A Series of Unfortunate Events (Not the Lemony Snicket Version!)

This morning, as I was driving into work, my car stalled in the middle of the highway. Luckily, I was able to pull over, even though I was in the far lane, and got my car onto the shoulder. The car was still drivable, so I got into work even though I was a bit late. Instead of doing what I had planned for my lunch break, I took the car to a mechanic, and on his way driving me back to work a bee flew through the window and stung me in the face. How do you continue with your day after it starts this badly?

It can be hard to get your act back together after something like this happens to you. So how did my day change after my car broke down?

First off, I had to get into work. It took some time to get to work (longer than I had planned for), and even though my hours happen to be flexible, I didn't get to work at the hour I had intended to. Right off the bat I was running behind schedule. In this circumstance, it was essential to stay calm and focused. If you lose your cool, more things will start going wrong because you are too frazzled to handle it all. Also I had to be more efficient with my time. Instead of taking the time to make my cup of tea and my cup of apple cinnamon oatmeal before I sat down, I got straight to work and waited for a better break.

This all comes back to how to re-prioritize the importance of the tasks for the day. In this case, my work had become more important than my breakfast (although my stomach would beg to differ!), and my car needed to be repaired which was more important than the lunch I had scheduled. I was able to skip that meeting and go get my car checked during lunch. This was a much better solution than having to take time off of work.

Also, you might find that your coworkers are much more understanding of this sort of occurrence if you do not let them happen very often. If you are the type that has an "emergency" every day, they are less likely to be sympathetic when you have a real emergency. When my coworkers heard about my car and bee sting they were very understanding.

This is also a great example of what problems you should throw money at. Car problems happen to be one of the areas I know nothing about, so throwing money at the issue was important for me to do. If not spending the money means that I will be unable to get something very important done off of my list, it is not worth the cost savings.

Always try to think about what you are doing compared to its opportunity cost. What would I have lost out on if I hadn't taken my car to the shop? If I hadn't taken the car in, I would have either had to try to drive it home, therefore risking my life along with everyone else on the road with me, pay to leave it overnight or convince someone to pick me up, thereby wasting precious time just waiting around, or worst case paying for transportation home. In taking lunch off from work and paying for the mechanic I actually saved because the time I lost was small compared to the time and headache I would have had if I had put it off. The car has to get fixed regardless, so figuring out the time for it sooner rather than later was the wisest decision.

So remember when you end up with one of those bad days: Keep calm and be efficient with the time you have. Drop the less important things on your plate to accommodate the more important ones. Take care of things sooner if they will be a lot more difficult when you put them off.

I apologize if anyone was looking for the intended post of the day (using your Smartphone calendar) but I promise I will post that tomorrow! Sometimes you just have to roll with the punches. Stay tuned!

How to Get the Most Out of Your BlackBerry/iPhone/Smartphone

This week is How to Get the Most Out of Your Blackberry/iPhone/Smartphone Week!

Your smartphone can be an amazing productivity tool, or it can be the source of your demise. If you treat your phone like a PS3 by constantly playing games, or if you are always browsing the web, you are wasting the potential of your very clever piece of technology. Smartphones are capable of email, messaging, calendars, tasks lists, word processing, spreadsheets, and many other useful functions. It is your mini computer.

So what did you do when you first got your phone out of the box? You set it up with your voicemail message, added a few applications, and generally fooled around with it trying out all the cool features. My thought is that to fully benefit from your smartphone, you need to devote a solid chunk of time to sit down with it and learn all of its real functions.

If you do not take the time to set up all of the available settings, you run the risk of your phone not alerting you when you need it to, alerting you at the worst possible moment, loosing/deleting your data, or a variety of other very bad situations. Taking the time lets you tailor your customizable device to your particular needs. You are loosing on your investment in the phone if you do not take advantage of this.

Also, most smartphones have forums where people answer each other's questions about the phones. If there is something you think your phone should be capable of doing but you can't figure out how, just type a few keywords into your search engine with the name of your phone and the issue and often times there will be a solution. If you have the idea, don't let it just be "wishful thinking" and take a look.

I was a BlackBerry user before today when I got my new iPhone, so this week I will comment of the capabilities of both. Tomorrow I will explain how I organized the applications on my Blackberry and how I just organized my iPhone apps. Over this week I will also share tips on using your smartphone to-do list and calendar, and I will go over my favorite apps so far. As always, please feel free to comment with any questions or comments! If you are an iPhone user, please leave a comment about your favorite apps that you think I should try.

Vegetarian Curry (Semi-Homemade)

I made this recipe last Sunday, and it was such a treat. The ingredients I used were vegetarian, but you can always add meat if that is your preference. I think it is delicious without! As fair warning though, this recipe requires a lot of chopping.

Makes 12 servings

Ingredients:

2 cloves of garlic, chopped finely
1 yellow onion, peeled and diced
5 medium-sized potatoes, peeled and diced
1 bag of carrots, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch slices
3 tomatoes, diced
Several handfuls of fresh green beans, ends removed and cut into 2-inch pieces
1 package of fresh, sliced mushrooms
6 cups of water
1 8.4 oz box of Golden Curry sauce mix (available in Hot, Medium, and Mild)

Instructions:

1. Coat the bottom of a large pot with olive oil and place on a burner on High.
2. When the oil becomes very liquid, drop your garlic and onions into the pot and toss them around with a spoon or spatula so that they do not burn. I added a dash of water to the pot after the first minute to help the onions soften.
3. When the onions begin to get soft, add your potatoes and carrots to the pot and continue to stir. The potatoes and carrots take longer to cook than the tomatoes, green beans, and mushrooms which is why they go in first.
4. After about 5 minutes, add the tomatoes, green beans, and mushrooms and continue to stir. The pot might be quite full (mine was!), but you do not need to stir quickly. Instead, gently scoop the bottom vegetables to the top of the pot to allow the vegetables on top to start cooking down.
5. After a few minutes, add the 6 cups of water. Continue to gently stir the pot occasionally.
6. When the water gets to a boil, let the contents cook for 5 minutes.
7. Turn the heat down to low and break the cubes of Golden Curry sauce mix into the pot.
8. Continue to stir the contents. The sauce mix should cause the water to get thicker as it dissolves. Continue to stir the pot occasionally for the next few minutes.
9. The curry is ready to eat! It is wonderful to pair with white/brown rice.

