Archives for Office Organization

The convenient Light Switch Rack

I spotted the Light Switch Rack in a recent Museum of Modern Art Store catalog, and immediately started to think about all of the places I could use it in my home and office:

The rack, which is designed by Paul Koh, fits over your lightswitch, and then you attach your switch plate to the front of it. I think it would be terrific to hang the switch next to a back door to hold a dog leash and all of those papers you can’t forget to take with you when you leave. You could use it in an office to hold out-going mail and keys to the bathroom. It would also be great to use as it is in the image to sort mail and hold car keys. The Light Switch Rack is a great way to keep from losing those things you need when you’re on the go.

Popularity: 10% [?]

Posted by Erin on Nov 4, 2009 | 39 Comments | Tweet This

Making exceptions to your uncluttered standards

We all make exceptions to the uncluttered standards we have in place. In my closet are one or two pieces of clothing that don’t fit me right, but for some reason I haven’t been able to give them away to charity. There is a chipped mug in my kitchen cupboards that we got as a wedding gift and the sentimentality of the object pulls at my heartstrings. Also, there is an enormous Jumperoo in my office that makes me wince every time I walk past it, but all the jump, jump, jumping makes my son so blissfully happy that it stays.

Making exceptions to uncluttered standards, though, can become a slippery slope. If we don’t keep a watchful eye on our stuff, eventually our entire homes and offices are filled with clutter again. This is especially true in places where clutter can easily hide — closets, cupboards, and toy bins.

As a result, I have created a new uncluttered standard for my exceptions. It states:

If getting rid of the object causes more distraction than having the object, I keep it.

If I got rid of the chipped mug in my cupboard, I probably wouldn’t think twice about it once it was gone. So, the mug should go.

However, if I got rid of the Jumperoo, I’d feel extreme guilt. I’d know that I had gotten rid of one of my son’s favorite things and it would continue to distract me for weeks to come. Since there isn’t any other reason he shouldn’t have it except for the fact that I hate how much room it takes up in my office, I’m keeping it. (The minute he gets too big for it, though, that thing is gone.)

Do you make exceptions to your uncluttered standards? If so, how do you keep these exceptions from cluttering up your space?

Popularity: 11% [?]

Posted by Erin on Oct 28, 2009 | 43 Comments | Tweet This

What is your motivation to be organized?

On Unclutterer, we write a great deal about the benefits of clearing clutter from our lives. Getting rid of these distractions makes it possible to lead a remarkable life.

We also write about how to organize and create routines once the clutter is gone. One aspect of the how-to process that I particularly like to focus on is the motivation, because if you’re not motivated to be organized you’re not going to be. Why become organized? If you don’t own so much stuff that you’re overwhelmed by it, why does what you have need to have a dedicated “home?”

Plain and simple — it doesn’t. If you truly are living or working in a minimalist space, you probably don’t have a big need to organize what few things you have. However, the level most of us are comfortable living in and working in still contains stuff. We’re not ascetics and we enjoy the conveniences of modern living. As a result, being organized is just as important as being uncluttered.

Michelle Bates Deo at [ real neat ] had an inspiring quote on her site yesterday that sparked my thoughts on the “why organize” question:

He who does not get fun and enjoyment out of every day … needs to reorganize his life. — George Matthew Adams

I think this quote summarizes exactly why I have chosen an organized life. I want each day to be filled with fun and enjoyment. Searching for my keys isn’t fun. Missing a out on a great opportunity isn’t enjoyable. And having a head full of to-dos that should be on paper instead of in my thoughts is neither fun nor enjoyable.

Sure, not every experience in my life qualifies as fun and enjoyable — loading the dishwasher, deleting spam off the server, paying a parking ticket — but the processes I have in place make certain that these chores don’t weigh on me and cause me unnecessary stress and/or anxiety. Which, leaves room for having as much fun and enjoyment as possible.

This is why I work to be organized — Why do you?

Popularity: 9% [?]

Posted by Erin on Oct 22, 2009 | 52 Comments | Tweet This

How I keep project clutter under control

I’m a project guy. It’s rare that I don’t have four or five small projects going on at once, and since I’m not a neat person by nature, it’s very easy for me to let clutter get out of control.

