The Clutter Diet Blog

Mo-o-o-om! What's my Password?

It's about that time of the summer... the novelty of being out of school has worn off, the kids might have returned from summer camp, and they are... (GASP)... BORED! If they are on the computer and logging in to their favorite (safe) websites to pass the time, they might be starting to grapple with the same problem that many adults have:  keeping track of all of those passwords. And you are probably helping them with this when you may not even have it figured out yourself!

My colleagues over at GetButtonedUp have shared with me this great printable kids' password tracker form. It's colorful and fun and I love the little bulldog face on there reminding us about security!  :)

You can download the password tracker form here at no cost (PDF).

GetButtonedUp has some great organizing products and content-- we carry a couple of their products in our online store, the best-selling one being the Life.doc binder. It's a great "family binder" as we recommend setting up in our membership program, but this one is already done for you. You just have to fill in your own information and, presto! It even comes with the forms on CD-ROM so you can type in the information instead of writing everything by hand.

If you want some tips on storing your own passwords, you can read more about that here in my previous post, "Organizing Your Passwords--Be Safe!" You can also use this product in our online store if you want to have a paper method instead of electronic-- the Internet Password Organizer®. It's a nondescript black notebook that sits unnoticed on a shelf, silently storing your important information from prying eyes. This is a great gift-- many of our customers buy multiple copies to share with family members. You can also use a simple A-Z index card file with a card for each account, if you like. 

How's your summer going? If YOU are bored, now you can organize your kids' passwords and your own too! Share your favorite password tips in the comments!

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7 Useful Folder Categories You Might Not Be Using

Filing is typically a fairly personal thing, varying because of how people's brains work differently and the fact that people have unique experiences and memories and triggers. There are some standard file folder label names that almost everybody has in their file drawers, like "Bank Statements" or "Medical Insurance," but here are a few practical ones that you might not have considered:

• Travel: Places to Go. Here's a file to hold all of those brochures you've picked up and articles you've clipped about dream vacation spots. Grab this when you are planning some time off, and when you go through it, make sure you weed out what's no longer relevant.
• Travel: Places We've Been. Sometimes it's useful to keep some brochures and maps and other information from vacation places that you might see yourself returning to someday. If you have a lot of these, sometimes people break them down into individual folders for different places, but that is not typically needed.
• Travel: Local Things to Do. Here in Austin we get Austin Monthly magazine, and they always have great restaurant reviews and articles with names like "101 Great Things to Do in the Summer." This file is a great place to keep ideas like this for when you have a long weekend or have visitors coming to town. You can also make a "Tourist Binder" as I have outlined on this previous post. You can also call it something else if you like... none of this is set in stone!
• Career Planning. This folder provides a home for aptitude testing information, various historical versions of your resume, performance reviews, and educational transcripts.
• Credit Reports. Through the weekly "menu" plans of projects we provide in our online program, we remind our members to run these reports three times a year. Smart monitoring of your credit report keeps the chance of identity theft lower by helping you catch mistakes and fix them before they are too far gone. The only credit reporting website that is official and authorized, by the way, is www.annualcreditreport.com. Be very careful about visiting others who may be only trying to upsell you on further monitoring services (or worse!). 
• Humor. Also known as the "Funny File." Where else do you have a home for those little torn out comic strips and article clippings after they have worn out their welcome on your bulletin board? If you still think they're funny and want to keep them, here's a place.
• Trophies. Call it Keepsakes if you like, but the difference here is that these are things that represent accomplishments you are especially proud of. A photocopy of the first check you received in your business... a particularly meaningful thank you note from a customer or teacher... a clipping of yourself from the newspaper... These are things that make you feel great when you look at them. I also keep things like this posted off to the side of my vision board (my big corkboard wall I put in my closet-- read about that here). And of course, if you have a bunch of these, you can make a scrapbook with them instead.

It's worth noting that all of these folder names I also have as ELECTRONIC folders too, or I use variations of them as tags in Evernote to hold little bits of information. Some people may even have these only as electronic folders and not have any paper!

What are your favorite, clever files you've created that help you? Share in the comments!

And, hey, get ready for a BIG announcement on Monday, everybody!  I can't wait....see you then!

