A couple great sources for safety information on foreign countries are the CIA World Factbook and the US Travel Advisory site.

1. Take Copies - Having a copy of your drivers license and the first page of your passport are very handy in getting your visa or vehicle permits.  They also serve as backup if your wallet and passport are stolen.
2. Understand the Law – Make sure you understand the laws at your destination.  There have been many cases of U.S. citizens thrown into Mexican prisons because they had a firearm in their vehicle–something quite common in the U.S., but a very big legal violation if it is found by the Mexican border officials.
3. Know the Altitude - When planning your trip, be sure to take the altitude into consideration.  If you are going from a place that is 800 feet above sea level to a place that is 8,000 feet above sea level, you’ll need to give your body some time to adjust to the thinner air.
4. Get an International Drivers License – This is something you can get from AAA even if you aren’t a member.  It costs about $10 for the license plus the cost of your photo.  Basically, an international license just says you are a licensed driver in the U.S. and it does so in about 15 different languages.  In many places, your U.S. license is valid by itself, but some countries will keep your license if you have a driving violation.  Sometimes this is used as a threat to extract a bribe.  If you give your international drivers license out and someone decides to keep it, you’ll still have your regular state-issued license.
5. Power Adapters - Make sure you know what it takes to use any electronics or laptops at your destination.
6. Cell Phone Rates – If you are taking your cell phone, make sure you understand ahead of time how you will be charged for international usage. You also may need to have your carrier turn on international access in order for the phone to work.  In many countries, you can get a local SIM card that will work in your phone for placing local calls at a much less expensive rate.
7. Emergency Numbers - You should make sure that you have numbers for the U.S. consulate or embassy at your destination.  Also make sure your friends and family know when they should expect to hear from you and give them the emergency numbers just in case you disappear.
8. Credit Cards – Make sure you call your credit card company and let them know you plan to be out of the country.  Otherwise, they may shut down your card, thinking it has been stolen.  Also, be aware that some stores process cards differently, so it is possible that your card might be rejected.  Make sure you have other means of payment available.
9. Addresses – Make sure you have your destination address written down in the local language.  This can make it much easier to communicate with a taxi driver who speaks another language.

Originally published December 14, 2006.

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The My Documents folder is there for a reason. If you don’t have a My Document’s folder, create one. The idea is to keep all of your documents in this folder. This makes it easy to backup your computer and easy to find stuff instead of looking all over your hard drive.

You can take this idea step further and create folders for the types of items you produce on your computer. Here is an example of how OS X sets up your home directory by default:

One of the big benefits of this type of setup is that you can go to one place to start looking for anything you’ve previously saved. It also gives you a single place where you can tell your backup software to start to archive everything. I’ve seen people keep files all over their hard drive. When they need to switch to another computer, it is a nightmare. With files all over their computer it is very difficult to be confident that everything got moved over because you are bound to overlook some obscure folder that contains some of their important data.

2. No Top Level Files

A lot of people just throw their documents directly into the My Documents folder. You organization will improve if you promise not to allow yourself to put documents directly in this folder. Create subfolders and put the documents in there. The advantage to this method is that you create a way to associate similar documents–by putting them in the same folder.

If you have a file that is truly a one-off document and you will never have another similar document, you will still benefit by creating and putting it in a “miscellaneous” folder.

An important way to think about folder creation is to stop asking “where do I save this” and ask “where will I look for this when I need it”. You’ll be amazed at how much easier it is to organize when you start out planning for retrieval instead of focusing just on the storage part.

3. Create a Downloads Folder

Part of using the Internet is downloading files. Many people have their computer set up to store downloaded files on their desktop. If you are extremely disciplined about keeping your desktop clean, this might not be a bad setup. However, if you keep any files on your desktop, the downloaded files can quickly clutter things and make it hard to find what you are looking for.

By creating a folder specifically for downloaded files, you can keep all of these types of documents together. If something is important and needs to be saved, you can move it to a different folder. If your “downloads” folder only contains downloads, then it is much easier to clean out. You can just scan through it to make sure there isn’t anything important and delete the contents every few weeks.

To make this work effectively, you’ll need to make sure your web browser is set to automatically put downloaded files in your new folder. Here is the place to change the setting in Firefox’s preferences. Other browsers have similar settings, as well.

4. Version Control

Version control lets you keep multiple versions of the same document. Instead of keeping a bunch of different versions of the same thing, you keep one version, but you have access to the document’s history to go back to prior versions.