I made a whole pot worth (12 servings) of this curry because it keeps so well in the fridge. Throw it in the microwave over rice or on its own; it is just as delicious and creamy as the day before. The batch that I made fed two hungry 21 year old guys and myself with enough left over for over a week's worth of lunches. This recipe is also great to make with a group because there is lots of chopping, peeling, and prepping to do for the vegetables, and it feeds a lot of people. I know when I was little we always used to help take the ends off of the green beans. Unfortunately, my little helper (my boyfriend) was passed out on the couch. Oh well!

I hope you try this recipe. Please let me know if you do! Also, look for next week's tips on using your SmartPhone to its full potential. These tips work whether you have a BlackBerry, iPhone, or other device as most of them have the same calendar and task list abilities. I will actually be upgrading my BlackBerry to an iPhone in two days, so I might mention any distinct differences in abilities. From what I can tell, for the essential programs, they are comparable technologies. So check back Monday!

Using Outlook to Manage Your To-Do List

To-Do Lists week wraps up today with a few tips on using Microsoft Outlook to help you prioritize, set due dates and reminders, and stay on top of your game. I use this program at home by choice to organize my personal life. (I organize my homework using a different system that I will explain during the upcoming Study Habits week.) Outlook is also standard at my office. Try these tricks at work to surprise your coworkers with your organizational savvy. Use them at home to allow you to ditch the messy pen and paper and allow yourself to sync your tasks between your computer and your smartphone.

Day one of this week was about writing down the tasks that you want/need to accomplish, day two was about breaking down larger projects into smaller tasks, and days three and four were about prioritizing and re-prioritizing your list. Today is all about giving you a system to handle all of those in a more efficient and effective way.

For those of you who are not big fans of Microsoft, I apologise for generalizing, but this happens to be the program I use at the moment. Most task list programs work for this purpose. If you happen to use a program you prefer to Outlook, please comment below! According to my mother, RememberTheMilk.com is an excellent way to organize your tasks and access them from anywhere over the internet. I think I will be giving it a try when I get my iPhone next week since there is an app for it.

So back to the topic of organizing your tasks.

When you open Outlook you will see on the left side bar there are sections for Mail, Calendar, Contacts, and Tasks. You may have other options depending on how you have set up your settings. When I click on Tasks, my tasks appear in "To-Do list" view. This filters your tasks chronologically by due date with today's tasks on top and future tasks below. This is my favorite way to prioritize my tasks. I give tasks dates and they organize into the order I wish to tackle them in. Even for tasks that do not have specific due dates, remember my suggestion that you assign them a date so that they do not get lost at the bottom of your list. If a task gets close to its due date and you have more important things to do, it is very easy to open that task and push the due date off for when you have more time. Note: Unfortuantely, if you do not set a due date for a task, it will sit at the top of your to-do list above today's tasks. This does not seem to have a remedy, so make sure you set a date for all of your tasks even if you have to use dates that are far out.

Every time your team/department/organization comes up with a goal, throw it on your to-do list. Every little project you get assigned to do, throw it on your to-do list. In doing this you will always know what you have on your plate, or if you get a spare moment you can take the time to try to work towards long-term goals. I also use this as a way to track the history of my time spent at work. If I set a start date on a task and mark the day I complete the task, I can switch the view on my Outlook Tasks to "Timeline" view and it shows me what I was working on in a given period of time. I am able to communicate to my coworkers at any given time if I have time to take on more projects, and I am able to update them on the status of the project I am working on.

When you create a new task you give it a subject. Try not to get too detailed or your list will look scary. Instead, keep the subject simple and leave the details of the assignment in the text box. You can then set the start date, due date, reminder, and a priority. I actually never use the priority function because I use due dates to signify this instead. The reminder function can be very useful if someone assigns you something you are putting off until later. Set the reminder for the next time you want to pick up the project. As you work through a project you can update the status of the project and the percentage you have completed. Then when a coworker asks you how far you are on a project you can easily tell, and it also is a great way to make yourself feel like you are adding value when you are at work.

I plan to do a whole week on useful office tools that can help you make your day more efficient and productive without sacrificing quality or adding tons of extra work. Keep a look out for those tips in a few weeks. As always, please feel free to comment below with your thoughts or any questions, and check back tomorrow for a delicious vegetarian curry recipe!

How to Re-Prioritize When Life Surprises You

This is another continuation of To-Do Lists week! For advice about creating your to-do list, breaking down larger goals into tasks, and prioritizing see the earlier posts from this week.

I always assume that I can get all of the top items on my to-do list done in a day. I am usually kidding myself. The reality of it is that new things come up, and you are forced to push back the items you swore would get done today. Email is usually my source of this. The top things on my to-do list for the day might include: write an essay, laundry, pack overnight bag, groceries, a homework assignment (when I am in classes), post to my blog, etc. The problem is that after I have decided what tasks will be my priorities for the day, an email pops up on my BlackBerry saying, "FYI, please distribute". I say to myself, "Oh, this will be quick" and quickly forward the message after a bit of editing. Once I am done I try to redirect my attention to the task I was working on. A few minutes later I get another email, "Please read and give your opinion". I just love giving opinions, so I take several minutes to draft my response. After sending off my reply, I again redirect my attention to the task at hand.

