Organizing

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self management more….

Before I show you my portfolio of really good web tools that are sure to help you to operate remotely, I need to bring to your attention one more issue related to self management and especially to do with maintaining your focus and levels of concentration

I’ve discovered and established a common habit in friends who work on the web and I’ve known for a substantial period and I call this habit the 50 min rule. I uncovered these people who apply themselves and work for fifty mins. and then take a complete 10 minute break and are much more effective and generate a much higher quality of work than acquaintances who don’t have set working methods.

OK as promised for your consideration is my list of preferred remote working online services:

E-Mail

Google Mail is free. In my experience the search and label (categories) mechanisms are superior to anything I have previously seen. The only disadvantage so far is that I have seen it run quite slowly on lower spec.computers

Phone calls

Skype continually perplexed me as the connection quality and reliability was unacceptable, but hats off for the coders at Skype now as they have substantially changed the quality of the service. For meagre amount of money a month Skype lets me call and conference in any handset and Skype user in the world. The latest edition of Skype has a wealth of excellent features and there is an ever growing list of practical add on applications.

Organising Content

Evernote has connected in excess of a million users in a very short space of time – it enables you to store, organise and annotate any species of digital content up on the Internet. Just go check it out…it’s free.

Invoicing, Time and Expenses capture, Accounting and CRM

You definitely know that my dream to work remotely was originally motivated by Quickbooks Online, a small business accounting software web application. But it is easily beaten hands down by the free edition of salesorder.com – a lead to cash system that’s as easy to use as a fork I looked at NetSuite whose pricing (and people) scared me off. My choice here is salesorder.com – Go check it out.

Quickbooks online

The top reason people fail to succeed at working remotely is they don’t recognise the criticality of having good organisation and robust self discipline.

I have been operating remotely for almost a decade since I first unearthed Quickbooks online an ‘on demand’ small business accounting software online system and was struck by the fact that if you can perform accounting on the net then why shouldn’t it be feasible to do other key types of of work at a distance?

Whilst working remotely has many benefits there are numerous mistakes that people make which evolve into issues that result in reduced productivity and reduced morale. The major reason for low productivity in remote professionals is distraction and it is a proven and well publicised fact that it can take a worker up to 20 mins to establish their original productivity level after experiencing a disturbance.

Studies also show that persons who are continuously affected by disruptions are more likely to be susceptible to reduced memory capacity and are prone to developing mental health problems in old age. We live in an over communicated era and it is critical that you recognise the issues this causes before you decide to work remotely. When operating remotely you must do everything possible to mitigate the probability of being disrupted.

Here’s how I do it:

1, Get a consistent schedule, tell everyone about it and obsessively maintain it!

Good examples are a consistent time of day when you read or compose and reply to mail and make or take phone conversatiions. Before I began working remotely I used to receive up to hundreds of e-mails every 24 hours. Now I think I am unfortunate if I receive more than 5. To start over with my e-mail experience I changed my e-mail address and tenaciously took precautions to defend the details being made known to anyone. I then made sure every party who I gave my e-mail address to, to use it prudently. I also configured an auto-responder that swiftly informed anyone sending me mail at what time of day I would be reading mail and if an item should have my urgent attention to mark it as ‘Urgent’.

2. Get rid of alerts.

Disable every possible mechanism that can send you a perceptible alert. This includes mobile and
conventional phones and types of alerts from e-mail such as display events, beeps, screen changes to your inbox folder and of course facing a window. Get a door on your work room and put up a ‘do not disturb’ sign on it.

In ‘Remote Working Part 3 – Basic Toolkit’ I will reveal my favourite tools and software.

Quickbooks online

Obviously not everyone is able to work remotely as lots of careers require individuals to go to their place of work or travel to undertake their duties in person. But for those of us given the opportunity to work remotely then I thought it would be useful to share my experiences and give some practical guidance by putting it on the web with the sole objective of providing useful advice for adapting to remote working or supervising remote workers.

I would caution you that there are a substantial number of self proclaimed ‘gurus’ online who will try and get you to buy e-books for big sums of money, trust me you don’t have to do this.

I am fortunate to be permitted to work wherever I choose and just about everybody who asks me what I do for a living wants to know how I am able to work remotely. Don’t be fooled here I am still refining the science of remote working as each day I come across persons on the Internet who show me new knowledge and I am continually finding new packages and ways that make my life simpler and improve my productivity.

In the past seven years I have slowly but surely adapted my working processes to allow me to do all of my work remotely with a box of internet tools and rigid self management. One lunchtime whilst browsing the Internet I discovered Quickbooks online and this made me think about what just might be possible. My encounter with web based ‘on demand’ small business accounting software was a life changing event for me and the start of my ‘remote working history.

I must tell you up front that successfully working remotely is as much about the tools as it is about self discipline. Working remotely also means getting across to your co-workers, managers and customers as to what they can expect and how they will interact with you.

In ‘Remote Working Part 2 – Managing yourself’ I discuss how to focus.