There are several ways to implement this. On OS X, TimeMachine gives you this type of capability. There are several version control systems that will give you this capability as well. Subversion is probably one of the more popular systems for this. Subversion comes already installed on OS X. It can function in a variety of different settings, from a simple local repository to a repository with multiple users on an external server. Both Windows (TortoiseSVN) and OS X (SCPlugin)have some nice add-ons that let you use the version control directly from the graphical file system browser. This lets you use a menu system instead of learning a command line interface.

If you set it up correctly, Subversion can give you version control and backup capabilities. For most users, TimeMachine is quite a bit easier to set up, but it doesn’t give you the full capabilities of version control.

5. Aliases, Short Cuts and Links

Sometimes you need a file to exist in more than one place. For example, you might have your contract stored under each client’s folder and want to have another folder somewhere that contains all of your active contracts all in one place. Normally you wouldn’t want to just make a copy of the documents. Not only would the copy take up additional space, but if you made any changes, you’d have two different versions of the same document.

By creating a short cut, you can make a pointer to the original document. These types of links are also sometimes called aliases. To make a short cut on Windows, right click and copy the file, then right click and select “paste shortcut” in the directory where you want to put the short cut.

In OS X, option click and select “Make Alias”. It will create an alias in the current folder and you can then move it to where ever you want.

Note: Since OS X is based on a Unix style operating system you can also create links using the command line. I’m not going to get into the details here, but links will allow you to basically put the file in two directories at the same time while still only storing it once on the hard drive. From the graphical OS you’ll have a very difficult time telling which one is the original and which is the link. One of the advantages of this is you’ll get a thumbnail preview–something that is missing with the alias function performed with the gui.

Originally published February 26, 2008.

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One habit I formed early on in college was to get a copy of my transcript each semester. One semester, there were an extra 15 hours of credits on the transcript for classes I had not taken. After doing some checking, it became clear that they had accidentally given me credit for someone else’s work. I explained it to the university and they straightened out the records. However, I imagine it was much easier to get something taken off than it would be to get something added. By keeping a copy of my transcript, I had a very simple way to prove what classes I had taken if my credits ever accidentally were given to someone else.

About eight years later, I was taking classes through Harvard’s extension school toward a second Master’s degree. One day I was looking over the requirements and discovered that all of the work I had done wasn’t going to count. There was a requirement that you take your first 3 courses in a particular order and I hadn’t done that. Obviously, I was very concerned because I had already earned about 20 hours toward the degree.

I went to my file and found a dated print out of the same page that listed a different set of requirement–requirements that I had followed. I went to the office and showed them my printout and asked if the requirements had changed. They said that the requirements had changed, and I would only have to meet the old requirements for my program.

I could have probably gotten it straightened out without having my print out, but it was much easier to deal with since I had kept good records.

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• Set up new internet before switching off the old. If you want to minimize downtime, don’t turn off your old office’s internet until you have everything set up and running in your new space.
• Vacuum, vacuum. If you have the floors cleaned before you move in, make sure you give yourself time to vacuum two or three times before you start moving your stuff in.
• Pack by what you need. Make sure the things you are going to need access to are easy to find.  I put all the stuff I needed for the next week or so in my laptop bag where I knew I could find it.
• Don’t set everything up permanently. Set everything up, but in a temporary way.  Once you’ve used things for a week, you may find that you want your desk on the other side of the room to avoid a draft or some odd lighting.
• Change your address. Don’t forget to get the forms filled out a few days in advance. (You can do this online from the Post Office website.)
• Check the humidity. Even if it isn’t hot, high humidity isn’t good for your electronic equipment or books.  If it is too high, get a dehumidifier.
• Examine the outlets. If you see any evidence of cracking or black marks, replace them.
• Test for noise. Have someone walk around on the floor above your office and see how loud it is.  What you find may influence where you put your desk or may even prompt you to add some insulation before moving in.
• Anticipate problems. This is especially important if you move into a place that has been vacant for awhile.  For example, you probably shouldn’t set up your desk and computer directly under the kitchen sink if the plumbing looks old and hasn’t been in use for awhile.
• Test shipping. If you get a lot of time sensitive UPS or FedEx deliveries, it may be worth ordering something just to make sure the drivers know how to find your address. (Particularly important if you live in a rural area.)
• Declutter. Moving is a great time to get rid of things you don’t need.  In my case, I found that I was saving a lot of old boxes and electronics that I will probably never use again.
• Emergency numbers. Make sure you know how to get a hold of emergency services at your new location.
• Water detector. In addition to smoke detectors, you might consider getting a water alarm if your office area is below the grade or in an older house.  These devices hook to the wall with a sensor that runs down to the floor.  If they get wet, the alarm goes off.