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Shred or Be Sorry: A Cautionary Tale

My sons are working this summer for our city's public works department, and they were helping with an "illegal dumping" incident this week that reminded me of how people need to be careful with their personal information!

Apparently a tanning salon has gone out of business, and they dumped a huge bunch of papers and trash next to our city dumpster. As my son was cleaning up, he realized that the papers had customer information all over them, including contact information, social security numbers and even some credit card numbers! And my son and his team just had to take it to the dump "as is." It was not their job or responsibility to make sure that information was destroyed properly-- it was the tanning salon's job and they failed utterly.

I was upset for all of the people whose information was potentially compromised and angry at the irresponsibility of this business owner. It's a great opportunity to remind all of you who read the blog to be more mindful of identity theft as you organize your lives. Here are a few strategies to follow:

• As you open accounts, don't willingly provide companies with any more information than is necessary to process your transactions. It's rare that you actually must give your Social Security number to anyone, and a tanning salon certainly is an example of a business who does not need that information to provide you service. It's okay to ask questions about providing extraneous data and get the manager involved if necessary. You can be nice about it, and know that you will not be the first person who has asked.
• When in doubt, shred-- that is a great rule of thumb when you've already decided to throw your papers in the trash. In my example above, the business is the one who should have been shredding, but as you can see, whatever is thrown in the trash may be read by somebody else. Shred anything you throw away at home that might compromise your identity, your privacy, your finances, or your reputation.  :) 
• Buy a shredder, and don't scrimp on quality. To me, a shredder is as necessary a home appliance as a toaster or refrigerator. Buy the best cross-cut (confetti) model you can afford and know that a cheap one will aggravate you to no end and will break quickly. Since people do ask me, I like the Fellowes brand, and the one I have has never jammed (it's an Intellishred PS-79Ci). The cost of this shredder is less than the combined cost of the two cheaper ones I burned up and cursed over before getting this one. Note that two pieces of paper folded into thirds and inserted into an envelope add up to 8 thicknesses of paper, so if you want to be able to shred things without opening the envelopes, you'll need at least an 8-page capacity shredder. I prefer much higher.
• Don't forget computer data too! Most new, high-quality shredders have features that allow you to grind up CDs and DVDs. Old floppies can be easily taken apart and destroyed too. eHow has a good article on this subject. Hard drives can be trickier, but you can try Eraser and Blancco. (Use any of these methods at your own risk and get advice from an IT pro beyond me if you have questions.)
• If you have a large batch to shred (like this lazy business owner did), hire a shredding truck to come on-site to do it all at once. It is not very expensive, especially considering how long it would take you to sit there and shred it yourself with a puny overheated machine. Read my previous post with a step-by-step account of how my client lost 783 pounds in one day.  :)
• Protect your passwords and other account information by organizing it well. For electronic storage of information, I love SplashID, which is a product I have followed along with since I had a Palm Treo way back when. Now I have their very impressive Android version, and it's compatible with Blackberry and iPhone and almost everything else too.  I have it synchronizing between my smartphone and my desktop. For a more traditional password organizing system, you can use a plain old A-Z index card file and create a card for each account. You can also use the Internet Password Organizer® book we sell in our online store, which is a nondescript black, spiral-bound book that neatly alphabetizes and organizes your information. (This is a great gift, by the way!)

Be careful out there! And wear sunscreen too!  :)

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How My Kindle Reduces Clutter, Saves Time & Keeps Me Slim

I am a Kindle fanatic, let's just get that out there. I am also an avid reader from way back...I taught myself how to juggle and do calligraphy from reading books when I was a kid. I LOVE BOOKS. So like many fellow bookworms, I did not expect to love the Kindle because it didn't have that "book feel" that you'd want to "curl up with." Well, never mind about that! It just doesn't matter. Once you are used to it, you might actually prefer it like I do!

Here are nine ways I use my Kindle to reduce clutter in my life, be more efficient, and even keep off the pounds...

