I can’t live without my GPS. I probably am a little too attached to it (sometimes I talk to it…ok, more than sometimes), but when you can’t read a paper map to save your life, you need another option. I turn it on even when I know where I’m going…just in case the sky starts falling and I need to take a detour. You never what might happen when you’re traveling the on the beltway.
Silly? Crazy? Too dependent? Maybe…but that’s ok. I’ve found a way to (mostly) avoid getting lost. I still have nightmares about the time I spent two hours trying to find a client in DC. Besides doing what it’s supposed to do, I’ve learned from using my GPS that I’m a combination of a visual and auditory learner.
I used to think that I was primarily visual…you know, if-it’s-not-out-and-seen-I’ll-forget-about-it type of person. I am that person, but I absorb and retain more info if I see and hear it. So, when I’m using the GPS, I have to hear the voice directions and look at the map to make sure I get to where I’m going. I’ve tried putting the GPS on mute, but that doesn’t work for me. Interestingly enough, my husband’s the opposite. He never turns on the voice…just looks at the map.
How do you use your GPS? Is it the same way you “use” your office? Is there stuff everywhere? Do you leave things out or pile up your papers so you won’t forget to do something with them? Or, when you’re working, do you prefer to reply to e-mails with a phone call? Get all your info from audiobooks instead of book books?
When you put your finger on how you process info and take information in, this may sound like simple discovery …but, it’s actually simple and grand all at the same time. That’s because once you figure this out, you can find solutions – not just any solutions – but the right ones that work for your personality and help you create and maintain order in your life.
So, if you’re visual, don’t fight it and instead of trying to deal with a sea of papers or putting your files in a closed cabinet, try an open file cart. You’ll get your visual cues from the labeled tabs. Yes, you’ll still have to do filing but you can jog your memory without making a mess. A desktop file holder can help, too.
If you’re more keen on listening, make those phone calls, but keep ‘em short. Keep up with your podcasts, maybe throw in a webinar or two, and use your voice recorder for reminders. Oh, and listen to your GPS.
“Employees’ stress levels are skyrocketing. In a new survey by CareerBuilder, 51 percent of workers say their workloads have increased over the last six months; 27 percent haven’t taken a personal or sick day in the past few years; and 26 percent have experienced health issues tied to job stress.”
Read More:
Survey Says: Americans Are Literally in Love with Their Smartphones | AOL.com | 1.19.11
Practically everyone has written a book these days, right? Well, maybe not everyone, but if you’re interested in putting your words in an orderly published package, today’s guest blogger, Anita Paul, has a bit of advice for you.
Everyone has a book in them. You probably know dozens of people who have said for years that they would write a book, but still haven’t. You might even be one of those people. One of the greatest challenges that prevents many aspiring authors from writing and publishing their book is being unorganized.
For an author, being organized is about being efficient, sticking to a schedule, and making progress.Being unorganized often leads to procrastination. And procrastination leads to a dead end. Consider these inevitable results of being an unorganized aspiring author:
• Lack of confidence
• No clear goals for your book project
• Continual procrastination
• Unprepared for opportunities
• Feelings of failure
• Regret
• Defeat
Like many first-time authors, you probably have notebooks filled with content, sticky notes scattered here and there, and slips of paper onto which you have written random ideas to include in your book. But none of it has any rhyme or reason. Your job as an author is to comb through the content to find the nuggets that will make yours a book worth reading. Not only can the physical scatter be a problem, but so can the scatter in your mind.
You’ve heard the term “scatterbrain,” referring to one who has no clear thought pattern, poor memory, is disoriented, flighty, ineffective, or a simpleton. This is not the picture of a successful author. If you have the desire to write your life, tell a compelling story, or share your knowledge with others in a book, being organized is step one in making your dream of being an author a reality.
How can you turn the scatter of your mind — and that of the notes you have collected over the years — into a quality book that others will want to read? Here are a few tips to get organized to be published:
1. Make a decision that you will finish your book.
2. Set a deadline for when you anticipate finishing the book. This will feel uncomfortable, but you must set a deadline and commit to it.
3. Set goal markers to indicate that you plan to finish a certain chapter or complete a certain number of pages by a specified date.
4. Define your book. What do you want to write about? What is the purpose of your book?
5. Gather your notes and keep them in one place for easy access.
6. Outline your key points and the important takeaways for each.
7. Set goals. How many hours, words or pages will you write each day? Yes, each day. Consistency breeds success.
8. Develop a routine. Try to write at the same time, in the same place each day. Discuss your book project, goals and schedule with your family and/or roommates. Insist that they respect your writing time.