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I finally decided on keeping anything that might be slightly important in my inbox where I can search for it.  It turns out that, for me, this is far more productive than trying to move things around and categorize them. It was very liberating, and I found that nothing bad happened by keeping older emails in my inbox.  In fact, I discovered it was easier to find things, because it only required a simple search instead of trying to find the folder where I had filed something.

However, there is a downside.  It can be very easy to forget about something you need to act on later. Since I do consulting, forgetting to act on a small email request from a client could lose me several hundred dollars on that particular request and several thousand dollars on future business.

To deal with this, I’ve found that creating an email “to-do” folder for each of my clients helps me stay organized without trying to sort through thousands of messages that I need to keep just as a reference. The “to-do” folder gives me a simple place to check to see if there is anything pending and allows me to focus on a particular work context as needed. Once I’ve completed the task, I move it back out into my general inbox, where I can find it easily if I need to reference it later.

Originally published April 17, 2007.

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1. Purge Old Files

If you still have paper files, it may be time to get rid of some of the older ones to make things easier to find.  Even with paperless digital files, there are times where it makes sense to delete or at least archive off the older files to reduce the amount you have to look through.

2. Take Stuff Home

Whether your office is in a spare bedroom or in a skyscraper in downtown New York, there are always going to be items from home that migrate to work.  Taking a few minutes to identify these items and move them back to where they belong in your home will help keep your office better organized and keep you from missing the items at home.

3. Computer Desktop

If your computer desktop is getting cluttered, go ahead and invest the time in clearing things off and putting all the random files into the appropriate folder.

4. Dust

A few minutes with a feather duster can greatly reduce the amount of dust sitting behind your computer or in the tangle of wires under your desk.  It also isn’t a bad idea to occasionally blow the dust out of your computer so it doesn’t clog up the fan or keep the heat from dissipating correctly.

5. Unsubscribe

If you are are on email or physical mailing lists that no longer benefit you, consider unsubscribing.

6. Frame It

If you have awards, diplomas or other similar documents pinned to the wall or sitting on your desk, consider getting them framed and matted.

7. Glove box

Most cars tend to gather old insurance papers and other random items in the glove box.  Take a few minutes to throw out anything that isn’t current, and make sure you have any important emergency items (like a flashlight or small first aid kit) that you may need.

8. Important Numbers

Fall is a good time to make sure you have a copy of all your important numbers up to date.  I like to keep a copy of all of my credit cards, bank accounts, insurance numbers, passwords, etc. on a physical piece of paper in a lock box.  That way, if we ever had a fire or any other type of catastrophe, we’d have easy access to everything all in one place.  If you already have such a list, consider updating it.

9. Email

If you keep all of your emails (like I do), Fall is a good time to go through and archive off all the older messages so they don’t continue to clutter up your mail client.  It is also a good time to go through and delete messages you know you will never use.  I find it useful to sort email by the sender–often I can delete hundreds of emails at a time when they are sorted like this.  For example, I can delete all of the emails from my credit card notifications by grouping them by the sender email address.

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Here are a couple crises to consider:

1. Your wallet gets stolen while you are traveling to another city.
2. Your car gets a flat tire.
3. Your cellphone gets its memory erased.

These are all fairly minor issues if you are prepared. They can become catastrophic issues if you are not prepared.  For example, if your cellphone memory gets erased, as long as you have a backup of all the important names and numbers, it isn’t that big of a deal.  However, if you have no type of backup, you could potentially lose contact information that would be very difficult, if not impossible to recreate again.

I recently had a flat tire on my car.  It shouldn’t have been any big deal, and I just took it to a service station to have it fixed.  Unfortunately, my car has one fancy locking nut on each wheel that can’t be taken off by a regular tire iron.  After a search of the entire vehicle, we gave up and the mechanic had to find a way to force the lug nut off. I lost an extra 30 to 45 minutes of time because I wasn’t prepared.

Our lives are full of numbers.  Credit card numbers, insurance numbers, bank account numbers, etc. Most of the time, we can get these numbers off our credit card, bank statement, or insurance policy.  However,  the time that these numbers really become vital is when those policies, statements or cards are destroyed or stolen.

Before my wife and I headed down to Mexico, we made a list of all the important numbers in our life, printed it off, and put it in a safe deposit box where our family could get to it if it was ever necessary.  We didn’t even save the file–just the printed copy.  The list contains all of our bank accounts, credit card numbers, retirement numbers, health insurance numbers, life insurance numbers, passport numbers, drivers license numbers, and online banking passwords.  It also contains the telephone numbers for all of the banks and companies that might need to be contacted.