1. Obvious one out of the way first... buying books on the Kindle means I do not have physical books taking up space on a shelf or table. I have at this point saved well over 3 feet of shelf space buying books this way. I love books, but they are bulky and are hard to discard once you have collected them!
2. The "staying slim" part... I use my early morning treadmill time as my main reading time, and the Kindle is easy and light enough to hold with one hand and turn pages with the one thumb. I can enlarge the font size so that even though I am moving quickly, I can easily read what is in front of me. And because it's moving with me, it's not like having a magazine propped up on the console that I am bobbing up and down in front of and fussing with pages.
3. I read the news during this treadmill time, so I quickly control how I get my news and what I want to skip over, etc. I used to watch TV news on the treadmill and was at the mercy of commercials and the timing of what news they wanted to cover at any given moment. You can subscribe to various newspapers and news blogs and they are delivered fresh when you turn on your device. (Bonus: No newspaper clutter!)
4. I read my favorite blogs on the Kindle. (Pssst: This blog has been the #1 Home & Garden blog on the Kindle since Sept. 2008! And today, it's even #12 OVERALL! Thank you so much!) It costs $0.99 - 1.99 per month per subscription, depending upon which blogs you want to subscribe to... but if time is scarce, it's wonderful to have that content delivered to what I think of as my "centralized reading device." I don't really want to sit in front of my computer reading everything.
5. I read long documents on the Kindle too. You can e-mail documents as attachments to your Kindle's special e-mail address (look in "Manage Your Kindle" on Amazon's site to find it), and they will show up your Kindle! PDFs, Word documents, and other formats translate really well. I especially love reading eBooks this way-- there are lots of downloadable PDFs that you'd otherwise need to print out to read comfortably. There is a small charge for this (I believe it's 15 cents per document to send them), but that is very worth it to me (probably save that much in paper and printer ink alone). Full instructions for this process are in section 8.3 of the Kindle user guide.
6. I read web articles this way also. Constantly throughout my workday I get wind of articles that would be really fun to read but would interrupt my workday to stop and read them. There is a fantastic free service called "Instapaper," at www.instapaper.com, where you create an account, put in your special Kindle e-mail address and set it up, and get a button for your toolbar that says "Read Later." When you find an article on the web, press the "Read Later" button, and the article gets sent to your Kindle for reading when you're ready. This is my new favorite thing!! I am so excited about this service. (This also is subject to the 15 cent Amazon charge per emailed item)
7. I travel with the Kindle and it reduces clutter in my carry-on bag. I am such a bookworm I used to travel with multiple heavy books and magazines to read on the plane or train, and I now have lightened my load considerably! (Bonus: I always have a dictionary with me too.)
8. I save time buying books wirelessly, because I don't have to drive over to the bookstore to purchase something I want to read. And if I am traveling, I don't have to spend time hunting down a bookstore in an unfamiliar city. The Kindle works on the cellular network, so you can download a book from almost anywhere.
9. I get text clippings of my notes and highlights right on my computer. While I am reading, I use the Kindle's little "mouse" control to make highlights on passages and write notes to myself about what I think on the small keyboard. I can plug in my Kindle with the USB cable and grab all of the text from these notes and passages from the "My Clippings" file. Since they are already in text format and "paste-able," I can use this information much more quickly and easily. Instructions for this are in section 8.2 of the Kindle user guide.

I did not expect to like the Kindle as much as I do! Hopefully you see why now. I think of it as an "iPod for books." I recently treated myself to a really cool "Gelaskin" applique for mine, for fun but also to protect the surface when I read it at the nail salon and can tend to get nail salon gunk on it. :)

What do you think about the Kindle? What are your favorite tips for using it to save time and reduce clutter in your life?  Share in the comments! (Kindle photo above from Amazon.com)

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15 Tips for Managing Inbox Obesity

Wednesday night we had our monthly members-only Q&A call, and there was a lot of talk about e-mail. While the Clutter Diet® program itself is really not for the workplace, I have done productivity work with clients for years in companies large and small, and it's something we all deal with to varying degrees. I approach e-mail problems the same way I approach almost everything I organize-- looking at Prevention, Reduction, and Maintenance...just like weight loss.