Email is a major distraction that can crush your productivity. Phones do the same. So what can we do when we are expected to keep up with our emails and answer our phone(s), but we still want to accomplish tasks on our list? My method is to decide the priority of the emails and calls in comparison to my tasks.

For instance, the emails I mentioned above are related to the charity group that I co-chair. If I stop to think about it, those emails can just as easily be sent later that day. I star them and leave them in my inbox to get back to them that night. I never leave more than seven emails at a time in my inbox, so if I am creeping towards that number I may take a few minutes to answer them all at once. This technique is much less distracting that answering them each time I hear a ding.

The same thing goes for my phone. If I am unable to screen my calls, and someone gets me on the line when I am in the middle of something, I decide whether the thing they need from me is more important than what I am working on now. If it is more important, I deal with it on the spot. If it is something that can wait I say, "I would love to help with that, but I am tied up at the moment. Can I call you back at six to discuss this?" When I get off the phone, I immediately write "Call [person's name]" on my to-do list and set a reminder for 6 to call them back. Try not to say you will call back "later" because that sounds very noncommittal, and you leave the other person waiting for your call which is not very respectful of their time. Setting a time to call them back also makes you more likely to call back because you cannot procrastinate doing it. Now it is a date. You do not show up at the restaurant a day late for your date, do you? Well, maybe you do, but neither of you end up happy for it. Setting a time to get back to people also reduces the potential for never-ending phone tag.

I am currently trying to teach my coworker to email me instead of calling. Unfortunately for me, he is the type to call every hour with something "urgent". And by "urgent" I mean "could be relevant in the next week". Not something I should drop everything for this instant. Also, he doesn't understand when he has made his point and the phone call can end. He can tie up ten minutes explaining something that could be a few sentences in an email. After the phone call is done I have to revert back to what it was I working on when he called, and it takes a few minutes to get back into a flow. I can let myself get interrupted for an hour a day for these kinds of interruptions, or I can screen his calls. I have this theory that you can train a coworker to email you instead of calling if you are immediately responsive to email, but never pick up your phone. You can have an email conversation in less time because you can skim over the filler information and get to the real meat of their issue faster than letting them babble. I will let you all know if this plan pans out. Also, I will have a whole week focused on communication, so keep an eye out!

It can still be hard to redirect your attention back to your original tasks when you mentally evaluate the importance of your interruptions. Conversely, if you take the time to give your full attention to all of your emails and phone calls when they happen, you will never get back to your tasks at all. Prioritizing the importance of your daily interruptions will allow you to use your time better to keep up with the things that are the most important to you.

So remember, ask yourself what things are more important to you to filter your disruptions. As always, please feel free to leave a comment with your thoughts or questions, and stay tuned for tomorrow's post on great ways to use Outlook Tasks to help you prioritize, set due dates and reminders, and stay on top of your game.

How to Prioritize Your To-Do List

This is post number three of To-Do Lists week! Check out earlier posts from this week on creating your to-do list and breaking down larger goals into tasks.

My to-do list sometimes seems endless. I put every little thing that comes to mind that I think I might want to do on the list. Maybe I need to schedule an appointment, but I remember that on a Sunday when they are closed. I set myself a reminder to call them the next day. If your mind runs like mine, you can get a lot of things onto your list in a day. With all of these small to-do’s ending up on the list, you need to organize your list to keep from total list system failure and causing yourself undue stress.

Evaluate what you need to do (or think you need to do) in comparison to your goals.

If you could only get one thing done from the list today which task would it be? Put that task at the top of your priority list. With the remaining items, follow the same process: if I could only do one of these, which would I do? Going through this process for the whole list organizes all of your items by priority. Now all you have to do is work down that list. Be mindful of items that have very specific due dates. Some of the items on my list (no matter how much I value them) have to take a sideline to the tasks with due dates that have to be completed sooner. These priority items need to be higher up on the list in order for me to get to them in time. Check out Friday's post for more ideas about how to never miss a due date.

Try to take your to-do list and prioritize the items, and don't forget to read tomorrow's post on re-prioritizing your to-do list when life surprises you!

Breaking Down Your Bigger Tasks

This is the second post of To-Do Lists week!

Even when you think a task that pops into your head is bigger than just one action, put it on your list. Sometimes you do not know the individual steps to get to a bigger goal. One of mine recently that I threw on my list was "Apply to graduate school". I threw it on as something that was not due in the short term, but that I still wanted to have it on my back-burner. When I had more time, I went back and replaced the task with individual tasks of the steps it takes to accomplish the bigger task. Now my to-do list says, "Fill out graduate school application", "Write essay 1 for graduate school application", "Write essay 2 for graduate school application", "Write essay 3 for graduate school application", "Get official transcript for graduate school application", "Ask for recommendations from two professors for graduate school application", and finally, "Graduate school application Due". By breaking it out into steps all the way through the due date of the application I was able to set dates to do each part. That way the task does not sit on the bottom of my to-do list until it is too late. The idea is to keep your very important tasks as underwhelming as possible.

I have even been doing this for my blog posts. For instance, I wanted to talk about how I make my to-do lists. Instead of writing one massive post that covers all the steps and tricks to making a working, manageable to-do list, I have broken it down into individual posts for each one. Not only is it much less overwhelming, but I can be done with each of my posts quicker. It is much more satisfying to have a smaller post done than no posts at all! The small wins strategy can also be very motivating. I find I am much more likely to take time out of my day for a smaller project than I would for a looming larger project. I will shy away from those every time.