About the Author
Anita Paul owns The Write Image. She is a journaling expert, an author’s coach, a freelance writer and the author of three books. She coaches professionals in Corporate America and successful entrepreneurs to become published authors through her Write Your Life program. For aspiring authors, Anita provides strategies for writing and publishing a book and utilizing it to establish their expertise. Her insight into the process of writing and storytelling invigorates clients and audiences, and inspires them to find the hidden writer within to make their dream of becoming an author a reality.
Connect With Anita: Web | Blog | Facebook | Twitter | LinkedIn| E-Mail
When things are simple, life is just easier. Simple steps = quicker execution which means better time management. Like when you have to write something down and then head off on a 15 minute scavenger hunt looking for a pen…and oh, yeah, paper, too.
Save yourself a few minutes – and the aggravation – and just use your voice and the handy dandy Voice Memos iPhone app. You’re likely to always have your phone with you, so no need to go searching…unless you have to dig through your purse to find it. We’ll talk about that later.
Anyhoo, with this app, you can record a note or reminder and even send it to yourself via e-mail. I use Voice Memos to record interesting stories I hear on the radio (for future blog posts) when I’m in the car…while I’m at a stop light, of course.
If I can’t record a story in real time, then I wait until I can record a reminder with the name of the program and topic. The app automatically adds a date and time stamp. Love that. I also love that it is a standard feature on the iPhone.
See, I told you it was simple. How do you use this app?
When warmer weather rolls around, many of us decide it’s time to pull out stove and clear out any gunk that’s back there. That goes for the washer/dryer and the fridge, too. It is, afterall, the cleaning time of Spring, yes? Well, almost. ;)
While you’re covered in gloves up to your elbows with a bottle of your favorite eco-friendly cleaning spray, don’t neglect the inside of your appliances, especially your fridge…especially if you’ve got left overs. You might not think about this too often, but some foods just don’t stay fresh for very long in the ice box. Like my personal fave, sushi. Shelf life in the fridge = 1 lousy day according to StillTasty.com.
“CDC estimates that each year roughly 1 out of 6 Americans (or 48 million people) get sick, 128,000 are hospitalized, and 3,000 die of foodborne diseases.” ~CDC 2011 Estimates
StillTasty.com will let you type in any food or beverage or search categories to figure out how long they will last. You can also ask questions, like: “Should you eat chicken that’s been frozen for two years?” and “Is it Safe to Eat a Burger That’s Still Pink Inside?“ and “Can You Safely Reuse Marinade?“
You wouldn’t be surprised to hear that there’s also an iPhone app, would you? So, put away your gloves, open up the fridge, and check out the app. It will send you alerts when food expires and when it’s time to replenish your supplies, it lets you add it to a shopping list.
Many thanks to the ClutterDiet member who told us about this very helpful website. J
It’s President’s Day here in the US, even though some of us still have to work (including me). In honor of Abe, Washington, and the 42 other men who’ve held the top position, we present a Monday morning article round-up of some very interesting articles. There’s something for everyone in today’s round up, from managing finances to refrigerators that tweet. Enjoy!
• 4 Steps to Absorb the Cost of an at-Home Lifestyle. If you spend a lot of time at home, you might notice increases in certain areas, like your utility bills. But, there are a few things you can do to keep things in check.
• Paper: File this story under ‘Getting Organized‘. Are we really living a paperless lifestyle? Or, is the paper still piling up instead of being filed away?
• CES: Who Really Needs a Fridge That Can Tweet? It’s great to have a gadget or tool that can perform multiple functions, but should you expect your fridge to make nice with Twitter?
• Yes, You CAN Check Your Email in the Morning! Some productivity experts say that checking your e-mail first thing in the morning is a no-no. Lorie Marrero at Clutter Diet disagrees.
• 9 important financial moves all couples should make. Have you and your fiancée/partner had “the talk” yet? You know, the one where you decide how you’ll handle money and who will pay what? Plan now so there are no surprises later.
“The best measure of productivity is probably output per hour, not output per person. By that measure, our own Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that the United States trails at least two other countries, Norway and Ireland.”
Read More:
Even More Productive Than Americans | NYTims.com | 1.26.11
So tell me, now that it’s February, how are all of those New Year’s resolutions going? You know, the vows you made to declutter and get organized this year? My husband and I hit the ground running New Year’s weekend and let me just say, it’s been riveting!