About six months ago, I replaced the shelf that I was storing my printers on with Elfa drawers. This created the opportunity for a whole new project organization system.

Several of the drawers on the left serve as storage for office supplies. Most of the drawers on the right are for my photo printer paper. And the drawers in the center are individual projects.

Each drawer slides all the way out, so when I want to work on a particular project, I can bring the whole drawer to my desk. When I’m finished, the entire project slides back into the cabinet. I never feel like I’m actually cleaning up, but everything remains much more organized than it would otherwise be.

The whole thing is on casters, so I can roll it out away from the wall when I’m printing with really large paper, or I can store unfinished paintings against the wall behind it.

Popularity: 9% [?]

Posted by Brian on Oct 7, 2009 | 19 Comments | Tweet This

Eliminate collaboration clutter with Subversion

Collaborating on files with a group presents a unique set of challenges. Where do you store the files? Who has the latest version? What changed?

Let’s say you’re composing a song about Jessica Fletcher from Murder, She Wrote. You get your band together, you lay down the tracks, and there they are on one computer. You can go back and punch in a solo, cut vocals, or whatever else you need to do. No sweat. But what if one of your bandmates lives 800 miles away?

One option would be to keep sending a file back and forth for each change. The problem is that it’s difficult to keep track of changes, and eventually you each end up with a folder full of files and no way to tell who has the latest version.

A better solution is Subversion, a version control system designed to be a single repository for current and previous versions of files.

In my example, the file happens to be a GarageBand file, but Subversion can just as easily handle any other type of file. Developers have been using it for years to keep track of source code and documentation.

Here’s how it works:

  • Create a Subversion repository. You can create a free repository at Beanstalk
  • Get a Subversion client like Versions. There’s a 21 day free trial period.
  • Create a bookmark to your repository in your client. You can find Versions-specific instructions here
  • Check out a “working copy”
  • Add folders and files to your “working copy,” or make changes to existing ones
  • Commit

When you commit a change, Subversion updates the current version of the file with the changes that you made, but also saves the previous version so that you can revert back to it if you need to. If you try to commit a change to a file that someone else has recently changed, Subversion will let you know. If it’s a text file, you can see what the differences are, and choose to merge the changes together.

091001-subversion

By keeping all your files updated and in one place, Subversion is a great tool for eliminating collaboration clutter.

These are the basics, but If you want to indulge your inner egghead and understand more about how Subversion works, I recommend O’Reilly’s book.

Popularity: 8% [?]

Posted by Brian on Oct 1, 2009 | 17 Comments | Tweet This

Workspaces of the rich and famous

Today’s first post is a quick one. I simply want to direct you to a fun feature that ran last week over on Lifehacker: “Nine Workspaces Where Famous Folks Get Stuff Done.”

We’ve shown Al Gore’s piled space here on Unclutterer before, but the others are new to us. I especially love the video of David Allen’s desk — simple and extremely productive:

Now I’m really curious what all of these famous peoples’ assistant’s desks look like …

Go on and check out the article, and then come back here and share your reactions.

Popularity: 9% [?]

Posted by Erin on Sep 28, 2009 | 12 Comments | Tweet This

The Stash for organizing the small stuff

Organizing small things, specifically small things you regularly need at your fingertips, can be frustrating. Most of the pre-made organizing products for small things aren’t very attractive and/or are made exclusively for drawers.

While searching for a way to organize my son’s bath supplies, I came across an attractive organizing system that is made specifically for small things that sit out on a counter or hang on the wall. The Stash by Boon:

It’s available in white and black, and perfect for the lotions, shampoo, body wash, nail file, and dozens of other little things my son needs that I don’t use. It can easily be repurposed in the future to hold craft and office supplies or tiny toy parts if we ever move into a house with built-in bathroom storage.

Popularity: 10% [?]

Posted by Erin on Sep 24, 2009 | 32 Comments | Tweet This

Reducing résumé clutter

In the comments to last week’s post on organizing a job search, a reader asked if we might be able to put together a résumé organizing post. Since I haven’t put together a résumé in more than five years, I thought it best to turn to a professional. Today we welcome guest author Tiffany Bridge who worked for many years as a recruiter for a job placement company. Welcome, Tiffany.