So remember, keep your bigger goals on your lists until you have time to break them down into realistic steps. Set dates for the smaller tasks to work up to accomplishing that one larger goal. Use a small wins strategy to keep motivated by making the smaller tasks small enough to finish in a short amount of time. And of course give yourself a huge pat on the back every time you can cross off one of your tasks. Be proud of what you have been able to accomplish. Some people never reach their goals, so you should feel amazing about yourself when you do.

Please leave a comment if you try this for a particular project. I would love to hear about any success stories! Also, if you have a larger goal and you simply cannot come up with individual steps to reach it, comment on this post and I will gladly try and assist you.

Stay tuned for tomorrow's post focusing on the how to’s of prioritizing your to-do list!

Creating Your To-Do List

This week I will be focusing on To-Do lists! I will post how to’s on creating your to-do list, breaking down bigger tasks to make them more manageable, prioritizing your tasks, and re-prioritizing when life surprises you.

I love lists. I love making lists of things to do, things to pack, RSVP lists, groceries, everything. It is what makes me tick. I know that I am an exception, not the rule. Most people do not enjoy having to come up with lists. The truth is: lists can save you from a lot of future pain and embarrassment. Are you forgetful? I know I am. Ever had something really important to do but you completely forgot about it? Keeping all of your thoughts on paper (or in my case, a smartphone) will save you from banging your head again a wall after forgetting that something. All it takes is carrying a small pad of paper or smartphone with you for all of those reminders or potential to-do's that pop into your head throughout the day.

One trick: also take that pad or phone to bed! Leave it on the nightstand before you go to sleep. When you are falling asleep and think about the one thing that you really want to get done the next day, roll over and quickly write it down before you fall asleep and forget. I forgot to do this recently and instead of remembering to bring more oatmeal into work the next day, I forgot it and went without breakfast. Not fun. I don't know about you, but I am pretty grumpy when I am not fed.

So remember to write down all of your thoughts to create your to-do list, and stay tuned for tomorrow's post on breaking down the bigger tasks on your to-do list! Later we will go over prioritizing all of those items that you have written on your to-do list. As always, please feel free to leave a comment with your thoughts or any questions you might have!

Spinach-Artichoke Quiche

Makes 2 8-inch quiches

Ingredients:

6 eggs
3 cups of milk
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp white pepper
1/4 tsp salt
1 14-ounce can of artichoke hearts, chopped into small pieces
1 cup of spinach, finely chopped
1 cup of parmesan cheese, freshly grated
2 pre-baked 8-inch pie shells

Instructions:

1. Pre-heat your oven to 375 degress.
   
2. Mix the eggs, milk, nutmeg, white pepper and salt together in a medium bowl.
   
3. Place the spinach, artichoke hearts, and parmesan cheese into the pie shells.
   
4. Pour the mixture from your bowl evenly between the two pie shells.
   
5. Place the quiches in the oven and bake for 45 minutes to one hour until the custard is set and a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Note: If you use processed Parmesan cheese, use less salt in the custard mix. If you use frozen spinach, squeeze out the water after defrosting.

I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I have. Anyone can make these quiches; they are foolproof!

This week will be To-Do list week! Stay tuned for tomorrow's post on creating your to-do list.

How to Be Automatically Organized

This is a continuation of Top Tips to Start Getting Organized Week! More of my favorite tips and tricks are still to come.

Tip Number Three:

Leave Things Where You Used Them

Your space should be working for you; you should not be a slave to it. My room works for me. Everything I need is in a useful spot, and I only have what I actually use. Also, when things are in logical places, it is much easier to maintain. My favorite, tried-and-true method is to keep my items where I use them. If you do this, you will avoid being tempted to leave something in the wrong place after you use it when you are too busy or feeling lazy.

For example, my hair care products (my gels and sprays, blow dryer and straightener, brushes and combs) are all right in front of my mirror in a small narrow bookcase where I do my hair. Even when I am in a hurry, everything ends up where it should be because I automatically leave it there. Some days I might toss the items there instead of neatly placing them in a line with all of the labels facing forward (yes, I usually do this), however, since they all end up in the right designated space, they are very easy to tidy up at a later, less busy time.

Stay tuned for more of this week's tips and tricks!

How to Deal With Too Much Stuff

This is another trick in the spirit of my Top Tips to Start Getting Organized week! I will continue to share my favorite tips and tricks in the next few posts.

Tip Number Two:

Reduce Your Belongings by Using Designated Spaces

You cannot get organized if there is too much stuff for your space. If you are a pack-rat, or live with one, no matter how organized you try to be, the stuff will just fight back. One trick I like to use is designating specific places in your house or apartment for specific kinds of things. Limit yourself (and others that live with you) to only having what can fit in the spot you designate.

For instance, you decide that a particular bookcase will be the designated place for books. Over time (maybe not that long), the bookcase will be filled. Now someone in your house or apartment wants to add something to the collection. Something else from the bookshelf will have to go first. If you stick to that system, you will avoid letting anyone fall back into having more than you have space for. This trick works for closets, bookshelves, drawers, coffee/end tables, and any other place you would be able to leave your belongings. This does not include the floor because you should be moving away from storing anything there that is not furniture or a very large item that needs to stand alone (i.e. and exercise bike, decorative plant, etc).

This trick also helps save you money. You might want something when you are in a store, but then you will have to ask yourself "Do I need this? Do I want to give up something I already own just to have it?" You might decide that the new thing in just not worth parting with your existing belongings. And remember, your possessions may bring back memories, but they do not define you. Sometimes you may need that new thing, and you will have to let go of whatever item it is that you conviced yourself you cannot do without. Let go. Set your belongings free. Let them make some new owner just as happy as they made you.

Stay tuned for the rest of this week's Top Tips!

Fastest Way to Make Your Room Look Cleaner

This week I have some Top Tips to Start Getting Organized! I will share a few of my favorite tips and tricks in my next few posts.