It’s not that we are hoarders or disorganized people in general, but until we moved into our current house, we had relocated several times. As a result, there were a large number of boxes that just never got unpacked, and just kept moving with us from home to home. And since we are fortunate to have more than ample storage in our house, tackling what I like to call the “black hole” never was much of an issue. We’ve still got a long way to go, but I am confident THIS IS THE YEAR!
One item that was contained in many of our boxes, was an (over) abundance of books. My husband’s plan was to build a huge bookshelf to house these on. This would have been a fine idea, but as we were going through these boxes and I saw with my own eyes how many books were actually there, (mostly his) I was like, “SERIOULSY???? “When in your lifetime are you ever going to read all of these books, and more importantly, why? I get why you’d want to keep some, but in the interest of being reasonable, let’s be selective here.” He ultimately agreed that I had a point (of course, he did!) and this brings me to my latest “jem.” Oh, you’ve missed the jems, haven’t you?
I was recently told about a site called Cash 4 Books. Here’s the 411 on that. You go to the site and enter the books you have, by their ISBN number. The title of the book comes up, and it tells you if they are currently buying that book, or not. If they are, it goes into your cart. You can add as many books as you like. At the end, you checkout, and print out a mailing label. You package the books up, and take them to be shipped. Cash 4 Books pays for the shipping, and then sends you a check for the books. Win – Win!!!
Other than a little time, it costs you NOTHING! Now realistically speaking, depending on what books you have, they do not buy everything, and when they do, it may not be much money. But a few bucks here and there adds up, and could be worth it because it again, costs you NOTHING! You have already sorted through them and decided to part with them, so the leftover books that are not bought by them, can be donated to libraries, charities, etc.
Worth a shot? Here’s one example I just had to share. I recently told my sister in law about this site. The next week she was over my house and told me she had gotten rid of a bunch of books on my recommendation, some textbooks she had, and a few others as well. She made well over 100 bucks, which she in turn used to buy a NOOK. How’s that for a double score???? Talk about a WIN! Not only did she get the books out of her house, she bought a device that allows her to never have to have them enter her home again! Ahh, technology today! If I had more time to actually read, I would totally invest in one of those bad boys.
Now, go clean out your book shelves! You know you are never going to read that Philosophy text book again ~ be honest, you didn’t even read it when you took the class that required you buy it in the first place!!!
Recently, I had the pleasure of being unable to access my e-mail using the web interface. It was an odd experience, and by odd, I mean frustrating. But, none the less, I attempted to troubleshoot it myself. I gave it the old college try (who came up with that saying??) And, I failed. It’s not often when that happens, ;) but when it does, I call for back up.
Enter <cue loud booming voice> IT Guy.
He asked me a series of questions, the last one being, “I’d like permission to access your computer. Is that ok?” How could I say no?
Act I ~ Join.me
IT Guy tells me to go to Join.me so that I can share my PC with him. I click on “share,” download the software, and then hand over to him the viewer code that pops up. He enters it in the “join” section, jumps on to my PC, tools around the back end for a few minutes, sings a song, does a little dance, and fixes my problem.
Yay! All was right in my tech world again. Oh, did I mention that Join.me is free? There is a paid pro version ($29/month) and you can use it to connect severals PC’s at once to collaborate, meet, discuss, etc.
Act II ~ TeamViewer.com
So, my tech ship was righted but soon started taking on water again for some unknown and strange reason. Of course, I rang the famous IT Guy and expected the same drill…except this time, he tells me to go to TeamViewer.com and click “Join a Session” (a little hard to see but look for the little green arrow on the left side of the page).
Again, I download the software, TeamViewer sends me an ID and a password which I give to IT Guy. He jumps on PC, does his song and dance with some chit chat in between, and voilà! I stop taking on water and the tech ship is afloat again. Btw, there is no fee for personal use and you can buy a license.
Act III ~ Tech-Love ♥
So, now I’m in tech-love with IT Guy. Shhh…don’t tell anyone…our little secret. He fixed the problem and was super nice. What’s not to love?
If you want to make nice with my IT guy, go for it. I won’t mind. ;) Ask for Kirk at Frogworks. Many thanks to the team at Frogworks for always coming through for us!
This is something you’ve heard before: You CAN’T do it all. Really, you can’t. You can try, but it won’t work. If you say yes to everything, how can you possibly give everything your best? So, be careful what projects you decide to take on.
A few things to consider:
1. How much time you’ll need to devote to the project.
2. How much you’ll love/hate participating.
3. How much help you will have.
4. How much you’ll scream/not scream at the people you’ll be working with.
5. How much the new project will impact your primary duties.
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