Usually, uncluttering is about organizing your stuff in such a way that life is simpler for you. Résumé uncluttering is a special challenge because it’s about organizing your stuff so that it’s easier for someone else — most likely someone you’ve never met.

Common causes of résumé clutter and how to combat them

The One-Page Résumé. This is one of the most pernicious lies ever to haunt hiring managers. Yes, the Career Services people at your college were right that you should keep your résumé to one page when you’re just coming out of school, but once you have some real experience to talk about it’s needlessly constraining.

Solution: Your résumé should be exactly as long as you need to describe it, and no longer. For most people, this is about two pages, but even three are fine if you need them. You generally only need to cover about the last 10 years of your experience for most fields.

The Functional Résumé. This is another one of those things that your college Career Services people tell you about, which kind of makes sense when you’re getting out of school, but is completely useless once you’ve had a job or two. Hiring managers want a sense of career progression, how you got to where you are now, and a functional résumé completely obliterates any ability to observe it. It’s also commonly used to play down embarrassing gaps in one’s work history, so the hiring manager starts wondering what you’re trying to hide — firing? nervous breakdown? prison sentence?

Solution: It’s fine to have a functional component of your résumé if you have a job history that’s not a straight line toward your goal or if you’re trying to change fields and need to pull all your relevant skills together. However, you still need to be able to show the actual chronological history of your career.

The Objective Statement. This is a waste of an inch or two of space you are trying to use judiciously. If you’re bothering to apply to a job, clearly your objective is to get that job. No one needs to be told that.

Solution: A summary statement is a nice alternative, especially to pull together disparate experience, as long as you avoid tired phrases like “customer service-oriented,” “team player” or “seasoned professional.” Or you can skip it altogether and just jump straight into “Experience.” Your cover letter will explain your objectives better than a statement on your résumé.

In short, remember that the HR person or hiring manager giving your résumé the first review is going to be scanning, not reading. Keep the most relevant information (your experience) near the top, avoid pointless and outdated conventions, and don’t be afraid to take enough space to help the reader connect the dots of your experience and skills to get a complete picture of your strengths.

Popularity: 11% [?]

Posted by Tiffany on Sep 22, 2009 | 27 Comments | Tweet This

Need motivation? Send an invitation

One of the most fun ways to motivate yourself to unclutter your home and/or office is to invite someone to visit. Whether you decide to throw a party or just ask your cousin over for tea, it’s nice to have a reward for getting your space into shape.

During the fall and winter, I often nest. Stuff comes into my house, but it’s difficult for me to get equal amounts of stuff out of it. My solution is to throw a holiday wine and cheese party every year. I have to clean out the refrigerator to make space for the hors d’oeuvres, I purge all the clutter in the house, and I make sure that everything I own has a “home.” I also call in a service a few days in advance to help me get all of the nooks and crannies that usually get overlooked a good cleaning. Then, after all of my hard work, I get to celebrate my orderly space with my friends.

When I worked in a traditional office, I would set up a meeting time with my boss and invite him/her to my space. The day before the meeting I would dust, go through what was on my bulletin boards, and get my office into its best state. Sure, my boss came by my office every day, but he/she didn’t usually spend more than a few seconds relaying information to me. The sit-down meetings were motivation to really improve my office.

If you’re looking for a push to get you uncluttering and organizing, check your calendar and send an invitation.

Popularity: 13% [?]

Posted by Erin on Sep 19, 2009 | 22 Comments | Tweet This

Recovering from an e-mail interruption

The October issue of Real Simple magazine quotes a Microsoft and University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign study that claims it takes 17 minutes “for a worker interrupted by e-mail to get back to what she was doing.”

If this statistic is true, and I know from experience that there is a refractory time after any distraction, it is strong evidence against leaving the notification alert active on your e-mail program. Instead, you should schedule time in your day to check your e-mail. Based on the type of office environment you work in, you might need to check your e-mail at the top of every hour. However, most people can get by only checking their e-mail two to four times during the work day.

I also recommend checking e-mail during the times when you are usually distracted during the day. Whether this is when others tend to interrupt you or when your mind typically wanders on its own, it’s best not to try to do high-functioning activities when you plan to work through your e-mail inbox. For me, this is right after lunch when I find it difficult to concentrate for more than a few minutes at a time. I check e-mail, return phone calls, and do a little bit of filing.

