My Thunderbird Part 1

I love Thunderbird. I don't know if I like the actual program half as much as I enjoy the ability to make the e-mail client do whatever I want through extensions. I figured I would write a series of posts to expound on why I love Thunderbird and let you all know some of my favorite extensions and tips that make my life easier. Feel free to click on the images for higher resolution screen shots.

First, here is what my Thunderbird 2.0 looks like most of the time.


When I am sorting through my inbox, I like to hide the sidebar with "L" and it looks a little cleaner"And yes, I actually do keep my inbox clean despite receiving quite a bit of e-mail every day.

Here is a screen shot of the list of my extensions that I have installed at this point:


In the next post I will go over some of the extensions and their functions.

E-mail Etiquette

I hope we all know what the "TO:" field in our e-mail is for, but lifehack.org has a short article about the use of the lesser used fields. This article will give you a quick check-up in e-mail etiquette and maybe even teach you something you don't already know.

To BCC or Not To BCC

Food for the Brain

Want to get smarter without having to work at it? Don't we all. If you don't find eating to be too much work, these brain foods could put you on the fast track to becoming the next Albert Einstein.

The Top 5:

• 1. Wild Salmon
• 2. Cacao Beans
• 3. Matcha (Tencha-grade green tea powder)
• 4. Acai berries & Blueberries
• 5. Coffee beans

Top 5 Brain Health Foods

Turn off the TV

So it's "Turn off your TV Week." Do you know of any nonconformists? If you don't feel right reporting them to Big Brother, take matters into your own hands with long-distance and undercover ways to turn off televisions without a remote. No rifles either.

Turn Off The TV
from Make.com.

Remove Your Own Car Scratches

The tools used in this article sound like a bomb recipe: Super glue, aluminum foil, toothpaste... I'm sure that none of us ever place our beloved vehicles into compromising situations that cause them to be scratched, but let's say you bought a used car that had some scratches. This articles has a few different ways to get rid of those scratches. If one of them works, it could save you serious money considering body shop rates these days. Videos and pics at the link.

Removing Car Scratches
from WiseBread

Hints for Writing a Great Speech

Sorry Dad, but I guess we can learn something from Lincoln. I guess you could call these methods of manipulating people. Lifehack.org has a list of hints for writing a speech that are drawn from Abraham Lincoln. Some of these should be helpful.

10 Tips from Lincoln On Writing a Speech

Do Anything With PDF

Fill out PDF forms online, convert docs to PDF, print to PDF, merge PDF files, and find some great, lightweight readers. Check out this list of programs and services for dealing with PDFs.

Cool PDF Tools from MakeUseOf.com

13 Government Resources For Small Business

This list has some helpful information that can keep small business owners out of trouble. It also provides some advice on issues such as legal setups, using credit reports, retirement plans. See if you can find anything useful.

13 Government Resources for Small Business

Find Someone To Do Your Chores

Trying to find someone to take care of those mundane tasks that are eating up your schedule. Enter your personal concierge: DoMyStuff.com. The site is just getting started and the ratio of tasks to assistants is miniscule, but it has spectacular possibilities. This site matches those people looking to have their tasks done and those looking to do the tasks(obviously for pay). The people looking for work, bid on the tasks that you put up. Tune your kid into this site and have him earn his spending money. D0MyStuff takes a cut of all money that passes through the site. See if you can make it useful.


DoMyStuff

Do An Online Price Check Away From Home

Frucall allready has an 800 number that offers similar features, but still uses airtime minutes. With their new texting service can get the same info by sending an SMS message with a product’s UPC or ISBN number.

While the service is still in beta, text messages must have the prefix: “FRU” and be sent to: "32075". Frucall says they will be offering a dedicated number and dropping the prefix once the service moves out of beta.

Frucall can also bookmark items and save your inquire history. You’ll have to register for a free account.

Frucall

Firefox Windows Media Plugin

If you are like me, you wouldn't use anything but Firefox, but there are small issues with our favorite browser. The new Windows Media Plugin can cross one off the list. This plugin makes it much easier for Firefox to play windows media videos in your browser. Nothing fancy, just something to make life easier.

Window Media Plugin download page

How to Get Out of Your Cell Contract

Are you lusting after that new phone, but it is only available through another carrier, and you have another year left in your contract? Are you moving to an area where your provider has awful service, but you are stuck till the end of your contract? Apparently, you are not the only one in said situation. Celltrade.com is a service designed to match up people looking for shorter-term contracts and those looking to get out of their contracts. This provides a unique way to get around those exorbitant Early Termination Fees.