If I were to die, it gives my wife a single place to go for all the necessary insurance and financial information she would need. The few hours of putting this together would save her a few days of digging through files.  It also gives us a simple way to recover information for much less drastic emergencies such as having our wallets stolen while traveling.

The point is, you can invest a few minutes today that can save you hours and hours down the road.

Originally published June 21, 2007.

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We asked experts for advice on the following topic:

What is your best piece of advice for creating an effective work environment in your home office?

The single most important productivity strategy is equipping the home office to facilitate the work. Today, in fact, a (used!) Steelcase desk system is being delivered here. The U-shaped work station will put everything at my fingertips – computer, phone, files, notes – whereas when I did this before, I had a less professional set-up. The room I’ve chosen has great natural light – the previous one had a nice view of the back yard (quite pretty) but faced north – in the winter and spring, that meant relying on lamps and overheads. I’ll have brilliant natural light on my desktop in the other room.

Finally, to be successful working at home, you have to have business development plans as detailed and robust as if you were working in an off-home office. Really, people can win with a cell phone and a convenient park bench if the BD plan is solid.

Sean Williams from Communication AMMO

I work out of my home and have for years.
The most important thing for me is to be in front of a large window with lots of natural sunlight.
Lots of other things – be far from the kitchen, be disciplined, etc. But the window is key.

Zale Tabakman from www.ZaleTabakman.ca

1. Cut down on as many interruptions as possible.  For a WAH parent, this may mean working during nap time, school hours, or hiring childcare/help.
2. Keep things where you use them.  Examples:  Printer paper can be easily stored near the printer for ease of access.  Store empty file folders in the rear of the file drawer.
3. Store like things together.  This can be accomplished by dedicating one shelf or bin to each “topic”.  Examples:  Keep marketing materials in one location ALL together.  Keep materials needed for presentations in one location ALL together.
4. Items you use often (pens, scissors, sticky notes, etc) should be in easy reach.  You should not have to get up from your seat or dig around for items that you need several times a day.
5. Keep the office, the office.  Don’t allow toys, food, children, spouses, pets (and their paraphernalia) to throw you off track.  Keeping clutter at bay helps bring tranquility and efficiency to any environment!

Julie Bavington from Organize With Julie, LLC

My best advice for creating an effective work environment in a home office is a series of things that, cumulatively, add to your success:

• Good lighting
• Make sure that you have plenty of space for your work area
• Have a dedicated space so that you can leave things out overnight if necessary
• Get a comfortable chair
• Experiment with productivity tools until you find the right one for your workflow style

Stephen P. Smith from …words

Establish times when you are officially working, and then:

1. Don’t take care of household tasks during those times.
2. Make sure family and friends know that you are working and that you are not available for non-work related activities.

Just because you are physically in your home doesn’t mean you can watch TV, chat on the phone, fix a leaky faucet, cook, clean, do childcare, and other household and social activities while you are working. Don’t fool yourself into thinking you are being efficient and multi-tasking!  Focus on your work so that you use your time efficiently and produce high quality results.”

Sara Sutton Fell from FlexJobs

Rather than face your desk toward a corner or a wall, turn it around and have it facing the door with your chair behind it so you have a clear view of the entry point of the room.  This will give you a more “executive” feeling in your office, and will allow you to feel more in control, able to greet whoever walks in the door, rather than feeling vulnerable with your back turned.  It’s a feng shui thing, but also a very practical office setup – when do you ever walk into an executive’s office and see them with their back turned to the door?  Try it, it works.

ALSO:

Very light jazz or classical music will keep you feeling upbeat and accompanied without interrupting your thoughts, work flow or phone conversations!

Tasha Moody from Simply Staged

Put up a vision board of everything you want out of your business…it will remind you daily of your goals.For instance, what do you want to make yearly–put those numbers on the board…I am making 250,000 a year…Put it in the present tense and use photos of  the life you want to lead.

Leslie Jacobs from LesMess.com

My best piece of advice is to create a relaxed atmosphere. A home office can easily become the dumping ground for mail, excess luggage, storage for skis, etc. Eliminate the clutter and create a powerful environment using a water fountain and aromatherapy. Positive sounds and smells can increase your productivity dramatically.

Whenever I have a power conference call, I light an aromatic candle to soothe my senses. It truly works!

Christine Louise Hohlbaum from The Power of Slow

My best piece of advice for productivity in a home office is de-clutter every morning! Pile or file papers from the day before and make sure you are starting with a clean & tidy desk top each day. Clear desk=Clear mind!

Christy Cook from Teach My Toddler Inc.