Prevention:

• Unsubscribe to as much as you can, and better yet, don't subscribe in the first place. (Unless it's my newsletter--ha!) Make sure the content is really adding value to your life, is consistent with your goals and objectives, and is not just a constant sales pitch.
• Be careful when you buy something online-- make sure the checkbox for receiving other communications from the vendor, and especially from "their partners," is not checked off by default. Check privacy policies to make sure you understand how your information is going to be used.
• Make sure your IT person has helped you set up the best spam filtering you can get for your particular situation. Spam is a terrible time-waster!
• Have conversations with significant email senders in your life about your desire to reduce your e-mail.
• • Individuals: You can agree for someone like an assistant to send you a report in digest form of several issues and events that have occurred in one day, vs. sending you an individual e-mail about each item. And if you are on someone's "joke list," ask politely to be removed as you are trying to prevent inbox overload. Most people will understand.
  • Teams/Departments: Have deliberate, facilitated conversations about what could be done about reducing e-mail in your company culture. Some companies are having "No E-mail Fridays" to encourage people to pick up the phone and interact more, and to have more focused, productive time. Talk to your team about who really needs to copy whom and find out if there are obvious things that can be changed-- the only way to know is to talk about it directly.

Reduction:

• Cut that giant inbox down to size. Someone on our Q&A call had over 3000 messages in her inbox, and that is VERY common. To whittle it down to a manageable size, pick a reasonable date in the recent past by which you are 99% certain anything before that date has been handled or followed up with further emails. For example, if it's February, you might pick January 1st, or December 1st... and any messages prior to that date get archived into a folder. You still have them, they are searchable, and everything is going to be okay! But they will be out of your inbox and you can get closer to that fresh start.
• Use rules and filters to start weeding out and organizing what is left. In Outlook, it's under Tools>> Rules & Alerts (older versions say "Rules Wizard"). In other situations it may be called "filters." You can set up rules to take things like routine newsletters and set them up to automatically go to a folder called "Read/Review," taking them out of your daily processing. You'll be very surprised at all of the things rules and filters can do! 
• Use our Action-Reference-Trash (A-R-T) technique to help you quickly plow through the remainder of the inbox. 
• • ACTION means you need to do something with that message-- respond, research, delegate, etc. You can leave these in your inbox, or you can use Outlook tasks and calendar functions to drag the messages and create tasks and appointments from them.
  • REFERENCE means no action is required, but you need to keep it on file for later-- so get it out of the inbox. Create a system of folders that works for you to go back and find things quickly. It could be one folder called "Reference," or you could have folders for various parts of your job and life. Don't make so many folders that the decision-making slows you down! Keep it simple. Remember, it's all searchable and sortable.
  • TRASH means hitting the DELETE key... but before hitting delete, always ask yourself if you can unsubscribe to that particular type of message first and do that too.

Maintenance:

• Process your email regularly with the A-R-T decision-making technique, and pick a target number of emails in your inbox that works for you to feel "in control." For some people, that is "INBOX ZERO." For others, 10, 20, or 50 messages in the inbox feels sane and manageable. Try to hit that target number at least once a week, if not daily.
• As you maintain, always keep Prevention in mind. Unsubscribe as you can and keep those principles in practice.
• There are two main problems with maintaining e-mail-- 1) the ongoing volume and 2) the reactive, addictive, unproductive mode many people can fall into with it. You want to manage email, not have it manage you. As you maintain your inbox,  use these practices to help you stay proactive:
• • Turn off the notifications that pop up and make sounds when a new email is delivered to your inbox. These are interruptions and distractions that you have complete control over.
  • Check and process your emails at certain designated points of the day, not continuously. If you are trying to get productive work done, email will be a constant interruption if you let it.
  • If you must check at an "off-time," look at your Blackberry/iPhone instead of getting into Outlook or Gmail. You can see and respond if anything urgent has arrived, and otherwise you will be less tempted to start processing and digging in because you will have to peck responses out on a tiny keyboard.

There is SO much more to say about email! What are your favorite tips and pet peeves? Share in the comments!

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Top Ten Tips for Paying Your Bills Efficiently

It's National Pay Your Bills Week (3rd week in February). I think this means we get to eat cupcakes while we are writing checks this week.  :)

Given the current economic climate, this subject is more important than ever! You really want to get this process down to avoid late fees and other unnecessary expenses related to disorganization. Here are my top ten tips, edited down from our article on Managing Your Personal Finances, available in our member area for our Clutter Diet® online organizing program.(We have hundreds of searchable articles in our member area, along with hours of multimedia tutorials and audio content!)