Why is it that some women seem so pulled together?  Even at the grocery store, they are the ones with their makeup on, an outfit that matches, and a pristine handbag over their shoulder.  They don’t fumble around with their checkbook, wallet, and keys when it’s time to check out.

Wouldn’t it be great to be one of them?  However, you have no idea where to start.

I know exactly how you feel.  Not long ago, I decided it was time for a change – a big change.  Dressed in my baggy sweats with my hair pulled up away from my face, I avoided mirrors in public, glad to have the shopping cart to hide behind.  When I made it to the checkout, the clerk would inevitably have to wait, while I shuffled through the contents of my purse, taking two minutes just to find my wallet.

With my self-confidence as low as it could go, I desperately need to change. I decided to start by organizing my purse.  Believe it or not, this one little step got me well on the way to making other more important changes.  Who knew an organized handbag could be so empowering!  Here’s how I did it…

First step, get rid of the clutter.  Old receipts, gum wrappers, kids toys – these things do not belong in your purse, nor your wallet.  Either throw them out or put them away where they belong.

Second, think about the pockets.  Since becoming organized, I have become a fan of Vera Bradley handbags – generally speaking, they offer a generous amount of pockets, and pockets are the first step to getting organized.  My most valuable items – cell phone, mp3 player, camera – are placed in the zippered pockets for safekeeping. The other pockets are great for storing all those little things that you don’t want cluttering up the main compartment of your bag, such as toiletries, tissues, and aspirin bottles.

Next, get a good wallet, and use it.  Keep your driver’s license, credit cards, and cash in one place.  If possible, use it also for your checkbook.  It’s good to keep these together.  I also have a separate change purse for my coins, instead of keeping them in the same compartment as my dollar bills.  It’s easy to root through when you want to provide the exact amount.

Finally, invest in a couple of good cases.  For example, an eyeglass case will keep your sunglasses in tip top condition, ensuring that you can easily find them when you are driving down the road. Buy a cosmetic case to keep your makeup together in one place.

Really, that’s all there is to it.  Take an hour today to organize your purse, and before you know it, you will be on your way to becoming one of the uber-organized moms at the grocery store that everyone secretly admires.

Despite how great CDs are, many people still prefer audiocassettes to them, especially when it comes to listening to audio books.

Below are some of the reasons why:

1. Audio books in CD format can only contain a maximum of seventy five minutes of audio whereas audio tapes can hold an extra 15 minutes, sometimes even more, of audio content.

I have the same opinion, you can own an audio book on many different CDs however who likes to carry around a handful of CDs.

So, while you might need just one or a few audiocassettes for a particular audio book, you will need many CDs for that same audio book.

Two, many don't like to spend extra to buy audio books in CDs when they can get the same audio book cheaper in audiocassettes.

For example, while an unabridged version of "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" on 12 audiotapes can be bought for just $31.96 on Barnes & Noble website, the CD format from  the same Barnes & Noble costs almost double that amount – exactly $55.96 for 17 sets of  CDs!

This obviously isn't because they are trying to rip you off, it's just that it costs a whole lot more to make CDs than it does to produce tapes.

3. When you turn a CD player off it will not continure at the same point when you turn it back on.
But when you have a tape, you can simply press play and you'll be where you left off.

With CDs it can be frustrating when driving because each time you put off your car, it would mean restarting the audio book or trying to locate where you stopped.

Of course there are modern and more advanced CD players that now save your location on a disk when you turn off your car, thereby allowing you to resume at the exact same spot you left off.

This won't work when you put off the car AND take out the CD.But this will be fine when using a tape!

Four, because audio books are mainly just narration, many users don’t see why they should spend the extra money to buy CDs because of issues of recording quality when they can get the exact quality with audiocassettes.

They would argue that the quality of the content is greater on CD, when actually the quality is the same for audio books.

In more succinct terms - "the voice of humans (without drums and other musical paraphernalia) has very little to gain from the depth and clarity that comes with digital recordings in CD format!

An excellent source that I have found for audio book downloads is Spoken Network. You can find them at:

www.spokennetwork.com?cam=ama0014

How many times have you been nominated to or started a large project, just to become overwhelmed at the enormous amount of time and resources called for to full fill the job? If that’s so, do not fret, you will be happy to find out that you are not unique – handling considerable, long-term projects can be a demanding prospect, even for skilled project handlers. Now think of grappling with 6 or maybe more tasks at a time – this is a sobering outlook for most individuals.

Still, if you look around your workplace, you will more than likely find some individuals who absolutely seem to surpass at it and really do it very well. And while these people might not appear to be any smarter or industrious than you, but it looks just for some strange reason they invite the chance while you pull away from the prospect.

The fundamental distinction between yourself and these individuals is simply this – they completely understand and apply a really basic concept of Project Task Management.

