Practicing your craft to improve your skills

by Mindy Koch

I completely agree with this post found on the lifehacker blog.

Focused practice is the key to mastering any skill. Including the skills needed to organize your internet business. Having a focused plan, and practicing using it every day until it becomes second nature is vital to mastering your home office and organization skills.

Not to mention the skills you need to succeed in your internet business. To quote the post, “Are you practicing your craft or do you simply work?”

Careers: Focused Practice, Not Everyday Work, Improves Your Skills

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Office Makeover

by Mindy Koch

Clutter: Extreme Lifehacker Home Office Makeover

Great post on Lifehacker about the value of working from a clutter-free environment. Hope everyone goes and reads this blogpost and applies it to their home office/computer space/internet working environment.

Here is an excerpt from the post:

“Disorganization leads to lack of free time, lack of free time leads to believing you’ll never be able to get it all under control again, and that is how I ended up as a terribly scattered person in a wretchedly cluttered office. The responsibilities of adulthood, marriage, and parenthood forced me to admit the haphazard approach to life that colored my college years wasn’t going to cut it anymore. In the following makeover confessional, check out the tips and tricks I gleaned from Lifehacker to transform my mountain of clutter into fuel for a productivity machine.”

There are some really great ideas to be gleaned from here!

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Electroshock Productivity?

by Mindy Koch

I was looking around online at new productivity applications or software to check out and I ran across FruitfulTime TaskManager Electro - Become productive or get shocked!

I bet people would be productive! Or maybe it would scare them off of goals and to do lists forever. :)

I am sure this is a spoof page and the real products look pretty decent. If anyone uses Fruitful Time and has some feedback or reviews, I would love to hear them!!

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Evernote Beta

by Mindy Koch

I have used Evernote for quite a while now to organize ideas that occur to me while I am browsing online.

As I have been using flock, I have tried their “web clipboard” and have found it pretty decent. And frankly, I have found myself relying more and more on my google notebook since I am on several different computers during the day. Having an application that was completely desktop based just wasn’t working for me anymore.

Now Evernote has come up with a “web based version”. So… I have decided to check it out and see how it works. I have only used it for a few hours now but I see the advantage. Not sure if this will replace my google notebook or not… we shall see. I will keep you posted.

Evernote is at http://evernote.com You might need an invite to try it out. If you do, let me know and I will get you one.

Google Notebook is at Google Notebook. I love the plugin for my flock browser. Actually it is the firefox plugin. :)

A tip about Evernote… you can “jott” to evernote. Sweet, huh?

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I Want Sandy

by Mindy Koch

There are a couple of different web-based applications I have tested for help in organizing tasks and increasing productivity.

One of the funner apps I have tried and actually one of the simpler ones has been “I Want Sandy”.

Sandy is like my personal assistant that I communicate with by email.  I send emails of tasks, appointments, and reminders that I want to remember.  Sandy is pretty intuitive about the whole thing, which is handy.  Handy Sandy… cool, that rhymes, eh… I digress.

So if I want to remember my daughter has piano lessons on Monday at 5pm (which is sad because I really do truly need reminders for stuff like that) I just send Sandy an email saying Remind me about my daughters piano lessons on Monday at 5pm.

Then Sandy will remind me.  About 15 minutes before my daughters piano less, Sandy sends me an email and a text message to my blackberry to remind me.

Sandy also keeps track of things I want to remember in general.  Not just things that have a “deadline” or time frame.  I can email Sandy and say “remember to buy milk at the store” or “remember new friends phone number 333-4444″ and Sandy will remember these notes for me.  She will even remember grocery lists or wish lists or things to blog about lists for me.

In my opinion, I Want Sandy is really straight forward and simple to use, which in my book is one of its pluses.  Some folks complain it isn’t feature rich enough and there is another service which I would recommend to them (and which I will talk about tomorrow)but for simple, straight-forward, and effective reminders, Sandy does a great job.

Plus, I want Sandy is just so dog gone easy to use.  I just write an email.  Easy.  To get reminders I just send an email that says “lookup”.  “lookup grocery list” or “look up book” or “look up phone number” and Sandy will send me all my reminders with the words “grocery list” or “book” or “phone number”.  Easy.  I can write “lookup next weeks appointments” and Sandy sends me an email with all of next week’s appointments.  Like I said, easy.

I mean really, what is easier than sending a short email?  If you are on a computer or a mobile phone with internet, there really isn’t much that is easier than a short email.

(And since this site is all about organizing your “computer” for success… then I assume you spend a lot of time on a computer of some sort.)