Celltrade

Improve Yourself Through Internet Media

"You will be the same in five years time as you are today except for the people you meet and the books you read." -Charles T. Jones. Don't forget the audio books and online video clips:

Free Audio Books from SimplyAudioBooks
Free How To Video from 5Min Life Videopedia

What To Do With Tax Money

Haven't figured out what to do with the tax money? Check out this list from The Simple Dollar. Even if you have already decided where your money is headed, maybe you should check it against this list to see where it fits in.

Ten Great Things To Do With That Tax Return - And Five Things Not To Do With It

Wrightspeed X1

This vehicle is not your everyday electric car! Stats like 0-60 in 3.07 seconds(117 feet) and equivalent 170 mpg are not often mentioned in the same sentence. The Wrightspeed X1 is indeed and unusual car. With a completely reworked drivetrain, the X1 is based on the ultra lightweight Ariel Atom.
Wrightspeed
Ariel Atom

New Technology For Home Security

Looking for a new and creative way to deal with kleptomaniacs? The FogShield PB-240 from ShatterGard provides the basis for some great new security systems. The FogShield can be wired to external sensors, that when tripped cause it to emit a non-toxic fog. Quite a bit of fog actually. 2,000 square feet worth in 15 seconds! Try running away from that. The fog supposedly has a fresh minty smell and dissipates in 45 minutes. Aside from keeping the thieves stumbling about the house looking for the exit, check out these applications:

• Car alarm systems - Can you imagine a car thief sticking around a car that is completely filled with and emitting a dense fog? Do you think he'll wait 45 minutes to drive it away?

• Combine with weapons - Can you imagine using the USB BB Gun with an infrared camera in conjunction with the fog system? The thief would never know what hit him.

• Combine with containment - Shut and lock the exits and watch (on infrared camera) the thief stumble around until the authorities arrive

Engadget Article
Photo: Business Wire

Save Power With Standby

Looking to cut down your electric bill? Who isn't? Before you start making your own candles, check out this tutorial on how to use standby to save you a bit on the power bill. The detailed instructions and screenshots will get you through the process like you were an old pro. Afterwards, you can pat yourself on the back for doing your part to save the environment.

S3 Standby Done Right from Tweak Your Life

Edit Video Online

Makeuseof.com put together a great list of online video editing services. Don't feel like keeping a memory hogging app for video editing on your system? Check out these websites that can handle it all online. You would be surprised at what you can do.

18 Online Tools to Edit, Mix and Enhance your Videos

How To Organize Owners Manuals

There is no convenient way to store owners manuals. They come in all sizes and shapes and rarely have a cover that is stiff enough to keep them from deforming in to unseemly shapes on a bookshelf. Mine end up in a file and are rarely seen or organized. These tips will slim down this file considerably.

Jeri Dansky's April Newsletter

Personal Finance Software

I don't know if they can't count, or if I am missing something, but Consumerist put together a list of links to popular personal finance programs(7 free and 4 pay). There are options for different operating systems. Some of these items are templates or web based services, but you should be able to find something helpful.

8 Free Personal Finance Management Programs

(Let me know how many you count)

Retro Gaming Galore

Do you miss those old games that you used play on your Commodore 64? Do you long for that retro gaming experience? Check out cs64.com for quite a few of them as Java based online games.

c64s.com
from Freeware Genius

I Want a Firefox Extension To...

Looking for a little known extension that will make Firefox the ultimate browser customized just for you? You would be hard pressed not to find it in this extensive list organized by function.

I want a Firefox extension to...

Insult Generator

Can't dream up an insult worthy of the object of your wrath? Stick this handy little list in thy mammering weather-bitten fustilarian, and you will never be without a unique insult!

Shakespeare Insult Kit
Web Insult Generator

Montastic Free Website Monitoring Service

Want to keep an eye on your website, without checking it over and over again? Monastic can check up to 100 websites every 10 minutes and notify you by e-mail, rss, or a yahoo widget if anything is amiss.
Montastic

7 Ways To Wake Up

Are you looking for a new way to start your day. There are ways to greet the morning than a screeching alarm clock. Here a few creative ideas from Productivity501:

• Wake up to a CD - Many stereo's have a build in alarm clock that will start the CD at a certain time. (This can also be the basis of a nice college dorm prank.)



