills.  Until she really thought about the process, she couldn’t see the logical steps to take.
  3. Eliminate or delegate what you can. 
    • What is waiting for someone else’s input?  Send that work on its’ way right away, so that other person can get on with their work, too. 
    • What work can flow to someone else, or be deleted from the stream all together? 
    • Eliminate repetitive and redundant steps.  Years ago, I paid our personal bills and then my husband the CPA would take all the information and enter it into Quicken.  He now does it all, cutting the work in half (and he is really good at it!). 
    • Most definitions of workflow look at processes, not actual work items, but let’s face it – paper and work are usually synonymous.  In my paper management classes, my first suggestion is to get rid of as much new paper as possible.  Cancel catalogs, take your name off of mailing lists, receive bank statements, subscriptions and newsletters electronically or via email.
  4. The definition ends with “Completion.”.  Roll that word around your brain and really think about what it means.  Completion (satisfied sigh).  The work is done.  Now stand up, put away what needs put away, and for a moment, appreciate that feeling of satisfaction that comes from Completion.  Then get back to work!

Six Essential Steps to An Organized Desk

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Spend an hour on your desk for National Clean off your Desk Day!   

     Focus on visual results, and save acting on ideas for another day. Corral your papers into meaningful places, so you can see what you have and start getting things done.

     Most folks are capable of sorting and piling papers into categories of their own choosing. But mid-sort, they find they need to reclaim their work space, and the papers get piled together again and set aside, instead of finding a new home. So the desk stays a mess, and they never feel “done”.

     Another challenge with papers is that they typically represent something else, like a memory, an event, a task to complete or an idea we want to keep. Acknowledging that, you need a physical storage system for your papers and ideas, and the motivation and perseverance to finish and maintain your system.  Here is what you need to do: 

    1. Remove non work related items from your desk (see last year’s blog for a list).
    2. Set up a physical system for Passive Papers (Idea from Freedom Filer, and tweaked for my clients!).
      1. Passive Papers have been acted upon, and now wait for a pre-determined time until they are no longer needed for reference (e.g., receipts, paid bills, balanced bank statements, etc.).
      2. The storage system consists of 24 hanging folders in an open top vertical holder on your desktop
        (preferred) or a very near desk drawer.  Label the folders 2 for each month, with a  “- Even Year” or  “- Odd Year” tacked on the end.  You will end up with two full years of folders, one set for last year (2011, ending in “- Odd Year”), and one for this year (“ –  Even Year”).  The Odd Year folders will hold last year’s papers from your desktop, and the Even Year folders are for adding to during 2012.  Few papers need to be kept longer than one calendar year. 
    3. Set up a physical system for Active Papers, also in an open vertical folder holder on your desk top, with folder names based on What Actions To Take or By Project, or sometimes, both!  For Example:
      1. What Actions To Take:  Receipts for Reimbursement; Calls to Make; Bills to Pay; Forms to complete and return; or Coupons, gift cards and shopping ideas.
      2. By Project (examples from my desk):  Past clients to check in with; Proposal for Home Office and Productivity Class Series; LLC Research and Paperwork; Event Folder, May Communion Party.
      3. Strategic Management, product development ideas
    4. Set up a box for Archival Papers / Treasures.  Archival Papers are long-term record keeping papers, like home purchase papers, filed taxes, appliance manuals and warranties, wills, etc.  Treasures are school project, travel papers, received greeting cards, photos, etc.  These are all projects for another day, get them off your desk.
    5. Grab two bags, one each for papers to shred later and recycling, and start distributing your desk papers to their new homes.  Grab a notebook and jot ideas down as they occur to you, do not get distracted and lose focus.
    6. Now, Get Up and Put Your Stuff Away.  You have distributed your papers to your new folders, but you may have other items that need to go elsewhere in your home or office.  Get up and Put Them Away in their final homes.  Even if this 10 minutes is in the middle of your project, Get Up and Put them away.  Then bask in the glow of your clean desk top, and keep going.  A fellow organizer calls this the Stand And Deliver step, but I can’t find out who that was, and I would happily give her credit.  The point is…. Embrace “Done”!  And feel good about your efforts!