Tip Number One:

Clear off the Floor

You may have one of those rooms that is simply too cluttered to walk across. The solution to this issue? Get things off the floor and onto shelves, tables, or other surfaces. Do not just grab armfuls of things and shove them in your closet. Instead, pick up each item individually. You are giving yourself the chance to see each one instead of seeing one collective mess. I realize your shelves, tables, and other surfaces might already be on item overload. In this case, if you truly do not have space to squeeze your items in, do the next few steps:

1. Pick a starting point in the room. Grab a bag/box/bin for items that belong in the room, another for trash, and another for items that belong in other rooms. I actually like to have a fourth bag/box/bin of items I want to donate. If you do not have enough containers, push things over to create floor space on which to organize.
2. Make your way across the room by picking up each item and filing it in one of these three (or four) boxes. You might find that a lot of the stuff on your floor is just trash, old mail, obsolete items, and otherwise unnecessary stuff. Separating out the items that belong either in the trash, in another room, or at your nearest donation center should help in clearing space for the items that do belong in that room.
3. Do not stop at just your floor. Do Step 2 for all of your shelfs, tables, and other surfaces. Now you will have space for the items that belong in the room to rest on someplace other than the floor.
4. Throw out the trash bag(s) and leave the donation bag next to your front door or even on the front passenger seat of your car.
5. Grab the bag/box/bin of items that belong in other rooms. Make a trip around your place and leave these items right at the entrance to each room. Each time you walk into that room, grab another item and place it in an appropriate spot in that room.

Hopefully you will be able to pair down the clutter using the bag/box/bin method. It is the quickest efficient way to deal with a large mess. Do not let the sheer volume of stuff stop you from trying this technique. Do parts of a very busy room at a time. And remember that you will be rewarded at the end with peace of mind and a clean space.

Don't forget to stay tuned for more tips and tricks!

Zen Palate

If you happen to live in NYC, or plan to travel through there, make it a point to visit Zen Palate, on 46th and 9th in the theater district. This vegetarian, and mostly vegan, restaurant will fill your stomach with the most delicious vegetarian food I have ever eaten. Even my boyfriend, the biggest meat-eater I know, loved the food. I suggest trying the Hong Kong-Style Stir-Fried Rice Fettuccini. That one is my favorite. I dream about this dish. It taunts me in my sleep with its soft wide noodles, delicious sauce, scrumptious vegetables, and vegan ham. Trust me. It will convert you. My family has been there a few times now and we have always loved the dishes. The only thing I would avoid ordering is the tofu cheesecake. Aside from that, all of the dishes, such as the Stir-Fried Wheat Noodles and the Steamed Brown/Red Rice, are delectable. If I had an unlimited appetite, I would order one of each.

Just a quick note: To eat at the restaurant make sure to walk all the way back to the dining room. The front of the restaurant is a separate space.

Hope you enjoy this place as much as we have!

SnagIt!

I just recently discovered a marvelous piece of software called SnagIt. It is a tool to record images and video of your computer screen. SnagIt is extremely useful for all things you would use Print Screen for, as well as making video tutorials of anything you do on your computer.

For example:
My department at work was having trouble with having too many copies of the same files in our shared network drive from people sending files as attachments. My solution? Send the location of the file as a link. The issue? Most of my department did not know how to create a link from a folder address.

Instead of walking around to everyone's desk and showing them, only to have them forget how the next day, I created a video tutorial. And how did I shared it with the group? As a link in an email.

This is a tutorial I created with SnagIt (Note: this is not the exact tutorial I gave my coworkers because I had specified real files from a real shared drive. This shows a file from my hard drive. If you try to use links to send files from drives that are not shared, like I have done here linking to my hard drive, the recipient will not be able to open it. I will show how linking to your hard drive files can be very useful in a later post.)

I hope you enjoyed this demonstration, and I hope you are now just as excited as I am about this amazing, useful product. Stay tuned for more posts, and feel free to post questions about SnagIt or any other organization/productivity topic. Thanks for watching.

The Plan of Attack

As promised, here is how I created my Plan of Attack in preparation for our yard sale and total house overhaul.

This document lists the rooms in the house that we wanted to work on and what specifically can/could/will/should be improved. Each task is a bullet point so that they can easily be done one by one. I find this method to be less overwhelming than just saying, "I want to organize everything". My plan is to organize everything, but you can make it easier on yourself by doing it in steps. And who doesn't love to check/cross/obliterate things off a to-do list? Oh, maybe that's just me.

Okay. So you want to clean your house. Do these next steps for each room to assess what you would like to do and to start developing a Plan of Attack.

1. Stand in the middle of your space (if you can) and look around. Is there an area of the room that sticks out to you? Is one corner the "junk" corner? Is there a closet bursting with stuff? Or is the whole room just covered in a blanket of nonsense? Make a short list of the areas in the room you notice could use improvement (for example: bookshelf, TV table, desk, coffee table, etc).
2. Now close your eyes, or if you have space, sit cross-legged on the floor, close your eyes, and breathe deeply. Visualize the space you would like to have. If you are anything like me, there is a lot less stuff in this visualized space. Now, for each of the areas you wrote down in step 1, go through and write next to each one at least one possible remedy. When I look at a bookcase, for example, I look to see if there are knickknacks in front of the books blocking the way, if there are books crammed into the shelves, or if the shelves just look too "busy". Then next to "Bookshelf" I write "Remove knickknacks from bookshelf. Weed collection to make a pile of books to donate." I make similar notes next to other areas such as the chifferobe in my bedroom: "Remove clothes unworn in past two year to donate. Donate old DVDs. Remove old body care products that I will not use." For help with a specific area of a room, comment on this post, and I will make sure to get back to you (except if that area is your closet as I will cover that in my upcoming post about closet overhaul).
3. With your list of areas to work on complete, make those suggestions into bullets. I typed all of mine into a word processor so that all of the formatting would be done for me. This also made it easier to drag different bullet points around and to add things that popped into my head later without ending up with a list on paper that looks like a first grader's homework.
4. Next, make yourself a realistic schedule. When I say realistic, I mean do not plan to check ten items off your list in a day. Make a more realistic goal of tackling one or two of them each day instead, and reward yourself when you stick to your schedule. For example, I planned to reorganize the bathroom shelves and medicine cabinet one day, weed through my older clothes the next day, and over the weekend tackle the basement or attic (depended on the heat) with my dad. This way, I never got discouraged or got the feeling like I used to freshman year of high school when I hadn't handed in my homework on time. It is not a fun feeling, so don't do that to yourself. And remember that your plans for the day (or week) can change in a second, so do not feel that you have failed if one day or so you have to put off one of your planned items. Just make sure you don't fall off the band wagon. Move your schedule back one or so day and keep working off that list.
5. In terms of rewards, I just love checking things off lists, but I know that isn't for everyone. Give yourself a pat on the back and remind yourself you did a great job that day. Have a little treat. But please, for the sake of progress, do not go and buy yourself more stuff as a reward. You will regret it later.
   