Despite the volume of work entailed or the time frame called for for closing, they recognize that every task can be divided up into secondary, easily managed chores, that can be readily completed in the short-term. When each lesser task is achieved, it adds to the completion of the greater task, in due course.

generally, each particular job may then be split into a predetermined step, permitting you to steadily and systematically work on them over a set amount of time. Depending on the type of project, it might well be viable to focus at numerous chores concurrently, by setting aside a comparatively small amount of time on every project, each day.

The watchwords of Project Task Management are persistence and consistency, yet tempered with flexibility. Some projects might need to be shelved if it is held up by other unfinished projects or an unanticipated problem shows up. With variable programming and a readiness to adjust to these sudden stumbling blocks, the complete task can continue as you explore solutions to solving them.

The men and women who shine at Task and Project Management do so mainly because they handle chores in such a style that they make a little progress every day on at least one of the chores involved. This may mean setting aside just 11 to 35 minutes a day or at times hours on every chore. During any given task, the measure of time given each day will definitely fluctuate.

Therefore, as a result of this, task managers are constantly able to manage multiple jobs at the same time yet not get stressed out with the task demands. Handling many tasks at once may break the boredom of processing one single task at any point. This gives a way for the project manager to step back from all task for a little while and then resume the next day with a clear head.

Though we should never lose sight of the complete project, by concentrating on Project and Task Management, measured scheduling and regularity in how we set about our daily jobs, we can easily grow our personal development without excessively tormenting ourselves or getting stressed with our undertakings.

Jewelry sometimes is thrown together and ends up becoming a jumbled clutter of necklaces, bracelets, earrings, and rings. Sometimes your valuables can get damaged and lost, so what can you do about it? It is time to get a organizer for jewelry. Jewelry organizers can help you organize all of your jewelry and preserve it forever.

They come in a variety of choices. They are additionally available in study hard wood models, but you can also get by with inexpensive plastic models. There are a number of jewelry boxes and organizers to choose from.

The favorite choice is the traditional jewelry box. It is almost always made of varnished wood and has numerous drawers to arrange the jewelry. Jewelry boxes are fantastic for display. They can be very intricate and beautiful.

Another organizer is the jewelry armoire. They can be very beautifully made and are made to be incorporated into your bedroom set. Most are reasonably priced and made of solid wood. However, you can find cheaper models made of particle wood. These are still very nice and can be very beautiful. Armoires are traditionally very large and are perfect if you have a large amount of jewelry. They are also nice because they have special compartments to store necklaces in a hanging position, the best storage method for these types of pieces.

Also, jewelry wall mounted organizers are close neighbors of the armoires. Like the armoire, the hanging jewelry organizers are built to blend into your furniture set. They save space by being mounted to a wall. They are generally about the same as an armoire in design.

Closet organizers are a great space saver also. Generally, these are about the cheapest methods of storing your pieces. Since these organizers will spend their lives out of sight, they are constructed of inexpensive particle wood or plastic. They are often drawers that can be stacked on top of one another, so you can buy the exact number of drawers you need without spending to much. Another variety of closet organizer is the hanging organizer. It is made of a hanger attached to plastic pockets that are usually clear. This makes locating your jewelry through the clear plastic easy.

If you travel frequently then a jewelry organizer for travel is perfect for you. They are usually made of leather or plastic with a handle attached to the top. Just as the others, these styles of organizers come in a variety of sizes. If you would like to be more low key with your jewelry when traveling, then you should consider a jewelry roll. They are small cloth pouches that can be rolled up and put in your suitcase or purse.

It is very possible that the kitchen is the most used room at your house. Therefore it is likely to be the hardest to keep efficient, but don’t panic. These few home organization tips will make a big difference.

First clean out everything you do not use. Is it necessary to have all 30 little plastic cups that came with those kids’ meals? What about those 20 coffee cups? Could that be slimmed down to 4 or 5?

Next, see if you could change things around to save you time. Are the pots and pans close to the stove? Are the glasses close to the refrigerator? Are your dishcloths and towels next to the sink? These may be obvious suggestions, but sometimes we just put things anywhere and leave them there, even though it’s not the best place.

If your cabinet space is limited, try these tips for organizing kitchen necessities. Use plate organizers so you can stack plates and still remove them easily. Cups and mugs can be organized with hooks. Silverware can be kept neat with drawer organizers. Attach an organizer to the inside of your cabinet door for aluminum foil and plastic wrap. Use organizers designed specifically to fit under the sink to make the most of the space there. If you have a pantry, there are organizers that hang over the inside of the door to put more items. The possibilities are endless. You can find these at discount or home improvement stores, and most of them don’t cost a lot of money.

Organize your pantry by boxes, cans, jars, etc…It could aslo be arranged by snack, breakfast, lunch and dinner items. Small loose packages such as gravy mixes or drink mixes can be stored in plastic containers together. These can be used to store packets of grits, oatmeal or hot chocolate too. It takes up too much space to have several boxes that only contain a couple of packs each. Take the boxes out and put those last few packets into a plastic container together.

These home organization tips are fairly simple and easy to incorporate into your home. Try these and your kitchen will run more smoothly.