Next Week I will offer some insight on work-flow and productivity, to get things done now that your desk is looking better!

High-tech Your Papers

      Technology exists to make our lives simpler.  Review your current practices,  and ask yourself: Is there something you can do to simplify your paper management?  Use technology or tools to make things better!

     What we are really talking about when we discuss Paper Management is Information Management.   It does not matter how the information came to you, via paper or electronically via your computer.  There are rules that can help.  Here are a few suggestions for Information Management.

1.  Papers often represent tasks to be completed, so carve out time to get things done.

  • Sorting papers into actions only takes things so far.  You also need to act!  I use Taking Care of Business Tuesdays to get my work done (click here to read my blog on TCB Tuesdays!).   Tuesday mornings are dedicated to working my organizing business, and the business of running my family.  Bill paying, data entry into my planner, follow-up phone calls, maintenance, etc.
  • There is no magic in TCB Tuesday, you can pick any day of the week you want.  Just set aside time to complete your action items.   
  • If you can’t set aside time regularly to get things done, try creating a physical in-box to collect your papers.  It can’t be too big or expand too far!  Once the in-box is full, you have to commit some time to Take Care of Business!  The in-box can be a box, a hanging vertical folder, an attractive magazine holder, etc. 

2.  Choose the Right Name for Your Files:

  • Regardless of what type of information you have, be it Paper or electronic, you still need to file data by date or category, to be able to retrieve the information again.
  • Use Naming conventions to name your folders, either paper or electronics.   “2011 September Income and Banking” or “2011 September Paid Bill Receipts”.  
  • Standardize your naming, then your paper systems and your computer drives will work together.   

3.  Knowing what to keep and what to toss is still important.  If you don’t expect to retrieve information, you don’t need to keep it.   Unimportant, unnecessary information is still clutter, whether it is in paper form or memory space. 

4.  Start with current information, and create the habit of regular saving, maintenance and scanning (more on this in a moment!).  Once you are keeping up with new and current information, then start with older papers.  Do not start with old and neglect the new. 

Technology Solutions to Paper Management

  1. Create Less Paper:
    • Request information in electronic form.  From your bank, your professional organizations, your children’s schools.  Anything we can receive in electronic form saves trees and keeps those papers from piling up. 
    • Automate your banking and bill paying, on-line through your bank.
    • “Print” electronic receipts and emails to PDF form instead of on papers.   A PDF is like a photograph of your information.  You can’t manipulate the info, like you could in a Word document, but you can save the information.   We “print” our e-information, then save it to a folder on our computer, using those naming conventions.
    • If you don’t have a PDF writer on your computer already, Google PDF programs.  Three to look at are Primo PDF (free) , Cute PDF Pro (cheap) and Adobe Acrobat (not cheap).  
  2. Manage the Paper and Information You Have:
    • The Fujitsu ScanSnap scans all papers, even double-sided ones, into your computer to let you keep the information while getting rid of the papers.  A great idea!
  3. Above all things, if you choose to scan or electrify your papers, you must have reliable back-up for your data.  Make backing up your data a habit, or subscribe to a service that does if for you.
  4. Suggestions from my techies are external hard drives; NAS (network attached storage); Amazon S3; and Carbonite, with the services more highly recommended for safety.  The services cost money, but will manage technology updates on their own.

So, my challenge to you this week is to use the technology available to clear those papers and get on to more important things! 

On a personal note, I wrote this blog while out-of-town for the holiday, picking the brains of my two favorite techies over lunch.  Guess I was using my technology to get things done, too!  Thanks this week go to my husband and my brother-in-law, for technology advice!  You two rock!

No, Really, Balancing Work and Life

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A reader requested information on organizing time and space as we work from home.  I’ve written this response over two days, between baseball games and dinners with friends, mulch and laundry, so SZ, you are not alone in this struggle!   