• Wake up to the radio - Most clock radios let you wake up to whatever is being broadcast instead of the normal alarm.



• Wake up to light - A simple outlet timer, hooked to a bright light can be a great way to wake up because the light will help tell your body that the day is starting. (You might want to set a backup alarm when trying this for the first time.)



• Wake up to cool air - In highschool I concocted an elaborate mechanism for waking up that I would tinker with each night. On of the more interesting things I tried was hooking up a fan at the bottom of the bed sheets. It would come on and start blowing cool air under the covers.



• Wake up to your cell phone - Many cell phones have alarm clocks and the ringing of your cell phone might be much more pleasant than the buzz of your regular alarm clock. You might even be able to set it to vibrate and then just sleep with it under your pillow.



• Wake up to coffee - I hate coffee so waking up every day with the thought "what is that awful smell?" isn't my idea of a good way to wake. However, I'm told other people like to wake up to coffee, so a pot with a timer might be a good option.



• Wake up to your iPod - iPods have alarmclock functionality built in. You can set them to play a particular playlist at the appropriate time. I don't recommend sleeping with headphones, but if you have external speakers of some type this can be a nice way to wakeup. One of the advantages of this over a CD player is that the CD player will make a "spin up" noise when it starts, so if you are a light sleeper you may wake up to the spin noise instead of the music. (As a side note the best piece of music to wake up to is the music from the ballet Appalachian Spring. The worst music to wakeup to is anything played on a harpsichord.)

So do you have a creative way to wake up? What do you use presently? What things have you tried in the past?

From Productivity501

Tag Your Way to Organization

Tags are the hottest new way to organize almost any collection. Music, video, photos, blog posts, and email can all be tagged. Any program or web service worth it's snuff offers a creative way to tag and filter whatever it happens to serve up to the public. If you are like myself, you may not have immediately bought into the whole "tags" concept. Now is the time to catch up and get with the times. The following article by evilmadscientist outlines how he organized the photos of his superball collection. The same basic principles apply to just about anything that needs to be organized and tagged. Deciding on the categories and defining the parameters of each tag are covered in this simple how-to article. The specific examples make it easy to comprehend. Take these isntructions and apply them to the lists and collections in your life to become a part of the tagging revolution.

Organizing a Collection Using Flickr

Sell Your Book On Amazon.com

For those of you who yearn to be published, yet can't find anyone to foot the bill, here is your course of action:

• Get an ISBN (for a book), or a UPC (for a CD or DVD). For one book it costs $125, for one CD, $55, for one DVD, $89.
• Get a bar code based on the ISBN or UPC. Costs $10, or may be included in UPC.
• Sign up with Amazon, $30 per year.
• Duplicate your stuff; include the bar code on the outside.
• Ship two copies to Amazon
• Send cover scan
• Track sales
• Register it (optional)

More details
From DumbLittleMan.com

Send Later Thunderbird Extension

Use this extension to send reminder emails to yourself or others. After you compose the email, instead of the regular Ctrl + Enter to drop it into cyberspace, use Ctrl + Shift + Enter to pull up the send later dialog box and tell Thunderbird when to mail the message down to the minute. Remember to leave Thunderbird open, otherwise the message will not be sent. This extension is compatible with the latest Thunderbird version.

Send Later from Lifehacker

Soundpedia

SoundPedia is a streaming music jukebox that has quite a bit of music available. The interface is a bit clunky(selecting an artist name one letter at a time from a list of links?). You can select tracks from albums to add to your playlist. Overall, this service does a good job for a free service without the ads making me feel too claustraphobic.

SoundPedia

Use Your Mobile Phone For (almost) Anything

Looking to get more out of your cell phone? Check out this list of useful mobile sites and services. Record calls, get news, share photos, get maps, search for real estate, get coupons, get traffic, and watch TV. ...Deep breath... You can even download this helpful list as an Excel spreadsheet.

The 85 Piece Mobile Search Tool Kit

How to Generate Valid Credit Card Numbers

We have all been in the situation sometime. We go to the website for a "free" service or download, and they ask for credit card information before they allow you to continue. Obviously, you don't want to purchase anything, let alone give them your credit card number(email address is bad enough). This article will help you get to those services with random generated valid credit card numbers.