Try turning off the notification alert on your e-mail system and only checking e-mail on a schedule and see if it improves your productivity. If the interruption refractory period really is 17 minutes, you should immediately notice significant gains in your focus.

Popularity: 10% [?]

Posted by Erin on Sep 17, 2009 | 23 Comments | Tweet This

Organizing your job search

My sister-in-law recently finished a graduate program in documentary film making and has spent the past three weeks looking for her next project. I know very little about the movie industry and job hunting in it, but I know that my sister-in-law is extremely organized and so I wanted to learn more about her search.

I asked her how she has navigated the process, and she gave me a detailed response that I wanted to share with anyone who may also be looking for a new gig:

Dedication. Searching for a job is my full-time job. I have set hours for when I’m at my desk researching, corresponding, interviewing, and pursuing leads. This week I’m on target to work 40 hours at it. A job isn’t going to fall in my lap — I have to go after it.

I have to be organized with my search. I keep a spreadsheet of all of my job leads. It includes: date applied, company, position, contact name, contact information, status of lead, notes, and a correspondence log that links to my e-mail. I also have a group of bookmarks with job sites that I frequently search in my web browser and a folder with targeted lists in my address book of job-related contacts. I have set up alerts for follow-up actions I need to take in my calendar and automatic searches that run on sites like Craigslist based on keywords.

In addition to her searching, she also has spent a significant amount of time preparing her targeted cover letters, resume, and building her website and IMDB page showcasing her work. She attends as many networking and professional events that her schedule will allow and talks to any and everyone about her search.

Have you recently been searching for a job or work in hiring? If so, leave your tips for an organized job search in the comments section.

Popularity: 8% [?]

Posted by Erin on Sep 17, 2009 | 21 Comments | Tweet This

Prioritizing uncluttering and organizing projects

Reader Jane wrote in and asked us how she should decide where to begin uncluttering and organizing in her home. I got the feeling from her e-mail that she feels overwhelmed by the tasks ahead of her and doesn’t know where to start.

I always suggest starting in one of three ways:

  1. Small. Tackling a drawer or single shelf in a cupboard can be a simple step moving in the right direction. You’ll get a quick boost of motivation and figure out your uncluttering and organizing pace. From something small, you can move onto another small project or gradually enlarge your scope.
  2. Grating on you. When you are in your home or office, what is the thing that causes you to grumble the loudest? Whatever is the one thing that irks you the most is where you should begin your uncluttering and organizing project.
  3. First thing you see. If the first thing you see when you wake up in the morning is chaotic, your entire day starts off on a bad foot. Organize your closet, your bedroom, or your coffee station if they are where you first focus. At work, organize the first place you see when you walk in the door. Having these Firsts organized will help you move onto the Seconds and Thirds.

I also recommend establishing a minimum of three piles when sorting through your things and creating a plan of action for what you want to accomplish before you dump or pull everything out of your cluttered space. A little preparation will pay off in the long run.

Also, don’t run out and buy organizing supplies before you know what you’ll need. Wait until all of the clutter is gone before deciding how it’s going to be contained. You may find that you don’t need any extra bins, boxes, or doo-dads than what you already own.

How do you prioritize your uncluttering and organizing projects? Add your suggestions for Jane in the comments.

Popularity: 12% [?]

Posted by Erin on Sep 14, 2009 | 20 Comments | Tweet This

Organizing for convenience

When putting items away in cupboards, closets, drawers, or cabinets, it’s best to put those things that you use the most often in the easiest places to reach. This seems obvious, but even in my kitchen I’ve recently found that I wasn’t following this principle in all of my cupboards.

I had wine glasses on the first shelf of my cupboard and coffee mugs on the third shelf. I might have wine a few nights a week with dinner, but every morning I have coffee without fail. I switched up the contents on the two shelves and love the convenience.

Check your linen closets, your drawers at work, and your clothes dressers to make sure you’ve organized your supplies for easy access. If you’re standing when you access these spaces, you want those things you need most often to be between shoulder and knee height. If you’re sitting when you access these spaces, you want those things you need most often to be reachable without standing up or bending over.