The Act of Balancing
I hear the term “Work-Life Balance”, and it puzzles me.  “Balance” is a tenuous and fleeting moment as a thing tips one way to the other.  “Balancing”, on the other hand, is active.  It is the movement of a thing back and forth between two sides, and seems a more attainable goal.  Judge the big picture and determine how your day or week went, instead of momentary balance.  Here are ways to make Balancing simpler:

Know your self and your family.
I am not very useful after 8 pm, as my brain is tired.  However, as crazy as it sounds, I find inspiration at 6 am (and my house is quiet!).  Early mornings rock!   That is how my body and brain work, and I have learned to embrace it.

 S.Z., you asked “Do I work now or run to Target?”  The answer is “Both, just not right now”.  In my case: 

  1. I can go to Target….
    1. Alone right now, while my kids are in school;
    2. With them after school; or  
    3. Alone after school, if my oldest child or hubby are home. 
  2. I can Work….
    1. Now, while I am alone in my quiet house. 
  3. Once everyone is home, it is much more difficult to focus or make calls uninterrupted.  Personally, I protect early morning, school time or nap time for work, and leave the errands and house tasks for family time.  Work now, errands later.
  4. Work is an “external motivator” (I’ll write more on this topic some day!).  An external influence (employer, publisher) requires accountability from you, to get your work done.  The laundry doesn’t require accountability, at least most days, and it also does not pay well!  So sometimes work wins. 

Focus & ReFocus:
Make a list of 3 things that absolutely have to get done today, regardless of whether they are work related or personal.  Do these three things first, in case your day does not go as planned.  

Re-assess at 2 pm.  I don’t know about you, but mid-afternoon, my concentration and energy fade.  It is a good time to take a breath, take a break and look at my list for the day.   I check my 3 important items and make sure they are done or in progress.  If they are not, I re-focus on getting them done, so I don’t lose my day to distractions.

I use timers.  All the time.  I’ll dial in 20 minutes and focus just on clearing my in-box, then move on.  I use one while I do home tasks, too, setting it for every 30 minutes or so as a reminder to re-focus and move on, if I have gotten off-track. 

Ditch perfectionism, and accept that you may not start and finish a big project in one day.   For those of you, like me, who work in 2 or 3 hours blocks, here is an example:  Day 1: Plan and start your project; Day 2-3: Write or work on it in blocks, for 2 or 3 days; Day 4: Edit; Day 5: Publish or complete.  Again, this buys you time if things don’t go as planned.

Open for Business:
Make a Clean Break between work and family life.  I have a friend who leaves the house every morning at 8, buys a coffee and comes back home through a different door to help with the transition to his work day.

A successful start today relies heavily on how you ended yesterday.  At the end of each work session, leave yourself notes or a task list for tomorrow.   Here is a recent blog on this very topic, The Last 10 Minutes.  

Dedicate your first 10 minutes to routine tasks,  to set the stage for getting things done.  A friend suggests starting the day with a couple of short and easy tasks, to ease into the work day.   Having a routine for your work time is invaluable, too.  I have lots of ideas for my business, so many in fact that sometimes it is difficult to concentrate on just one.  Starting with mundane tasks like a quick email check, Facebook post, and update of my work hour spreadsheet helps me settle into my rhythm and transition into a more complicated task.

Other blogs on Time Management:  168 Hours A Week, 1440 Minutes a Day  and Taking Care of Business Tuesdays

A few words about Space:
I love my office space when I am home alone.  however, my lovely work space is in our family room, and once everyone is home, I feel a little crowded.  I love my family, but my focus disappears as my family appears.  