How to Generate Valid Credit Card Numbers from The Tao of Making Money

Joost Beta TV on the Computer

I enjoy the concept of TV programming on the PC. I have never owned a TV and find that this could open the door to a lot of content. There are still a few issues that need work in the Joost Beta, but you can't beat the price(free). I recommend that you make every effort to get your hands on a beta invite and check it out.

Interface - The interface was not very intuitive. Sure, I could have read instructions, but who wants to do that? I had a hard time figuring out how to move from screen, and even find the button to close the program.

Content - There are a variety of channels in the beta. You should be able to find something that you can watch to test the service without falling asleep.

Speed - Obviously, we are not talking about high resolution, but I was impressed with the speed that the programming started playing after the channel was selected. I have broadband cable internet.

Check it out for yourself and let me know what you think. Email me for an beta invite!

asdf-jkl Firefox Extension

From Lifehacker

Windows/Mac/Linux (Firefox): The asdf-jkl Firefox extension adds tooltips to the fox's chrome that display keyboard shortcuts associated with the item your mouse pointer is hovering over.

For example, the address bar shortcut is Cmd+L, as pictured. (It's Ctrl+L for Windows peeps, so the tooltips are platform-aware, too.) Also asdf-jkl adds a Keyboard shorcuts item on Firefox's View menu for quick lookups of common shortcuts. This extension is a fanastic reminder/teaching tool for users who want to learn their way around the chrome via the keyboard. The asdf-jkl extension is a free download, works in conjunction with Firefox. — Gina Trapani

asdf-jkl [Google Code]

Make your offline life easier

This list from Wisegeek has some great hints as to how to make our normal lives more efficient.


How Can I Make My Offline Life Easier?

How to Handle Snail Mail

From Zen Habits
By Leo

~ Create one “mail center” in your home for dealing with your mail and incoming paperwork. This should include an inbox for all incoming papers, a waste-basket (the simplifier’s most important tool!), a small filing system (just some manila folders in a drawer or file case is fine), and something to hold envelopes, stamps, your checkbook, pens and other needed tools.

~ Inbox. All incoming mail, school papers, and other paperwork goes straight into your inbox. Don’t toss them on a counter or the kitchen table or a desk. Put them in one place only: the inbox. It’s best if you remove the mail from the envelop right away, toss the envelopes and any junk flyers, and toss junk mail and catalogs right away — but even if you don’t, at least toss everything in the inbox.

~ Process. Once a day (or once a week if you prefer), process all the papers in your inbox. Start with the top one, and deal with it completely, before moving down. Your choices: toss, file, take action immediately (if it takes 2 minutes or less) and then toss or file, or put it in an action folder and note it on your to-do list. Don’t ever postpone a decision on a piece of paper when you’re processing and put it back — make a decision and dispose of it, and then move on to the next item, until your inbox is empty.

~ Pay bills immediately. While you’re processing your mail and paperwork, you can put all bills in a folder to be paid at a certain date (you might have two dates a month when you pay bills, for example, or a weekly bills day). But another alternative is to just pay the bill on the spot, as soon as you’re done processing your inbox. Either write a check and put the bill and check in an envelope to be dropped in the mailbox tomorrow, or go to your computer and pay the bills online. Either way, the bill is taken care of, and off your mind.

~ Enter stuff into your to-do lists or calendar. For papers that contain tasks or appointments or schedules, you’ll want to enter the tasks on your to-do list immediately, and enter any dates into your calendar immediately (I use Gcal). I even enter all my kids’ soccer games, school events, and other activities in Gcal, and then just file the school papers or schedules in a “school papers” folder so I can refer to it later if necessary.

~ File immediately. Once you’ve paid a bill or taken action on a piece of paper, you should file it immediately (unless you can toss it). Don’t let it sit on your counter, or pile up in a “to be filed” pile or folder, or go back into your inbox. File it right away. Set up a simple filing system with manila envelopes, labeled with the name of the billing company or utility, along with folders for other important documents in your life, and use a simple alphabetical filing system so you can find things immediately. Always have a stack of manila folders and labels on hand (some people even recommend a handy Brother label-maker) so you can create a new folder quickly if you need it. The trick to filing is to do it right away and not let it pile up.

~ That’s it. No papers should ever be anywhere except the inbox or in your filing system. It’s simple and efficient. The trick is to make this a habit, and stick to it like a routine. Have set times of the day or week when you process your inbox and pay your bills. Create a simple system like this, and you eliminate the clutter and the worry.