I hope this strategy helps you start assessing your organizational needs and motivates you to start weeding out your clutter. Remember, assessing your space, making a list, and setting a realistic schedule can be a more productive (and much less painful) way to start on your journey to organized, less stressful living.

Stay tuned for more posts (on a more regular basis), and feel free to post your comments and questions. I would love to solve your organizing issues.

The Yard Sale

It has been too long since my last post! I have been busy doing what I love: Organizing!

My mom and I decided it was time to do a total overhaul on my parent's house. Our house is, in short, disorganized. I am very excited to see what we can do with it! In preparation for this organizing extravaganza, I developed what I call The Plan of Attack. I will detail how I created this plan in a later post.

We set a date for the yard sale and had the goal of finishing the preparation for it in a week. Kids, do not try this at home :P Just kidding. I encourage everyone and anyone to take the first steps towards living a more organized, less stressful life. I do suggest, however, giving yourself more than one week to accomplish the task. Do set a date though, or else it will never get checked off of your metaphorical list.

The preparation for the yard sale included gathering all of the belongings we planned to sell in one location which in our case was our living room. You do not want to get to the day of the sale and have everything in all corners of the house. Plus, if you haven't taken the stuff to sell from the places they used to be in your house, you will not be able to tell whether or not you made a dent in the clutter. Yes, the living room was not the prettiest sight for one week, but it was all over quickly and was so relieving when everything left the house.

One issue was that Mom wanted to see the house less cluttered (making cleaning easier), but Dad did not want to get rid of anything. But let me tell you, people can change. You would not believe how receptive Dad became to the idea of letting go of some of our possessions. It was just so great when Dad beat me to the basement to start bagging up garbage and picking out things to sell. This will probably not happen with your resident pack-rat, but I wanted to share it anyways.

When considering having a yard sale, it helps if you have a few "big ticket items", for instance a dresser that is not in use or the exercise bike that is collecting dust. Yard sales that only have the small things like dolls and records will not be very useful to you and do not attract as much attention from potential buyers.

Quick tip for those considering a yard sale: Make a rule that anything that enters the yard sale does not re-enter the house (or apartment). Plan to donate everything you do not sell to Goodwill or other donation center. This will take pressure off you because even if you do not have a profitable yard sale, you will still have a success because you rid yourself of a lot of unwanted items. If you tell yourself, "Oh, if this item doesn't sell, I am just going to keep it and try to sell it later", you will FAIL at ridding your house of your clutter. Do not, under any circumstance fall into this trap. Be good to yourself, and the people benefiting from charities like Goodwill, and let go of your belongings. Set them free.

Another trick that has been very successful for me (it worked really well for our past two yard sales) is to not bother with all the work of pricing your yard sale items. When you do not price your items you save yourself lots of the preparation work that cause most people to avoid the whole idea of a yard sale. The only preparation we did was to gather all our belongings to sell in the living room and post an advertisement for the yard sale on Craigslist. Simple and pain free.

On the day of your yard sale, all you have to do it move all of the designated stuff out to the lawn and driveway for passersby to see. Any time a person shows interest in your sale, tell them "Welcome! Everything here is pay what you like. Anything we do not sell is going to Goodwill. Please let me know if I can help you find anything, or if you are looking for something specific." This statement gets a very positive reaction, and more often that not the person will stop and seriously look through what you are offering.

One other thing to consider doing: Donate the proceeds of your yard sale to the charity of your choice. In my case, I donated our proceeds to Tzu Chi Buddhist Foundation, of which I am an active member. Donating your proceeds to charity does one more good thing for you: You are less worried about how much people are paying for your things and more concentrated on selling as many things as you can. Also, you can mention that "All the proceeds from this sale are going to charity", which can sometimes get a couple extra dollars if people believe it is going to a good cause (and you might get to spread the word about your charity when people ask!)

So remember, gather your yard sale items in one spot in your house, do not price your items, donate all unsold items from your yard sale to charity, and possibly even donate the proceeds as well. After it is all over you will have done something good for yourself and helped out someone else too.

Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed these tips, and I hope you check back for my next few posts.

• The Plan of Attack
• Top Tips to Start Getting Organized
• My Closet - "Where the devil are my slippers?"
• Keeping Track of Your Finances and Budgeting - Money Saving Tips You Never Thought Of!
• Excel Tips

10 Ways to be More Environmentally Friendly

In this installment (I say installment because I fear my posts will tend to verge on novels), I am going to share a few earth-friendly tips we can use to decrease our carbon footprints! Sometimes a little forethought can go a long way.