Create a home work environment that cultivates productivity by diminishing distractions. The distractions can be tv, your baby or even your cluttered desk.  Establish one dedicated space to work in, equipped with the papers, computer and area you need to get your job accomplished.  The space should have a desk top clear to work on, a credenza or auxiliary flat space to hold an action file and frequent references, and a drawer for less active files.  Set times to get work done and administration time to get organized.  By setting up your space for your best work, you will feel better about the work itself and accomplish more.

Ellen R. Delap from Professional-Organizer.com

Have a home office that has a door (if possible) or a cabinet that shuts and try not to use it for family space as well.  It will help keep your desk and mind uncluttered as well as allow you to shut off “work time” and move into “family mode” a little better.

Kristin Delfau from Delfau Tax and Financial Services

My best piece of advice for creating an effective home office is to select a room in the house that is to only be used as an office preferably with windows, a glass door and a separate phone line for office use!

Since I work at home around my daughters who are 8 and 10, I can see them playing during the summer in the front yard or I will move to our sun room to see them in the backyard while I am holding a conference call.

The glass door comes in handy to block out extra noise but the girls can come to the door and hold up a note or a food item and I can nod yes or no without any interruptions.  I can make lunch and walk around the house to keep an eye on the girls all while talking on the phone.

I empower them to be involved so they are in charge of answering the home phone and taking messages if I am on the other line!

Stacy Kannenberg from Cedar Valley Publishing

Use a public scheduler (like Google) to keep you from messing around or wasting time.  Give all your clients access and stay true to the client or project to which you’ve scheduled yourself.  Take breaks only when scheduled and return personal calls when you’re off the clock (the schedule).  Suddenly it will feel like you’re working a lot less – and you may just be shocked to discover how much time your personal projects are eating out of your day.

Debra Yergen from DY&Co media

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Get a Desk for Your Desk

After all, shouldn’t your desk have a work area for itself?  There is no reason it needs to share with you all the time. By getting a small table, shelf or box and placing it under your desk in a place you don’t need for your feet, you can move all of your electronics down out of view where they can still perform their function, but not contribute to clutter on your desk.

Depending on how your desk is set up, you may even be able to put certain pieces of equipment where you can get to them easily.  For example, your printer or scanner might fit nicely on the front portion of this mini desk while the rest of your electronic equipment sits toward the back.

While getting the items off your desk is valuable, getting the wires out of sight is an even bigger accomplishment.  By using the desk for your desk, you can run only the wires necessary to the desktop which should reduce clutter and minimize the need for extension cables.

I use a small short bedside table under my desk.  It holds three shelves.  The top one holds my laptop where I can easily plug it into my desktop monitor, keyboard and mouse.  The bottom shelf holds some of my other electronic equipment.  The middle shelf holds some external hard drives and other items that I need to frequently plug into one of my computers.

Just keep in mind that some equipment needs air flow in order to cool properly.  Make sure you don’t accidentally cover up the vents and make things overheat.

Originally published April 2, 2007.

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To be a productive blogger, you need to learn to use the mountain tops of inspiration to help fill in the valleys where you can’t think of anything to write.  This can be as simple as keeping a word processor document of future posts.  If your blogging platform supports it, I suggest using the scheduled post feature. Write your post when inspiration strikes but set it to go live when you know you will need a post.  You can sit down and write posts for the rest of the week or the rest of the year.

For example, if you take one Saturday each month and write one short post per week for the next month, you’ll have a huge head start.  Even if you get busy with other things or can’t think of anything to write about, your blog will remain active.

It takes discipline to schedule a post for later.  Once you finish a masterpiece, your first instinct is to put it up so the whole world can see it. This tendency causes many blogs to be sporadic.  They will be silent for two weeks and suddenly have a dozen posts go live a 2am Saturday morning. If all your readers are using RSS, this might not be that big of problem, but running a successful blog means getting people to integrate it into part of their daily pattern.  Your blog needs to become a habit.  Your reader is more likely to return if they know you will have new content every week or every day than if they think it is just random.

Also keep in mind that one of the things people like about blogs is the “bite sized” content.  Publishing the equivalent of 50 pages spread out over a bunch of posts all at once is probably going to get less brain share than a single post each week or each day,  just because people can’t take all the information in at once.

To summarize:  Write your posts when you have the time and inspiration.  Post them when it is most convenient to your reader.

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The novelty of turning every random scrap of paper kept my normal waste basket empty for the first week. After this fascination wore off I started asking myself “Do I really need to shred this?”