Disorganization Costs You Money

From Mighty Bargain Hunter

How much has it cost you? Check out this list and see if you can plug any holes:

Missed rebates - Rebate deals can be really good. But if you forget to turn the stupid thing in, it’s a really bad deal.

Emergency purchases - You were sure you had another box of diapers and it’s 2 AM and your two-year-old is really, uh, aromatic? The convenience store is a few miles away and the diapers there are two dollars — each!

Buying things you already have - The one you have is still good, but it’s either buried under something and you can’t find it, or you don’t remember that you have it.

Dining out a lot - Because you ran out of time in the morning and didn’t pack a lunch.

Stuff breaking before its time - Forgetting to change the air filter in your central air system or forgetting to drain the hose in winter time will cause expensive surprises.

Susceptibility to sales pitches - A basic radon test was perfectly sufficient when we had our house inspected prior to purchasing it, but I didn’t know that and paid $100 for a deluxe one that I didn’t really need.

Missed payments - Most of our payments are taken out automatically, but a few aren’t, like our water bill, and the bill can get lost in the shuffle. Late payments cost extra money. Too many late payments result in a dinged credit rating.

Missed opportunities - Some folks make money hand over fist with 0% balance transfer offers. I usually don’t even try these because I’m worried I’ll screw them up. Or coupons expire. Or a big refund from Uncle Sam shows up.

Throwing money out the window - That store credit you received when you returned that unwanted gift? The one that was on the slip of paper that was the only record of the credit? The one that the cashier said not to lose because it’s like losing cash?

Overdraft protection fees - By this I mean the transfer from your savings account to your checking account that happens when you overdraw the checking account but have the savings to cover it. Five bucks a check for a week — when you get the notice in the mail for the first one! — adds up in a hurry.

Extra trips to the store - Another few gallons of gas burned up to take back the item that was the wrong size or to buy something you forgot you needed.

Out of control spending - Some people can get away with not tracking their spending — I could for a while — but small leaks in your wallet can grow if left unchecked.

Spoiled food - Related to the last one.

Missed tax deductions - Mileage as a business expense? Items donated to the Salvation Army? These can be tax-deductible under some circumstances, but only if you have adequate proof. No proof, no deduction. Or if you take the deduction,

Overdue charges - Library books, movies, etc.

Huge amounts of lost productivity - I’ve probably spent several months of my life looking for something that I’ve misplaced. Or I’ve been working at 25% capacity because all of the visual and mental noise of disorganization just wears me down; I don’t know what to do or even where to start on a project sometimes.

Countdown to Productivity

From Productivity Cafe

Timer Aids Productivity

If all your projects expand to fill the time allotted to it is that a good thing? Most people would like to get their projects wrapped up in the shortest amount of time provided they can still give it suitable attention and produce good work. Sometime, projects seem to could be done in a much shorter amount of time. Does any of this ring true for you?

Many of my clients are motivated by using a timer. Perhaps one of these reasons will motivate you:

Use a timer that counts up to see how long you spend on a task or project. For example, how much time do you devote to email first thing in the morning.

-Race the timer. After monitoring your time use, try to reduce where you can by setting the timer for 10% less time for the same type of task and race the timer to be finished. I have found this to be a good limit for how much time I spend refining a letter (as many times as feasible in the 10 minutes alloted to writing it).

-Motivate yourself to start a daunting task by assigning yourself a 15 minute minute window to get started. Do not be distracted in that 15 minutes. Because you can do almost anything for 15 minutes this is a good time segment. Many times timer users do one 15 minutes session and are 'on a roll' then do another and another. They use their own 'mind game' to beat procrastination.

-You can use the timer for rewards too. Perhaps after finishing a task you get a 15 minute walk in the fresh air.

-Use a timer at home... give kids 15 minutes to clean up or finish up before dinner. Let them be responsible for meeting the deadline set by the timer. Avoid having to repeat yourself by training them to time awareness. Give them the gift of time management skills by starting young.