Another plus for Sandy in my opinion is how well it works with Jott.  Oh, and twitter.  I love to twitter and anything that works well with twitter is pretty cool in my book.  But those are topics for another post.  :)

I Want Sandy is free and easy to try.  If you want to get organized with your very own free personal assistant, why not give Sandy a try?  I Want Sandy

post notes:

I make no money at all from recommending I Want Sandy.

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Welcome To Organized For Success!

by Mindy Koch

Mindy KochSubscribe buttons are to the right and you can subscribe by email or by RSS feed.

At the end of each post, there is a “Share This” button which you can use to share this button by social bookmarking sites, add it to facebook, or twitter about it and there are also bookmarking buttons at the end of each post.

If you want to interact with me, you are welcome to interact with me in Facebook and Twitter if you want to!

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Too much information, too many gadgets…

by Mindy Koch

Welcome to Organized For Success.

Some people want to help you organize your closets.   Other people want to help you organize your finances.  And still other people want to help you organize your life.

Not me.  Nope.  Who cares what your closets look like.  Who sees your closets?  I mean really, what “Nosy Nelly” are you inviting over to your place anyway?  Martha Stewart?  And your finances?  Can’t help you with that.  My brother can since he is a financial planner, but not me.  And your life… really… I can’t even begin to go there.  Your life, your dreams, your goals, your priorities, no one can organize that but you.

All I want to do is to help you organize your success.  If your success depends on a computer, then I am talking to you.

Small business owner trying to promote your website?  Yup.  Talking to you.

An employee trying to organize your computer that your company has restricted every little last bit of administrative rights to so you can hardly change a thing?  Yup.  Got you covered too.

Internet Marketer trying to make money from your blog, from affiliate marketing, pay-per-click, or social networking?  Heck yeah, I am talking to you.

If you use your computer as an employee or an entrepreneur… then you need to use it so that you can be organized for success.

That’s all this site is about.  So, grab an energy drink and enjoy.  I hope you stay awhile.

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End of the Day routine

by Mindy Koch
One of the problems with a home office is the tendency to never “close the office”.  Something that can help with that is an “end of the day” routine.
When your day is done, why not “shut down the office”?
1.  Clear away the mess
Every night, clear away the mess.  Make sure that when you start work the next day, there is plenty of “clear space” to work.  That your desk looks clean and ready to tackle the day.  Remove anything from your desk that doesn’t need to be there.  Keep the desk as clear as possible by keeping it free from pictures, cups, decorations.  You work from home.. you don’t need to have your home on your desk.  It is all around you!
Also toss or file your papers.  Clear them away as well.  A shredder is handy and sure makes it fun to get rid of paper!
2.  Check your supplies for the next day
Put your supplies away and make sure they are ready to work the next day.  Scissors, tape, paperclips, stapler, post it notes… whatever you need.
3.  Start a “to do tomorrow list” as you declutter.
As you are clearing away the mess and checking your supplies, you will think of things to add to the list.  Set this list in the center of your desk area so it is the first thing you see the next day.
As your day ends.. END it with this little ritual that tells your brain to “give it a rest until tomorrow” and go be with your family and friends and enjoy your life!

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Organizing Your Home Office

by Mindy Koch
The focus of this blog is organizing for the home business owner.  So naturally it makes sense to begin with focusing on organizing your home office.
One of the key problems of a home office is that many people had to convert living space into an area they can dedicate to the home office.   If that dedicated space is poorly laid out, it can have a hugely negative impact on your productivity and your frustration level.

Your office must be COMFORTABLE for you. Must basements, noisy kitchens, cramped closets, small guest bedroom desks… these can all be impractical locations that are forced upon us by virtue of no other options.

Dehumidifiers, brighter lighting, folding screens, murphy beds, vertical shelving units… these are all things that can make a huge difference in how comfortable your office location can be. Whatever you need to do to make your limited location options work for you, totally make those adjustments.  Your success has to be worth it.
Also make sure that whatever space you do select, you have all your tools within reach.  Once you claim a space, make it yours and lay it out in the manner that works best for you.
If you haven’t looked at Lean’s 5S system, this is a good time to give it a really good examination.  The 5S principles can go a long way to making sure that you have what you need without any frustration whatsoever.  You want to have your furniture laid out effectively and your most used tools/resources within immediate reach whenever possible.
Another factor in your home office will be your files.  Every business creates paperwork and that paperwork demands a filing system.  A well maintained filing system will keep your business effective and your work area uncluttered.
The main thing is to look at your home office and say.. is this home office organized for success?  If not.. what needs to change?