Surprisingly, most of the time I found it was better to shred pretty much anything that came in the mail. Flyers and other mail that gets sent to everyone is spared from shredding, but most of the junk mail goes into the shredder. Here is some of my reasoning for some particular items:

• Fund raising letter from alma mater. I initially put it in the trash, but then dug it out and reduced it to confetti. I have seen some institutions ask you for the name of your college as part of a verification process, so if someone were digging through the trash to locate personal information, there is a chance it could be used to gain access to other private information.
• Envelopes of financial statements. Obviously I filed or shredded the actual statements, but the envelopes, themselves, could give an identity thief a good idea about where to start looking.
• Extended warranty information for my car. Since it identified my vehicle, I figured it could be used pieced together with other information to cause mischief.

Obviously this is being a little on the paranoid side of things, but if you get a decent shredder, the cost of shredding as opposed to trashing a piece of paper is minimal. In fact, it might be less because finely shredded material takes up less space than a can full of trash so you don’t have to empty it as often.

One of the biggest mistakes people make in getting a shredder is buying a machine that is too small for their needs. For me, personally, if I can’t take a credit card offer and reduce the entire thing into bits of paper without even opening the envelope, the shredder isn’t powerful enough. That means shredding all the paper and any fake plastic credit card they sent with the offer. If you have to manually run paper through it one or two sheets at a time, you’ve really messed up your workflow and made it much slower than what you had with a trash can.

I think my chances for identity theft from someone digging through my trash are probably very low, based on where I live. But it is possible that, as identity thieves become more sophisticated, the probability may go up. The less information about me that has gone out through the trash and sits who-knows-where, the better.

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1. Driving into the Light
   When I was younger I could drive through the night without a problem. Now I find that I get very tired driving past about 10:30pm. Tired enough that it isn’t safe. By leaving early in the morning I can drive into the day light. I am much more alert getting up at 2 am and driving until 5 pm than leaving at 10 am and driving until 1 am the next day.
2. Podcasts
   On a long trip I can make the hours fly by listening to technology podcasts. I feel better traveling when I’m getting my transportation and learning something as well. I always make sure to have more podcasts available than what I need. That way, if one is boring, I can just skip to another. I’ve also found that short podcasts are annoying for travel. A bunch of 2 to 4 minute podcasts will start to wear on you because you spend more time on intro and exit music/announcements than actual content.
3. Books on Tape/CD
   Your local library can be a great place to provide edutainment for your next trip. I’ve covered a number of books that I haven’t had time to read while driving on long trips.
4. GPS
   My GPS has really changed how we take trips. It is much more convenient to know that you’ll get off the highway to eat at a particular restaurant in 20 miles than to scour the signs trying to find a place acceptable to eat or get gas. My biggest complaint is that some of our favorite restaurants tend to move and go out of business so the GPS data isn’t up to date. The GPS also lets us get more on a single tank of gas. Since we know where the next gas station is, we can go further before filling back up. On a long trip through rural areas this can cut the number of gas stops by 30% to 40%.
5. Highway Patrol Numbers
   If you are traveling during bad weather, it can be a good idea to jot down the highway patrol numbers before leaving. Many states have a number you can call that will tell you what the road conditions are like. If the weather gets really bad, this can mean the difference between being stuck somewhere on the road and being stuck in a hotel on the edge of where the weather is really bad.
6. Prepare for the Worst
   Keeping a simple first-aid kit, some water, and some food in the vehicle takes a minimal amount of effort. These supplies could help you avoid an inconvenient stop or could potentially save your life. Other supplies like gloves and an extra jacket are good for traveling through colder areas.
7. Can you change a tire? Are you sure?
   It is important that you are able to change a tire on your car. If you don’t know how, ask someone to show you. Even if you do know how to change a tire, make sure you know how on your car. I had a Volkswagen that we purchased used. We were on a trip and had a flat. That is when we discovered that the special adapter that was necessary to take off the locking wheel nut was missing. A service station was finally able to get it off, but we wasted a lot of time trying to deal with this oversight.
8. Vehicle Maintenance
   Make sure your vehicle is getting regular maintenance. Changing the oil and getting regular tuneups can make your car last longer and improve the gas mileage. Most vehicles have some type of regular maintenance schedule for checking out all the types of things that the manufacturer knows can go wrong. This can range from checking and changing the timing belt to inspecting the door hinge and sunroof drains. A few hundred dollars spent on preventative maintenance is much better than a few hundred spent on fixing an issue while you are trying to drive across the country.
9. Check out your car
   This closely related to vehicle maintenance. Take the time to notice your car. Do the brake and tail lights work correctly? Does the oil look ok? Do the tires look like they have enough air? (Edit: Pointed out in the comments, you really need to measure them. Looks can be deceiving.) Do the gauges register normal readings? Does the engine sound normal? Catching a problem when it is small can save a lot on repair expenses and can prevent an inconvenient breakdown on a trip.
10. Overnight Bag
    Packing a single bag that has everything you need should you stop at a hotel will make things much simpler. If you plan to make a long trip in a single day, the overnight bag will give you the option of not unloading your vehicle if you get in late and want to go straight to bed. If you end up staying in a hotel along the way, it is much easier to have a single bag on top instead of digging through multiple suitcases just to find your toothbrush and a clean change of clothes.
11. Ration the Toys
    If you travel with a small child, rationing toys can be a good way to keep them happy. Instead of just giving them a bunch of toys and heading off, divide their toys into several different collections. Give them one collection to play with and when they get bored with that, put it away and give them a different collection. This works particularly well if you use toys that they haven’t seen for awhile. With our daughter, we have a few toys that are just used on long trips. We put them up the rest of the time to maintain as much novelty as possible on trips.
12. Chargers
    Make sure you have a way to keep your cell phone and any other important items charged. We use a power inverter that will let us keep a laptop or phones charged even if we don’t have an auto adapter for it. This way we can take the charges we need to use on wall outlets at our destination and use them to keep things charged in the car as well.
13. Prepare Your Cell Phone
    Having the numbers pre-programmed for your favorite hotel chains and their frequent guest programs will save you time if you have to make an unexpected overnight stop. Programming the numbers for your destination can be very useful if you can’t find it once you get to the right city.
14. Take care of your Eyes
    A good pair of sunglasses can be worth the investment. A recent period of extended driving caused my eyes to get sore and out of focus. I replaced my sunglasses with a higher quality pair and my eyes haven’t bothered me since. Also consider keeping a bottle of eye drops in the car in case your eyes get dry, dusty or tired.

