How do you use hanging folders? I use hanging folders to hold regular manilla folders. So I may have a hanging folder for "Personal Taxes" and another for "Business Taxes". Then within each of those folders, I'll have one for each year "2004 Personal Taxes", "2005 Personal Taxes", etc. (I talked about this in a previous Tuesday's Tip.) Many people organize their files alphabetically. This isn't a bad idea, but if you have a few files, it may be slower than some of the alternatives. For example: Every time you use a hanging folder put it in the front of the drawer. That way the most frequently used folders are always in the front and the less frequently used folders slowly make their way … [Read more...] about Reader Question – Hanging Folders
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Links On Remote Assistants
I asked my remote executive assistant to put together a list of a few posts that discuss working with a remote/virtual assistant. Below are the results: The Personal Outsourcing Olympics: Bangalore Butler or American Assistant? - Tim Ferriss Very appealing but informative article on the latest trend of entrepreneurs - Outsourcing. Having had a positive experience on all the jobs assigned to a virtual assistant, the author invites others to give their comments through this article. For a novice at outsourcing, he has chalked names of reputed companies in this field. How to get your virtual assistant to schedule your doctor’s appointments - Ramit Sethi Should you have problems … [Read more...] about Links On Remote Assistants
Simple Timesaver
When you need new socks, get rid of all the old ones and just buy all the same type. It is much easier to match if all of the white socks match each other and all of your dark socks match each other. … [Read more...] about Simple Timesaver
Six Tips for Eating Out Frugally
Most of the time, people go out to eat, not just for the food, but for social and entertainment purposes. These six suggestions will help you get the experience at a "discount". Order water - In the US, you'll usually pay $1 to $3 for a soft drink with your meal. Water is healthier and can often reduce the cost of your meal by 10% to 20%. Go out for lunch - Many places charge more for the evening meal than for lunch. Sometimes the evening portions are bigger, but this isn't always the case. If you go out for lunch you'll often save 35% to 50% on your meal. (This seems to be particularly true for Chinese restaurants.) Go out just for dessert - Eating at home and going out for … [Read more...] about Six Tips for Eating Out Frugally
Simple Tip
When buying electronics, try to get items that can be charged using a standard USB cable. It makes it a lot easier to travel when one charger fits multiple devices. … [Read more...] about Simple Tip
Breaking the Internet
I just saw a video where someone explained that typing Google into Google can "break the internet". I sent the link to my dad and then went and tried it at Google. I immediately (I'm not joking) got a message from my remote executive assistant saying that her internet was down. I think I broke the internet in India. Sorry about that everyone. … [Read more...] about Breaking the Internet
Excellence – Perfection vs. Efficiency
I use to work for an organization that put a lot of emphasis on "excellence". This sounds like a good thing, but it was very poorly defined and tended to become an excuse for wreaking mayhem with the budget. Spending 100% more for a 10% gain toward perfection didn't seem like what I would define as excellence. As I thought I about it, I realized the the problem stemmed from equating excellence with perfection. Excellence is actually made up of more than one dimension. Perfection is one of those dimensions, but you must have another dimension that recognizes we are dealing with finite resources. Usually this is best represented as cost in monetary terms, but it could also represent … [Read more...] about Excellence – Perfection vs. Efficiency
Plaxo Question
Has anyone found a good way to sync Plaxo (an online addressbook) with a Blackberry over the air? Any ideas or suggestions would be helpful. … [Read more...] about Plaxo Question
Interviews
I've been busy working on a new set of interviews with over 100 different people. I'm pretty excited about how this is turning out. We'll have some more on this late on the week. … [Read more...] about Interviews
Reader Question – Organized Work Desk
How should I organize my desk at work Get a file cabinet. Most of the junk on a work desks is paper that should be filed. Take the time to setup a reasonable filing system and then commit to keeping your papers stored in the file cabinet. Limit your personal clutter. A family picture or two is fine, but 20 framed photos, three baseballs, 2 snowglobes, and 4 unidentified objects is a bit excessive. Keep your extra stuff at home. Don't use your desktop for storage. If you need additional storage space, get some boxes you can put on the shelf or a cabinet of drawers. If you use the top of your desk for storage it will quickly accumulate many more items. Route your wires. Computer and … [Read more...] about Reader Question – Organized Work Desk