How do I access my email from a foreign country? In most countries you can check your email just like you do in the US. If you are using a web mail provider like Gmail or Yahoo, you just have to find an internet connection. Many countries have internet cafes where you can use their computer for the internet by paying an hourly fee. If you are in China or another country where they limit citizen's access to certain sites on the internet, it might be more difficult to check your email. If you are traveling with a laptop and want to download your mail, things should still work about the same as in the US. Many internet cafes will let you connect into their network with your laptop for the … [Read more...] about Reader Question – Checking Email Abroad
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American Express Concierge 3
On Mondays we've been discussing working with a remote assistant. We've taken a brief side trail for a few weeks looking at actually trying to use American Express' concierge service. This week I'm going to show an attempt to use the service to find housing in Mexico. My wife and I lived in Durango Mexico for a few months and couldn't seem to find any type of furnished housing. I figured the concierge would be good at locating this type of thing--especially since dealing with lodging in other countries seems to be something American Express advertises they do well. Here is the message I sent: I am looking at spending some time in Mexico next fall. Specifically I am looking at the … [Read more...] about American Express Concierge 3
Reader Question – Credit Cards
Why do people use credit cards? If you have financial self discipline, using a credit card can be much safer than using cash or debit cards. Credit cards offer you better protection from fraud. They are also setup to protect your rights as a consumer because you can leverage the credit card company against a merchant who sold you a defective product. In a previous post, I discussed 4 Reasons You Should Use A Credit Card. Many people are conditioned to avoid credit cards at all costs. This is a good strategy if you have no financial discipline--just a like an alcoholic should steer clear of even driving near a bar. If you treat your credit card like a checking account and keep track of … [Read more...] about Reader Question – Credit Cards
American Express Concierge 2
Last Monday we looked at using the American Express concierge service for scheduling a tuneup on my car. This week we will try something else. I have been looking for radiometers to send as a corporate gift to some of my clients. (A radiometer looks light a light bulb but instead of a filament it has metal vanes that spin in the sunlight.) Unfortunately most of the ones I've found for sale were packaged for kids science experiments. The radiometers are fine, but the packaging doesn't look very "corporate". I figured this sounded like a job for super concierge, so I called them with a request. I explained what I was looking for and in particular asked them to find a radiometer with … [Read more...] about American Express Concierge 2
Reader Question – Desk Organization
What should you have on your desk? Everything you need to do your job and as little as possible to distract you. Is a clean desk an organized desk? Not necessarily. If you clean your desk simply be stuffing everything into your drawers, your clean desktop may just be superficial. The best measurement of organization is how quickly you can find anything you need. If you have to spend a lot of time hunting for files and bits of information, you are not organized--no matter how clean your desktop is. Also see the post 12 Tips for an Organized Desk. On Fridays we publish questions from our readers. If you have a question you'd like to see answer here, please send it to … [Read more...] about Reader Question – Desk Organization
Michael Sampson on the Dvorak Keyboard
We've talked about the Dvorak keyboard before when I learned Michael Sampson was making the switch. Since it has been a few months, I thought it would be interesting to checkup and see how it was going so I sent him a few questions about the change. checkout his responses below. What promoted you to switch to the Dvorak keyboard? There was one main reason that I switched: I was suffering from severe RSI in my left lower arm and hand, and I needed to find a better way of doing things. I knew of the Dvorak layout, and had recently read Mark Hurst's excellent book (Bit Literacy) in which he talked about his own transition from QWERTY to Dvorak. So I did some online study on the Dvorak … [Read more...] about Michael Sampson on the Dvorak Keyboard
Reader Question – Lighting for your office
I have an office in my basement. My desk is a table with a fluorescent light over it. My question: should my desk be parallel or perpendicular to the light for best lighting? Thank you for your time and attention to this question.Sincerely,Lou Sartori Louisville, KY If the light is over the table, you will probably get the most even light by having the light parallel to the table. If it is perpendicular to the table your body and objects will tend to cast more of a shadow. With the parallel arrangement you have more light hitting your workspace from different directions which will help keep shadows off your work surface. I'm assuming you are talking about a 3 or 4 foot fluorescent light … [Read more...] about Reader Question – Lighting for your office
The Promise of Sleep — Book
Sometimes we focus on the wrong things. For example, it is easy to focus on trying to do more during the day while short changing our sleep at night. This book looks at how and why we sleep. It is based on a lot of sleep research, but the writing style is very accessible and makes for an interesting read. For example, the author explores the right balance of sleep to let you fall asleep quickly and wake up without feeling worn out. He talks about situations where people sleep too much and then suffer from insomnia until their body gets tired enough to fall asleep again. One of the more interesting concepts in the book is the idea of a "sleep debt". This theory basically says … [Read more...] about The Promise of Sleep — Book
Passive Income
Last week we talked about defining wealth in terms of long you can go without a job before running out of money. With this definition of wealth we can increase our wealth from two sides. One side is to reduce our spending the other is to increase our savings and our income that isn't tied to work. Money that you don't have to work for is usually called passive income. This includes interest and other types of income that you get more or less automatically. Here is a list of some passive income sources: Interest income - Money that the bank pays you for the use of your money. Rental income - Real estate lease or other sources of income in exchange for the use of property. Royalties … [Read more...] about Passive Income
Remote Executive Assistant – Some Lessons
Last Monday I wrote about my experience with using a remote executive assistant in the US. It didn't work out so well, but the experiment provided a lot of insight into how to work with a remote assistant. Here are some takeaways from that experience. 1. Make sure you have a good project management system in place. You need a way to track the work assigned and keep track of time spent. If you don't know how much time is being spent on each project it is going to be very difficult to understand what is working well and what isn't. Without a good time tracking system, you may not know something is wrong until you've spent a considerable amount of money. It is possible to keep track of all … [Read more...] about Remote Executive Assistant – Some Lessons