1. Eat a few vegetarian meals a week to cut back on carbon emissions, fight global hunger, and reduce cruelty to animals. Try starting a meat-free Monday like Paul McCartney! A vegetarian diet is also much cheaper than a meat eater's diet (and healthier!). Now that's a cost savings you didn't think about ;)


2. Drive less! Carpool or join a ride share if you can, take public transportation, or walk :) When you carpool you do not have to deal with driving and you can catch up on some sleep (if you are not driving!). When taking public transportation you do not have to deal with traffic. And walking is just plain old good for you (unless you are clumsy like me...)


3. Carry utensils (I carry chopsticks!) This saves you from constantly using plastic utensils.


4. Carry a bottle. We buy enough bottled water to circle the earth over and over every day. Some get recycled and some do not, but that also wastes energy. Most places are required to filter their tap, and it is just as healthy (and usually tastier) than bottled.


5. Leave mugs and utensils at work. This saves you a cup every day when you make your tea or coffee. And during lunch you can use your real utensils! Who likes using the plastic ones anyways?


6. Leave reusable grocery bags in your car. Reducing the number of wasted plastic bags every time you shop is a big step towards being more earth-friendly!


7. Use more environmentally-friendly chemicals in your home. Seventh Generation, as well as many other "green" household cleaners, have come out with products for almost all of your cleaning needs, and they are much better for our earth. We put so many chemicals in the air, dirt, and water, but you can still keep a happy, clean home and leave the chemicals alone.


8. Use energy-efficient appliances. From your microwave to your dishwasher to your washer/dryer you can buy products with the EnergyStar label to reduce the amount of energy and water you use. This will also reduce the amount you spend on utilities!


9. Turn off the lights! When you leave the house, when you leave the room, etc. Also, do not leave your A/C blasting while you are not even there enjoying it!


10. And my personal favorite: Let the dishwasher do it for you! Many many studies have shown that it is more environmentally-friendly to use your dishwasher than to hand-wash your dishes. It also gets your dishes cleaner than you could yourself! Remember: the dirtiest thing in your house is your kitchen sponge (da da duuuuuum - check Mythbusters...)

Hope this gives you a few ideas! The biggest one, of course, is number one. A vegetarian who drives an SUV pollutes less than meat eater who drives Prius! Not that I know any vegetarians that drive SUV's ;)

Still to come!!

• Top Tips to Start Getting Organized


• My Closet - "Where the devil are my slippers?"


• Keeping Track of Your Finances and Budgeting - Money Saving Tips You Never Thought Of!


• Excel Tips

Organizing your purse - Being prepared

Ever since I was in middle school I have always carried a purse that has something in it for every situation. This only works because I keep it neat and organized. I am going to do the embarrassing and list here the contents of my purse and why I keep these specific items on hand. I will also mention what I purposefully do not have in my purse :)

In the front pockets of my purse:

• my Blackberry - I use this to organize everything. It has my schedule, task list, notes, and emails. It synchronizes to my computer and gets backed up so I do not run the risk of losing any of it!
• my RFID card for work and my keys - I only have the 5 keys I need and a USB drive
• a small pill case with four spaces - just in case I need to throw my morning pills in my purse or I am staying somewhere overnight

In the three pockets inside the front of my purse:

Pocket one:

• 3 pencils - I am always lending someone a pencil so I carry more than one or two
• 3 pens - one red, one blue and one black
• my spare glasses - for when I do not have time to put in contacts
• chopsticks from Tzu Chi - I eat a lot of Asian foods outside of the house and you can save having to use the wooden ones by carrying these! They are also a great conversation piece :P

Pocket two:

• headphones - to use on my computer, Blackberry, wherever!
• contact lens case with fresh liquid inside
• Vaseline Lip Therapy in Cherry - I keep it in the front because it is what I use more often on my lips (I rarely wear lip gloss/lipstick)
• a spare microSD card for my Blackberry

Pocket three:

• 2 hair elastics
• a tiny safety pin - I cannot tell you how often I have been thankful I carry one of these!
• several bobby pins

The front loose section is where I store:

• a small Kleenex package
• my digital camera (when I carry it)
• a claw hair clip with no-slip grip - to get my hair up and out of the way when I need to

The back loose section is where I store:

• my wallet
• a mini umbrella
• water (when I carry it)
• USB cord - to connect my Blackberry to any computer - it is easier than carrying a travel charger!

The middle zippered section is the busiest part of my purse:

• travel toothbrush, tooth paste, and floss - I keep these together in a small baggie
• gum
• a compact mirror
• lens cloth - to clean my glasses or camera lens
• Tide-to-Go pen - people always appreciate this when they spill something on their shirt!
• peds - just in case I end up in a shoe store :)
• a travel-sized Vaseline Total Moisture lotion - I am careful and wash my hands often which can dry out your skin
• Blink Contacts lubricating eye drops - for dry contacts these are so much better than Visine
• headphones for my Blackberry - I rarely use them but if I need a hands-free option I like to have them
• L'Oreal Double Extend mascara - in case I have to go somewhere and I was not expecting it, I can throw this on and feel a little more put together
• Neutrogena nourishing eye liner - same reason as the mascara
• Revlon ColorStay Blemish Concealer in Fair - in case I get a sudden spot I need to cover! I do not wear makeup daily, so I keep this in case I did not check my face in the morning
• bareMinerals 100% natural lip gloss in Rose - same reason as the mascara and eye liner
• bareMinerals 100% natural mineral lip color in Rose - again same reason as the rest of my makeup!
• a travel-sized bottle of Aleve - inside are 2 Imodium, 2 Zantac, 5 Aleve, and 3 Ibuprofen - My mom calls me a walking pharmacy :)

In the back inside zippered pocket:

• several index cards - in case I have to write something down for someone or make a list
• several Band-Aids - I have two left feet sometimes!
• a travel-sized nail file - I break my nails all the time
• feminine care items - all women need to be prepared for themselves and their friends :)
• an extra CharlieCard - I often help people in the subways, so I carry an extra
• a mini tube of superglue - you never know when you might really need it! I ripped the bottom off my shoe the other day and my superglue really came in handy!