Originally published June 2, 2008.

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However, there are times when creating a to-do list isn’t the best thing. There are times when you need to be able to freely explore and do whatever comes to mind.  Vacations are one example.  If you create a to-do list (and I know some people who do) for your vacation, it might take away from some of what you need to get out of a vacation.

I also find that there are times where I need to focus on a particular area, but without having a pre-defined set of tasks. For example, if I set aside a day to work on improving this website, I may or may not have a list of things I need to do.  Sometimes it might be best for me to just find tasks and do them instead of trying to come up with all the tasks ahead of time.

Spending a day at the library is another example.  If you have a preset idea of exactly what you want to accomplish, you might miss some valuable things you could be do that just come serendipitously your way.

The most likely reason people aren’t able to follow a to-do list during a normal work day is because of unexpected fires and emergencies. You have a great plan, but the whole world seems like it is conspiring to prevent you from touching even one item on your list.  It isn’t that you aren’t accomplishing anything, it is just not the stuff you had on your to-do list.

This is where the idea of a have-done list comes in.  Instead of feeling guilty because you spent a day following no prescribed path, simply take note of what you did.  At the end of the day, make a shortlist of what you accomplished.  This gives you a chance to reflect on how well this approach to work fits with your personality.  It will also help you better understand the types of things that you do naturally and the types of things you avoid.  This understanding can benefit you when trying to use a to-do list in the future.

Basically, my point is to give yourself a way to see what you’ve accomplished without worrying about deciding what you are going to do ahead of time.  Most likely, a to-do list of some type will be the most beneficial for the majority of situations, but making a have-done list at the end of the day helps for those times where a to-do just isn’t appropriate.

Originally published February 26, 2007.

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When I was handed the Grocery List Organizer to review, I was a bit apprehensive as to how well the device would actually function. Fortunately, I have been pleasantly surprised.

Appearance

The Organizer is an oblong-shaped device with a small screen located at the top, a large “Record” button in the middle and a few navigational buttons located near the side. The “Record” button allows the user to press and record a desired item into the speaker on the device. It then brings up several likely results from the library, or precisely the item the user spoke. In the past, I have been a bit disappointed with many types of voice recognition software. In this case, most of the time the first result was what I had wanted the device to retrieve. The device also has a built-in printer and a handy “Print” button on the front just below the “Record” button. And as for having a centrally located list, the device can be stuck to the refrigerator or any other surface that works with the convenient magnets on the back if the Organizer.

Interface and Voice Recognition

Most of the things I thought up and that are regular purchases for me were already in the library. However, the device does allow for the addition of new items to the library. A couple of items I expected to be in the library were not. However, as I said, the device library can be edited to accommodate this need.