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Why do we keep what we keep?

by Mindy Koch
Look at your stuff.  Think about it.  Think about what you are keeping in your home, your office, your attic, your closets, or your old files.
Why do you keep what you keep?  I don’t think there is anything wrong with keeping it.. but understand WHY you keep it.
We all keep different things for different reasons.  My husband.. he keeps the boxes of our purchases. The original TV box, the camera box, the cell phone box… he keeps the original boxes.  I would not keep these things but he does.  We move so often that he knows we are going to be packing these things up and moving them across the country every 18 months or so, so he keeps the boxes.
It is his way of “being prepared” for the inevitable move.  Drives me nuts… but he is a grown man and he needs to keep the boxes… so we keep the boxes.  No big deal.  Especially since I understand why he feels the need to keep them.
So, why do you keep what you keep?
I have no idea what you keep but here are some thoughts on some of the personal things you might keep:
  • Kids schoolwork or artwork
  • Furniture from our childhood or our parents or our grandparents
  • Clothes we don’t wear
  • Clothes our kids don’t wear anymore
  • Food purchases we probably won’t eat
  • Outdated bills and old paperwork we filed

Do you keep any of these things?

Why do you keep them?  Why wouldn’t you keep them?  Do you keep “just enough” of them or “too much”?
Kids schoolwork/artwork
Obviously, I can see why we keep some of these.  Every where, little junior and little precious disappear into bigger junior and bigger precious.  Once gone, those little people are forever gone.  Of course we keep the mementos of those wee ones.
Here I agree… keep some.  Not all.  Some.  As an adult, I appreciate the few things I have saved from my elementary years and am glad I have them.
I think there is a valid reason to keep some of these.  How much is up to you.  For me, the dividing line between toss or keep is generally a gut feeling.  I just KNOW whether it is worth keeping.  I am pretty ruthless unless my gut says - there is NO way I could toss this.
But that is me.  This isn’t a clutter temptation for me.  Most kid schoolwork/artwork gets tossed.
If this is a clutter zone though for you… you may need to come up with a rule that will work for you.  2 items per month get saved.  One a week.  One a month.  Whatever.
FURNITURE
Again, I can understand why we keep some of this old furniture.  Heck, some of it is better quality than most of the stuff in stores these days.   Old oak furniture?  Heck yeah… better than particle board disposable furniture!  Have you held on to too much?  Are you holding onto it because you love it… or because you feel like you SHOULD?
I have some furniture my mother gave me.  You couldn’t pay me for it.  I genuinely love it.  But the items that I have that I don’t love… I only keep it if it is a useful needed item that is used on a regular basis.  They are in the “use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without” category for me.  If I am not using it up… then it needs to be a “do without” item and it gets donated or tossed.
How about you… what are you holding onto?
CLOTHES
Are you wearing them?  Do they fit?  Do you like them?  Are they flattering?
If not… no question… toss them.  Get them out.  Give them to Salvation Army, yard sale them, chuck them… whatever you need to do.  Clothes are a “no brainer”.  You are either wearing them or you aren’t.  If you aren’t.. why not let someone less fortunate than you wear them.
Or are they such a no-brainer?  Ask yourself… why am I keeping these?  REALLY??
And while we are on the subject of clothes…
What about your KIDS CLOTHES?
You know.. the cute little outfits they wore when they were toddlers?  Why do you keep those?  How many do you really need to keep?
GROCERIES
Do you have food that you won’t ever eat?  Cereal that never sounds appealing?  Cans that  just keep getting shuffled?  Ingredients for recipes that you won’t make?
Why do you keep those?  You know the food that is in your cupboard and you say.. man, there is nothing good in here.. I really need to go grocery shopping!!  Well… before you do.. why not get rid of the “nothing good” food you do have first?
Why do you keep it?
BILLS
Here is my weakness.. once I file something… it stays filed for too long.  I have papers that I need to get rid of.  I like paper.  I like documents.  I like to keep them.  They make me feel secure that I have a paper if I need it.
BUT… thank heavens I move all the time.  That is when I do my paper purge because I sure as heck don’t want to move unnecessary paperwork across the country and find room for it in my next house.  So I do purge my files at least once a year.  Should I do better.. heck yeah.
Why do I like to keep old bills and old documents?  Because they seem official and I like to keep official things.  Silly, I know.
The important thing though isn’t decluttering just for the sake of decluttering.  It is important that we understand.. WHY do we keep these things?  And to go from there to decide AND what are we going to do about it?

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