Popularity: 10% [?]

Posted by Erin on Sep 8, 2009 | 13 Comments | Tweet This

Are you prepared?

September is National Preparedness Month and it’s a great time to make sure you are organized for emergencies.

Do you have a first aid kit assembled? Are your favorite photographs digitized and saved securely online? Do you have a fire escape route for your home and office? Does your family have local and out-of-area meet-up plans in case you ever get separated in an evacuation? If not, now is the time to get organized.

The Homeland Security and FEMA website Ready.gov has additional tips for getting your home and business prepared for an emergency. Also, sound off in the comments about ways your family has prepared and organized for emergencies. The more information we share, the more prepared all of us can be.

Popularity: 10% [?]

Posted by Erin on Sep 3, 2009 | 13 Comments | Tweet This

Deadheading for the future

Professional organizer extraordinaire Monica Ricci gives a grounded perspective in her guest post on the process of uncluttering and organizing. You can follow Monica on Twitter, Facebook, and her blog for more organizing tips.

Deadheading. It sounds like either a grisly ritual or a summer vacation following your favorite band on tour. But it’s neither. Deadheading is simply the practice of removing the dead flowers from a plant. The reason you deadhead is because if you don’t, the flower will stop blooming, and how disappointing would that be?

All plants have one goal — to go to seed so they can perpetuate their little flower family. Creating flowers is part of that process, and if you leave the dead blooms on the plant, it will stop blooming and concentrate on going to seed. However, when you interrupt that cycle by removing old blooms, the plant then puts its energy into strengthening itself and producing more flowers in a continued effort to go to seed. The more you cut off the dead blooms, the more fresh blooms you’ll get.

This is a lot like organizing your life. The more you clear out and eliminate what’s “dead” in your life, the more space you create for opportunity, love, and success in the future. You have more energy to put toward strengthening yourself and blooming even more gloriously than you did before.

Popularity: 10% [?]

Posted by Monica on Aug 31, 2009 | 9 Comments | Tweet This

Storing small memory cards

I don’t know if I’ve ever publicly admitted this, but I’m a gamer. I play at least half an hour every day, and usually more than that. I have numerous electronic gaming systems and even a huge collection of board games for when I want to be away from a computer. I’ll play any game at least once, and when I find a favorite I’ll spend days working to master it.

I didn’t grow up playing video games like many of my peers, but got into it in college thanks to my friend Clark. (Clark also introduced Stevie Case to computer gaming their freshman year of college … small world.) I like solving puzzles and gaming is my constant outlet for that aspect of my personality, and I’ll always be in debt to Clark for being my guide.

There are a couple Nintendo DS Lite games coming out in the next few weeks that I’ve pre-ordered to take with me while I’m traveling for my book publicity. Unfortunately, I don’t have a very organized method for taking all of my DS Lite games (about 30) with me. After a little research, I’m looking at getting one of these:

A Memory Card Album with anti-static pages that can hold three games (or SD cards or MMC cards or other small discs) per page:

Or, a Memory Card and Manual Holder that has places for games and the instruction manuals that come with the games. It too could easily hold other small memory cards:

Do you have multiple games that are stored on small discs or do you carry small cards for work or your camera? How do you keep them stored in a safe and organized fashion? I’d like to know what you use. The smaller memory cards get, I think the more we’re going to address this issue.

Popularity: 11% [?]

Posted by Erin on Aug 20, 2009 | 31 Comments | Tweet This

A recycled office

The second post on today’s theme of “Wow, that is cool!” is about an amazing office that I found last week on Recyclart. This artist cut up and painted multiple damaged tables to create the most ingenious office shelving I have ever seen. For a relatively low cost, this artist created a one-of-a-kind organized workspace:

Proof that interesting, functional, organized, and amazing design doesn’t have to be expensive.

Popularity: 10% [?]

Posted by Erin on Aug 17, 2009 | 33 Comments | Tweet This

Keeping your personal brand organized: An interview with Dan Schawbel

I’ve written a short article about office organizing that appears on page 25 of the August 2009 issue of Personal Branding Magazine. (You can check out a free sample of the magazine online.) Since we talk about office organizing quite a bit on Unclutterer, I thought it might be fun to instead let the magazine’s editor, Dan Schawbel, talk to us about a topic he knows in great detail and one that we rarely discuss on the site — personal branding.