We need to choose our work spaces wisely.  I work best with lots of light and a pretty work space.  We have space in the basement or in my bedroom, but I don’t want to work underground or where I sleep.  I recently lobbied for desk space for me and my laptop on my hubby’s desk in the quiet living room, away from the TV, door, etc.   He said yes because he is a kind and generous person, and even cleaned it up for me.  And if I still have too much background noise from my people, earphones and my IPod are very handy (SRC, thanks for the reminder.  I’ve got Tracy Chapman on right now!)

We’re part of a global community of workers, providing each other with inspiration and ideas – Please share your comments regarding the Work/Life Balancing Act.  Meet you in the break room later!

National Small Business Week: Your Efforts Deserve Respect

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Did you know?  This week is National Small Business Week.

Don’t let the title of “Small” Business denote lack of power or importance, or small successes.  These days, there are more people employed in small businesses than there are in big businesses.

I started my business 8 years ago, working from my home office and from client’s homes and offices, too.  I was ahead of the curve though, because what I have been doing for a long time is becoming commonplace for more and more workers.  Big offices are downsizing, and many people are moving their professional lives to home offices.

The growth in the trend of working-from-home should make doing so more socially acceptable, but sometimes I still struggle with finding the right answer to some tough questions. 

I am a Certified Professional Organizer, a writer, an entrepreneur, an independent contractor.  I am lots of big and great things, but I am also occasionally working from my dining room table.  However, no one needs to know that little detail.

I am not, by any means, suggesting dishonest communications.  What I am suggesting is that the work that you do warrants respect, no matter where you choose to do it, or if you happen to blend aspects of your life, like I do.   

Realize that advertising can help you.  Spin your phrases in new and different ways.  Let me walk you through some of the vocabulary that has helped me along the way.  

“I have a non-traditional work week” explains how I answer emails and write blogs at 6 am, run errands during the week, teach classes in the evenings and see clients on the weekends.  And I often break for field trips or to toss laundry in the dryer.  

“I am not sure if my technology can support xxxx.  I’ll ask the IT department when they get in at 4 pm, and give you the answer tomorrow”.  What this means is that I have to ask my tech consultant (my patient spouse) technological questions.  He is much better at answering them than I am.  And I really will follow-up tomorrow.

“I need a hard stop on this meeting at 2 pm” (per MM) may mean I have a client coaching call at 2:15, or it may mean that I have to be at school by 2:45 to drive the Beginning Band carpool.

“I am working remotely today” may mean I need a change of scenery and I am working from Starbucks.  “Working virtually” is similar to working remotely, but it likely means I am working from home via the internet.  (thanks MM!) 

“I am available after 9 am” either means I have an early morning networking meeting or I drop off my sons at school at 8:30, and won’t be back home until 9.  

“I spent yesterday laying groundwork / creating infrastructure” is what a friend and client refers to as “Sitting on the Couch” (thanks D).  Perhaps you spent your time connecting with clients, building relationships, creating tracking spreadsheets or thinking through your processes.  It just happened to occur from the comfort of your couch.  

“Let me run that past the finance / accounting department, and I will follow-up with you tomorrow”.  Again, my ever patient accountant husband.

“Let me run that past the Board / Focus Group”  means I need to ask a question of my trusted circle of network partners and friends, or perhaps post a question to my Facebook community.  They all rock!

For the record, I don’t use my dad’s idea of “Planning Sessions” (a.k.a. A Nap after he got off shift at the Firehouse).  Though my own Strategic Planning Sessions often occur during my solitary inter-state travels. 

I occasionally have “interns” (my sons) help me with projects, and I tried to call a trip to our favorite local breakfast spot for Chocolate Chip pancakes a “Holiday Office Party”.  My accounting department is known for attention to rules and details, though, so that did not fly…

So, no matter what you call them, or where you complete them, your work and efforts are impressive and deserve respectable titles.  So far today, I attended an on-line Continuing Education Class, confirmed my clients for this week, completed client correspondence, logged my weekly hours in my tracking spreadsheet; wrote my blog and newsletter, and checked-in with my on-line community.  Now I need to get “some work done remotely” (a.k.a. go to the post office, bank and Target).