Features to look for in a digital timer:
-It counts up and down
-It has large numbers
-It has a magnet on the back or a stand to sit on the desk
-It has just one timer (multiple timer timers require 3-4 times the number of steps to set and reset)
-It is <$15

Blinkx Helps With Missed TV Shows

Blinkx does TV shows with Blinkx Remote

Yesterday 12:49 PMJosh LowensohnWebware.com

(Credit: CNET Networks)

Tired of searching YouTube for clips of TV shows only to find it barren of your favorite show? Well if it's a Viacom program you're out of luck anyway, but for most everything else search tool Blinkx rolled out a new service yesterday called Blinkx Remote--a search engine for full length TV shows. Blinkx sorts through clips and full length programs, putting direct links to off site sources where you can watch the entire episode.

In the case of CBS' Jericho, Blinkx sent me off to CBS' Innertube service where I had to install a Real Player plugin to get the video to work. Alternately, if I knew the episode I wanted, I was able to pull up Flash versions at other video providers like Dailymotion and MySpace Videos. For other popular shows like Heros and The Office, I was simply redirected to NBC's Rewind service.

One big thing missing with Blinkx Remote is an easy way to find older programs. For many of the popular shows, you're lucky enough to simply visit the network's Web site. Where search engines like this come in handy is for shows fall out of syndication like Seinfeld, Friends, and Cheers. For that you're better off excercising patience and using Netflix.

Thunderbird 2.0 Is Now Available

Download of the Day: Thunderbird 2.0 (All platforms)

Lifehacker

Windows/Mac/Linux: The good folks at Mozilla dropped the latest version 2.0 of the Thunderbird email client today, which supports Gmail-like tagging, Windows Vista and better search capabilities.

Gmail users will love this T-bird build, which makes setting up a Gmail POP account a one-step affair. My initial tests, searching over an archive of thousands of messages, show that T-bird 2's search-as-you-type is quite snappier than past versions; and while I'm not yet used to the tagging interface, it's definitely a step in the right direction. One thing I'd love to see in the future is support for already-assigned tags on downloaded Gmail messages. (They call me a dreamer.) See what Rick had to say about T-bird 2.0's RC1. Thunderbird 2 is a free download for Mac, Windows and Linux. — Gina Trapani

Thunderbird [Mozilla]

Take the time to Read

Taking the Time to Read

MarkProductivity501

There are few people who wouldn't benefit from spending a little more time each day reading a good book. If you want to keep yourself at maximum creative capacity, you have to make sure you are taking in new ideas and thoughts. If you aren't continually feeding your mind, you'll eventually find your creative reserves starting to run dry. Continually producing output without taking any input is a good way to burn out.

Here are eight tips that I've found help me in my personal reading habits:

1. Read books. There is a lot of material available on blogs and other internet sites, but make sure you are taking time to read actual published books. The quality of published materials tends to be much higher and topics are more developed.
2. If you can set aside a specific time for some reading do it. It doesn't have to be much, but even committing to 15 minutes of reading before you go to bed will make a difference.
3. Read outside your field. Don't get stuck just reading about things related to your work. Sometimes the most productive leaps of imagination will come from reading stuff that doesn't appear to be related at all to your specialty.
4. Keep a book list. Write down what you've read and what you want to read.
5. Buy used. A used book is usually just as useful as a new one. If you can save money, get the used book. Better yet use your local library.
6. Don't be afraid to give up. If you are reading a book and you just don't like it, don't be afraid to quit and start a different book. There are so many books available, it probably isn't going to be worth your effort to push through a book that you don't like. (There are exceptions to this of course, but the mere fact that you've started a book is rarely enough justification for forcing yourself to finish it.)
7. Take notes. When you find something interesting jot it down. You can write in a notebook or even in the margin of the book itself. Taking a few moments to pen your thoughts will help you get more out of the reading experience.
8. Read for the interaction--not speed. You are reading to let your mind interact with the ideas on the page. If you spend too much time worrying about how fast you are reading, you'll lessen the benefits of reading. Settle into a reading pace that is appropriate for you and for the reading material. Somethings you'll read fast and some you'll read slow.

In-Car Computer

Build a system in your car that will let you navigate, email, surf the internet, and access an immense media library. I love the screen, but they really need to hide the cables.

A DIY Dashtop Computer - Popular Science

12 Tips for an Organized Desk

From Productivity 501
Here are twelve quick tips for organizing your desk. These are things that have worked well for me. Most of them are probably applicable to others as well. If you have any suggestions of items to add please add them to the comments.