In addition to being the editor of the magazine, Dan is also the author of Me 2.0: Build a Powerful Brand To Achieve Career Success. If after reading the following interview you want to learn more about personal branding, I recommend checking out Dan’s book, his site, his magazine, and his column in Business Week.

What is your method for helping people to identify their personal brand to stand out in the crowd?

There are four steps in the personal branding process I’ve developed: discover, create, communicate and maintain. You can’t create a brand unless you know what you want to be known for or labeled as. This isn’t a job title we’re talking about here. It’s all about positioning yourself in a crowded market by developing a personal brand statement, which contains your expertise and your target audience. For example: Top doctor for young adults in San Diego. As long as this statement is backed up, then you can stand out, demand a premium salary and become more respected and well known. Right now you’re asking “what if I’m not an expert” and the answer is simple, become the expert. I started off as a “personal branding spokesman.” Once you become proven, you can transition, but you have to start somewhere.

Brand discovery can be challenging, so you may want to survey the people who know you best. Ask them to describe you and give you feedback on what they think you enjoy. Ask yourself “what makes me stay up at night”? Write down your strength and what projects and/or college classes you enjoyed. Once you discover your brand, it will change the way you see yourself, give you confidence and ultimately make you successful, as long as you put the effort in.

What are the key elements of personal branding every worker should be scheduling time for in their day?

Each day, there are a lot of tasks you can do, depending on how much time you have allocated to building your brand. If you haven’t discovered your brand in the first place, then you should invest time in figuring out what you’re passionate about, what you’re expertise is (or what you want it to be) and what your support system looks like. You need all three to succeed and I call this the “triangle of success.” It’s not about finding a job anymore. Instead, you want to position yourself for the career you desire. You should do your homework to see what’s out there and make a list of your strengths, weaknesses, the opportunities you have and the threats (or factors that may impede on your success).

Another thing you should do is to follow conversations online, using google.com/alerts, search.twitter.com, backtype.com, and others. Set alerts and/or search for your full name, topics in your field and competitors. This will keep you up-to-date with the latest happenings in YOUR world, as well as keep you relevant and knowledgeable.

I also recommend that you publish one blog post per day. The post should relate to the career you want to create and be unique. It’s hard to stand out in the blogosphere now with over 200 million blogs, so you have to be creative to stand out.

It’s so tempting to waste time on social media sites instead of using them efficiently for work and personal branding. Any tips on how to use these services in a productive way?

You have to first recognize your current situation, both financially and responsibility wise. If you have three six year old children, two pet dogs, and a full-time job, then you might not be able to invest twenty hours per week using social media sites to build your personal brand. Second, you’ll want to concentrate on only a small amount of social media sites, or your brand will be spread too thin and you won’t be able to manage it. I recommend that you join Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn (the big 3), while discovering and joining social networks in your industry. For instance, if you’re a real estate agent, join activerain.com or if you’re an entrepreneur, you may want to join partnerup.com.

It’s quite easy to waste time on social media sites because they are fun and there are a lot of features and people to connect with, along with unlimited opportunities. The smart thing to do is to allocate a certain amount of hours per week to each social media site that you can benefit from and keep to that schedule.

How do you keep networking contacts organized? Do you have any services or advice to recommend to others for keeping all the information gathered at networking events stored in an organized and meaningful manner?

I use a simple Excel spreadsheet to log all of my contacts and worksheets within that spreadsheet to separate different types of contacts. For example, one worksheet is called “media contacts,” where I list the names of all the journalists I’ve corresponded and another one is “personal contacts,” where I list the names of friends and family. LinkedIn.com is another great tool to organize your contacts and export the list, which you can print out as well. JibberJobber.com, a company owned by my friend Jason Alba, is a highly regarded networking database tool, which allows you to track jobs you apply for, in addition to personal and professional relationships. I wouldn’t consider myself the most organized person at all. I use most of my energy executing ideas and index my contacts later. For instance, I’ll use Gmail and create a category and put in contacts who have emailed me to be stored there, until I have time to log them.

What do you believe is the most difficult area of personal branding to keep organized and clutter free?