In the back outside zippered pocket:

• a few labels with my name on it - in case I have to label something of mine

Now for the contents of my wallet :)

• Cards: Driver's license, university ID, high school ID, insurance, blue card, list of medications and allergies, CharlieCard, CVS, prescriptions debit, two debit cards, three commuter rail tickets, PETCO, Best Buy, Godiva, Sephora, international calling card, Stop & Shop, Shaws, AAA, Boston library card, Minuteman libraries card, 4 Cargo eye shadow cards
• Commuter rail schedule
• a receipt from a fancy dinner with my boyfriend
• one Band-Aid - in case I am only carrying my wallet not my entire purse. I am clumsy!
• two wet naps - I prefer these to hand sanitizer because you can clean things other than your hands with them if there is a mess. I keep them from any restaurant that gives them out after a meal!
• small amount of cash - I try to use cash the least amount possible because it is easier to track debit card spending. I have to write down all cash amounts to keep track!
• small amount of coins - I try not to carry too many coins because they can get very heavy quickly

In essence, the reason for this list is to show that you can carry this many things, and be prepared for anything, as long as you keep it organized. If I need something from my purse, I know immediately where it is. I have a designated spot for everything in my purse, so it never takes me even a minute to find something!

A few things I do not keep in my purse:

• receipts - I have seen the nightmare purses that are filled with loose receipts everywhere. I have no idea why you would need to keep those on hand. If you do keep your receipts, create a designated spot for them in your purse (inside a pouch for instance) and make a habit of taking those out at the end of the day. Have another designated spot in your house/apartment where you keep a file of your receipts.
• loose change - Money is dirty. I have seen purses that have tons of loose change rolling around the bottom touching everything that is supposed to be clean. Who wants their candies rolling around with everyone's germs? Not me, thank you very much!
• anything that I absolutely cannot find a good reason for - Some people lug complete junk around with them everywhere and they ask themselves "Why is this even in my purse at all?" If you find yourself asking that question about anything in your purse, go with your instincts, and find it a better home.

The main things is to create a system that allows to you get to the front counter and not be scrambling for extra change or that card you just know is in there somewhere. Here are a couple tricks:

• keep like things together - I have all of my hair care items in one area, makeup in another, emergency items, and so forth. Using little pouches to keep things together can work really well because it will be easier to find items that are in pouches and not lost in the bottom of your bag
• make sure when you buy a purse that it is not just fashionable, but also fits your specific needs - I spent a great deal of time finding my purse, but it was worth it. Not only is it fashionable and get lots of compliments, but I was able to create designated spots for all of my stuff inside it. The fact that it has three inside spaces (one zippered - great for lots of loose items), and plenty of smaller inside and outer pockets, made it the perfect bag!
• make an inventory of the things in your purse - In making this list, I was forced to go through every item and justify it. In going through that process, I was sure that the items in my purse are ones I truly want to carry with me. You may find that in making your own inventory there are items that really do not belong in your purse, and you can leave them at home! Also, in the event that something terrible happens and you lose you purse or it is stolen, you have a list of everything that is missing. I also have a PDF of all of my important cards from my wallet (front and back) for that same reason!

This took a little courage to post so I hope you enjoyed it! You may not decide to go through your purse/wallet today, but remember if you do to try these tips! Good Luck :)

My Favorite Sandwich

Portabella Mushroom Sandwich - Makes Four Servings

Ingredients:

4 Large portabella mushrooms, stems removed
2 Red bell peppers
1 Package of soft goat cheese
2 Loaves of ciabatta bread (or enough for 4 sandwiches!)
Low salt soy sauce
Olive oil

Instructions:

1. Drizzle a little olive oil into a pan set on medium heat.
2. Wipe any dirt from the mushrooms with a damp paper towel. Cut the mushrooms into quarters, add them to the pan, drizzle with soy sauce, and cook down for 10 minutes.
3. Cover a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Cut the bell peppers in half and remove the seeds and innards. Place them on the baking sheet skin side up and drizzle with a little olive oil. Place the sheet in a 450 degree oven set on broil for 8 minutes. Remove them. When cool enough, slice the peppers into quarters.
4. Cut the loaves of ciabatta bread to make the sides to the sandwiches.
5. When all the ingredients are ready, assemble the sandwiches with the bottom of the ciabatta bread on the bottom, one portabella mushroom, one half's worth of bell pepper, and the goat cheese spread on the underside of the top piece of ciabatta bread that tops the sandwich.

My parents enjoyed this sandwich so much, I had to post the recipe. Try it and let me know if you liked it too!

A Refreshing Drink

Hibiscus-Raspberry Tea Lemonade - Makes One 2-quart Pitcher

I made this up with random things in our kitchen :)

Ingredients:

2 Tea bags of Celestial Seasonings Raspberry Zinger Herb Tea
1 Packet of KoolAid Lemonade
1 Cup of sugar

Instructions:

1. Boil a kettle of water.
2. Place the tea bags in a 2-quart pitcher and fill half way with boiling water. Steep for 4 minutes then remove the tea bags.
3. Add one KoolAid Lemonade packet.
4. Add sugar. Mix well until the sugar dissolves.
5. Fill the rest of the pitcher with cold water/ice. Leave in the fridge to cool.

This is a very delicious, refreshing drink and tastes just as good as Starbucks Passion Tea Lemonade :P Go as heavy or as light on the sugar as you like. I actually preferred it with less than a cup!