Your House In Order

How many times a day do you look at your phone? C’mon, be honest with me. A lot, right? Like really a lot. I’m as guilty as the next person. I find myself fidgety if my iphone isn’t with me. If I forget my phone at home – god help me – I feel naked…

Sometimes choice can be exhausting. Constant decision-making overwhelms us. If you think about your day, it’s a series of decisions – from what to wear, what to eat, and what to buy, to critical decisions at work or at home. Making decisions is draining – it’s mental work. The more decisions you make, the harder…

Computer search tools are very powerful. It is relatively easy to search all the digital files on your hard drive for specific key words or phrases. Newer scanners with OCR (Optical Character Recognition/Reader) allow you to search pdf documents as well. Strong search capabilities allow you to design a fairly flat folder hierarchy with fewer…

I’m often hired to help a client dig out from under an onslaught of disorganized papers, untidy or non-existent files, unpaid bills, missed appointments, and general office chaos. We sort and categorize the piles, throw out reams of unnecessary documents, develop an effective workflow, and set up a paper filing system in a drawer or…

In a previous blog we talked about creating new habits and routines to help you manage the onslaught of daily email. Now let’s talk about some specific strategies to fine tune your inbox. I’m going to address Gmail here, the most popular online email service, but most email software has similar functions. I recommend Googling…

One of the most vexing yet ubiquitous part of our digital existence is email. It seems everything we do generates an email — from resetting a password, confirming a purchase, or social media activity.  No wonder we use words like “overload,” “avalanche,” “tyranny,” and “out of control” when describing our digital inboxes. White collar workers…

An acronym is an abbreviation, usually using the initial letters of words, that is pronounced as a word. NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) and NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) are well-known acronyms. Some acronyms have evolved into words themselves whose origins have been forgotten, like scuba (self-contained underwater breathing apparatus), radar (radio detection and…

We all want a jump start into new and better habits. Making resolutions at New Year’s is an impetus to self-improvement. But while some of us manage to cut out carbs, go to the gym, or walk thirty minutes each day, most ultimately fail and fall back into the same, ingrained patterns of behavior. What…

We hear so much about “going paperless” that we feel a twinge of guilt when we open a printed book or write a note on a piece of paper. But does a truly paperless office exist? Is it a goal worth achieving? Should we even try? The answer is a conditional yes, we should move…

Out of sight, out of mind. This phrase describes the problem in many offices I’m asked to organize.  When confronted with papers piled on every horizontal surface, my clients explain saying, “If I put it in the file drawer I’ll never find it again” and “I need to see my projects in front of me.”…