Aside from building a strong network contact list, it can be hard to manage your online presence as it moves through the web. The reason is because we’re all constantly moving and we’re swimming in an ocean of information everyday, so it’s hard to make your brand consistent. Also, technology has changed rapidly. Just Monday, Facebook bought FriendFeed, Facebook launched it’s own real-time search engine and Google launched a test website for their new search engine. You have to keep up with everything that is going on and if you subscribe to Mashable.com, TechCrunch.com and ReadWriteWeb.com, you’ll have a pulse over the greater tech industry. The web is a cluttered place, so you should find the blogs with the most value and review them everyday. This can obviously be tedious, but you don’t want to be left out, while your competitors are paying attention.

Is there ever a time along a career path to stop maintaining relationships with others in your industry?

If you do that, then you will be in severe shape, especially if you lose your job. I’m a firm believe in the power of networking and the social equity that brings. For instance, when I needed an intern this summer, I tweeted about it and several of my contacts retweeted that internship opening. In turn, I received many resumes and eventually hired three interns. Without the social equity to make that happen, it would have been a gruesome summer. The older you get, the more important it is to have a strong network, especially in your industry. I did a poll on my blog and 60% of people got a job through networking. For executives, that number jumps up to over 75%. Building your network before you need it is required for career success, both online and offline.

Popularity: 9% [?]

Posted by Erin on Aug 13, 2009 | 12 Comments | Tweet This

Don’t forget your materials

Dewalt and Ford have created an RFID tagging and tracking system that automatically checks to make sure that you haven’t left any power tools at a work site. The system is convenient for contractors who drive Fords and use DeWalt tools, and probably a worthwhile investment for their multiple thousands of dollars of equipment.

Personally, I have no use for such a system, but I like the idea of an organized tracking method to make sure that you have all of your equipment.

When I was teaching, I helped a student with severe ADHD develop a system to help her get between home and school and back home again with all of her materials. The program was based on counting to three. Her lunch box was marked #1, her daily planner was #2, and her “inbox” in her locker was #3.

She had two sets of books (one left at school, and her parents rented a second set to leave at home), so all she needed to do was count “1, 2, 3″ to make sure she had everything in her backpack at the start and end of the day. The “inbox” in her locker was just a tray like what you might use for an inbox on your desk at work. As she moved between classes, she would put all of the things she needed to take home with her that day into #3 — notebooks, papers for her parents to read, worksheets. Then, everything from the tray was dumped into her backpack as she counted “1, 2, 3″ at the end of the school day. At home, she had a similar tray on her desk where she placed her homework and such as she completed it. In the morning, she just made certain that she had 1, 2, and 3. Her rate of completed take-home assignments went from 30 percent up to above 90 percent in just the first week of using the new system.

Since then, I find myself creating numbered lists to help me make sure that I have all of my materials when I’m traveling for work. My laptop is #1, my power cable is #2, and my handouts are usually #3. Before I leave a workshop room I ask myself, “Do I have 1, 2, and 3?”

Contractors who don’t drive Fords or use DeWalt tools can do something similar with sticky dots and a magic marker. Number the equipment as you put it into the truck, and then make note of the highest number you reach. As you’re leaving a work site, just count up the numbers to make sure you aren’t missing any of your equipment. Easy as pie.

How do you check to make sure that you have all of your materials when you leave a work site? Feel welcome to share your creative solutions in the comments.

Popularity: 10% [?]

Posted by Erin on Aug 11, 2009 | 38 Comments | Tweet This

The Daily System from Pottery Barn

Like most US households, I received the latest Pottery Barn catalog in the mail on Monday. Toward the back of the catalog is a two-page spread on their home organizing, wall-mounted Daily System.

The Daily System attaches to the wall by a series of rods and has options in black, white and brown. Modular options include: corboard, letter bin, office organizer, spice rack and jars, whiteboard calendar, weekly planner, linen pinboard, iPod speaker station/whiteboard, electronic device recharge station/whiteboard, a digital frame/corkboard and cubby, and an HDTV.

The system would be perfect for a kitchen, foyer, child’s room, or a mudroom.

Popularity: 11% [?]

Posted by Erin on Jul 22, 2009 | 35 Comments | Tweet This