1. Get rid of pens and pencils you don't need. - I have one type of pen I like to use, but every month or my pencil holder gets filled up with other random writing instruments. If you aren't going to use it, don't feel bad about throwing it out. It is just clutter.
2. Have a place for pocket stuff. Your keys, phone, PDA, wallet, bluetooth ear piece, etc. should have a home. My ideal setup is to keep them in a drawer with wires already run for charging the various items. Unfortunately my current desk doesn't have drawers, so I have set aside a small amount of space under my monitor that isn't really usable for work anyway. I have all my charging cables right there so I don't have to hunt for them.
3. Proximity based on frequency of use. If you use it every day, it should be closer than something you use only a few times each week. This is common sense, but it is easy to arrange are desk for aesthetics instead of usefulness.
4. Move electronics out of sight. Your cable modem, wireless router, firewall, battery backup, etc. shouldn't be on your desk. Even if you have enough room in introduces visual clutter.
5. Easy to access files. Without moving your chair or getting up, you should be able to grab an unused manila folder, label it and put it in your file cabinet. Easy filing is one cornerstone of good organization. The more effort it requires the more difficult it will be to stay organized.
6. Scanning documents. This is something I'm experimenting with. I have a scanner and I'll turn important documents into PDFs and keep them on my computer. I use OCR so the documents are searchable. This is wonderful if you travel a lot because it keeps everything right there with you. The problem is trying to figure out what to scan and what can just be filed. If you are good at guessing what you'll want to have electronically this can work very well. I haven't figured out how accurate I am just yet.
7. Cleaning supplies. If you clean your desk with Windex and a paper towel, make sure you have some nearby. This will help encourage you to wipe down your work surface which will encourage you to clean it off more often. It is all about making things as easy for yourself as possible.
8. Scratch notepad. During the course of the day you will have telephone numbers, names, addresses, order confirmations, flight numbers, etc. If you can keep these all in one place, you'll be far more productive if you need to look something up later. I have the bad habit of grabbing a nearby envelope and writing a telephone number on it. By keeping a notebook, specifically for these types of items, I don't lose nearly as many things. The Franklin Planner method is to keep all of this info in the diary page of the planner which is probably an even better option.
9. Organize those wires. It is easy to have half your desk covered with wires for various pieces of electronics. Moving some stuff off your desk can help. Some pieces of velcro wrapped around wires can go a long ways toward cleaning things up. Also make sure that you have wires that are long enough to tuck out of the way. If they are too short you won't be able to arrange them neatly. Sometimes wireless is an option. With more and more devices supporting bluetooth and WiFi, you may be able to get rid of some wires simply by enabling the wireless settings.
10. If you don't have enough drawers. My current desk is large, but it is a sheet of glass over a metal frame. While it looks really cool, it doesn't allow much in the way of storage. To compensate, I've brought in a dresser for storage. I also use bookshelves with a bunch of boxes with lids to help give me some more drawer like storage. I have a two drawer file cabinet that slides under my desk to help make better use of the space.
11. Lighting. Make sure you have enough light on your desk. Maybe it is just me, but a bright work area is easier to keep clean than a dark one.
12. Organize as you go. As we discussed the Iron Chef Fable, it is more efficient to stay organized as you work instead of trying to do it all at the end. You should be constantly working on keeping your desk neat. If it gets disorganized in the middle of a big project, take small steps. Clear a 1 foot by 1 foot area before you leave for the day. Make a small effort toward organization may not seem like much, but if you do it everyday, it will keep things headed in the right direction for you.

YouMail Personalized Voicemail

YouMail is one of my favorite free services on the internet. I can't believe how little publicity it receives. The personalized voicemail receives more comments/compliments than a cool website or e-mail signature combined. Granted, it does only work with Verizon, T-Mobile, and Cingular GSM, but here are a few reasons that I love this service:

Wow Factor - The impression it leaves when you call that person's name in their voicemail greeting is priceless. People would almost rather get your cool voicemail than actually speak with you.

Simplicity - It is extremely simple to set up with step-by-step instructions from the website. You can record greetings through your phone, with your computer mic, or upload audio files. (see screenshot below)

Accessibility - You can access your voice mail throught the old fashioned audio navigation on your phone or the iPhone style on their website. I also have all the voicemails e-mailed to me as attatched .wav files that I normally listen to at my desktop. This makes it a little easier to take notes.

Archiving - Want to save that e-mail with instructions from your client? Just archive the e-mail with the attatchment and pull it up later for reference.

Check it out for yourself and let me know what you think! Do you have any other creative ideas for how to use this service?

By Rob
YouMail.com