Navigating through the menus is a fairly simple and straightforward process. The instructions that come inside the box are accurate and it is worth your time to read them, as it doesn’t take long to figure out how everything works.

Printing

The neatest thing about the device, for me, is that it doesn’t require an ink cartridge to print the list of items. Ink cartridges, as a rule, are fairly expensive and can be a hassle to replace. However, the miniature printer for the SmartShopper gadget takes a simpler route. It comes with two replacement paper rolls and runs off 4 AA batteries, which most households already use on a consistent basis.

When the user selects “Print,” the list comes with items organized into categories such as “Dairy” and so on. This makes a trip around the supermarket potentially more efficient.

Conclusion

For someone that does a whole lot of grocery shopping and errands, the Grocery List Organizer could be a worthwhile investment. It is a bit pricey (around $100), so for the college student living off Ramen Noodles and Mac n’ Cheese, it probably wouldn’t be quite so useful. However, for families that want a way to make grocery shopping a bit easier on the one responsible, the product might save some time and effort looking for lost lists.

Mark’s Notes

Anna did a good job of covering the basic usage of the SmartShopper, but I wanted to add a few of my impressions as well.  The device gives you a glimpse of the future when voice recognition is embeded into all kinds of things.  While it seems a bit overkill as device that replaces a piece of paper and pencil I think it has some promise–particularly if you are dealing with very large lists.

One of the big advantages is that it orders the list by the type of product.  So all the bread products are together all the paper products are together, etc.  If you are like me and have no idea where anything is, it can save you a lot of wasted steps.  The ideal device would print out the products based on where they are found in your store and give you a map to follow. Maybe that is just a guy thing though.  My wife has no problem quickly locating items that take me a good 10 minutes.

The voice recognition is surprisingly accurate and the database has a lot of things you wouldn’t expect.  My brother spent some time trying to stump it with all kinds of odd things. The SmartShopper fared better than I expected.  For example, it has calamine lotion and worcester sauce.   We discovered this can be a pretty entertaining game–pass the device between players seeing who can stump it with a grocery item that it doesn’t recognize.

My two year old saw what we were doing and wanted to try.  She sat down on the floor in front of it, pushed the button and said “deggs!” over and over again.  It never did figure out that she wanted eggs, but then the device isn’t really designed for little people still in the language acquisition stage of life.

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1. Keyring Cleanup – Get rid of any extra keys. If you are like most people, you probably have several keys that you can’t even remember what they go to. Sometimes it helps to keep a separate keychain at home for those odd little keys that you don’t want to lose, but don’t need to carry with you.
2. Card Shuffle – Go through your credit cards, ID cards, supermarket cards and get rid of the ones you won’t use. I keep about 4 cards with me and the rest stay at home in a safe place in case I need them. I put my frequent flyer/hotel rewards cards in my computer bag because it keeps them out of my wallet but insures that they are with me when I travel.
3. Glove Compartment – You probably have a bunch of junk in your glove compartment. Get rid of the expired proof of insurance cards and other random items that you no longer need. If you ever get pulled over, it is much easier to find the required information when you aren’t having to dig through 5 years of expired papers.
4. Medicine Cabinet – Get rid of any expired medicine. It is safer to throw it out then keeping it around. Make note of anything that you are out of like aspirin and add it to your shopping list.
5. Purge Your Paper – Your files will continue to grow unless you do something about it. While you need to take care to keep your important papers, you don’t need to keep every piece of paper forever. Taking 30 minutes to shred papers you no longer need can help put your file cabinet on a diet and make it easier to find things.
6. Books – I love books. When I hit 800 books, I had to go on a major book cleaning binge. There are some books that you will simply never use again. This is particularly true of technology related books that become outdated very quickly. Some books are still worth something now, but you’ll be lucky to sell them for $0.10 in 9 months. Amazon makes a great place to sell books that you don’t need anymore.
7. Software – Most people accumulate various pieces of software that they don’t really need any more. Even if you can’t bring yourself to throw away that Windows 95 CD, consider throwing away the box and simply keeping the keycode and the disk in a CD case. You can easily reduce several shelves worth of boxes to a small zippered pouch.
8. Coins – I have a box full of coins. Since I bank online, I can’t take it in and have them counted and deposited. Instead, I keep it in the car where I can use it for tips at Sonic or toll roads. If you frequently travel toll roads, consider using plastic zip locks to pre-count the toll amount so you don’t have to fumble with a bunch of small coins while cars build up behind you. Chicago toll machines take pennies. There is something incredibly satisfying about dumping 80 pennies into the machine in order to lift the toll gate.

Originally published April 09, 2008.

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