• Have a designated home for bill-paying supplies like checks, deposit slips, letter openers, pens, payment coupon booklets, postage stamps, envelopes, return address labels, a calculator, and a stapler.
• Decide on certain days to pay the bills, then stick to your plan consistently. You might choose the 1st & 15th, 10th & 25th, every week, or every other week on a certain day. I pay my bills every Tuesday, and it gives me great peace of mind. (Members can use our Clutter Diet customized e-mail reminder system to help them remember.)
• Keep all bills together in one place as they arrive. You can use a tray or vertical sorter to keep them visible and ready, or even a clothespin.
• Automate as much as possible, directly with your vendors. You can set up payments with most vendors to pay automatically either by credit card or automatic draft.
• Don't hand-write checks and mail them out if you don't have to! Use your bank's online billpay features for vendors who don't have automated payment options (or if you just prefer having more control). You can set up recurring payments that you never have to worry about again, like the mortgage payment, the orthodontist, or anything.
• Simplify your number of bills by consolidating down to only 1-2 major credit cards instead of multiple department store and gasoline cards.
• Pre-inked rubber stamps are fantastic. Get one made for endorsing checks for deposit with your name, "For Deposit Only" and your bank information on it. Also get a PAID stamp with rotating date wheels so you can breeze through notations on your bills quickly.
• Our favorite way to file paid household bills and bank statements is by month. You can buy a brown accordion file in the office supply store marked January-December. Just put everything for each month in there, tie it up with a big bow at the end of the year and start over. You can keep these in archived storage for the 7-year period that is normally recommended (check with your accountant or attorney for retention advice specific to your situation).
• Go paperless. Most major institutions would now prefer to send paperless bills, and it means less paper clutter for you to handle and file. Look on the envelope flap of your bill’s return envelope or in the text of the bill itself to find out how your statements can be electronically received. (Make sure you have a good backup system on your hard drive!)
• Get complete freedom from all bills. If you travel often, or if you are paying bills for an elderly relative, or if you just don't like dealing with bills at all, you might like Paytrust.com. They are now owned by Intuit, and have been around for at least ten years. We started using Paytrust when we went on a sabbatical in 2000. They assist you in changing all of your bills' addresses to their clearinghouse, where they receive them and scan all the bills in color. They notify you via e-mail that the bill has arrived and tell you what is going to happen next. You set up payment rules for each payee to automatically pay when the bill is received. You can set up rules like, "Pay this bill automatically within (x) days of receipt, as long as it's under (x) dollars." You can also use multiple bank accounts. Paytrust charges $12.95 per month.

So go eat those cupcakes and get those bills paid this week! Let me know how you're doing and share your favorite bill-paying tips in the comments.

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The Biggest Problem in My House

I have two teenage sons, ages 14 and 16. They are wonderful kids, they never get into any serious trouble, and they have nice friends. The problem is the Technology Tether. The kids are upstairs, we are downstairs... They are on the X-Box or the computer at every available opportunity. I carry the torch for "more quality time" and "less screen time" to the point that I am becoming a predictable caricature of myself. This has been going on for years and is sincerely the single biggest problem we have in our home, bar none. It causes arguments, resentment, distance, and other problems, not to mention that it's unhealthy for developing minds.

My colleague Peter Walsh was on Oprah yesterday with his "STRIPPED DOWN" approach to helping a family get unplugged and reconnected. It's so wonderful that people are talking about this problem! I know we are not the only ones-- and I know that it could be much worse.

Peter provided organizational help like closets and laundry systems, along with putting all of their technology in a "vault" for a week until they re-discovered what it was like to be a family and have quality communication and time together again. Organizing is definitely a piece of the puzzle, because clutter causes stress in the home too.

Along with managing our own time and activities, we have to help kids learn to manage their own. Over the years we have tried various things with our technology issues... one of the better successes we've had is the Time Scout device. It's a card reader device that controls the power to your electronic equipment-- in our case, video game consoles. Each child has a card that they swipe to start the power flowing, and it shows them how much time they have remaining to play. It gives them a warning beep to give them time to save their game, then it shuts it all down. Ahhh! I talked with the Time Scout people, and they are going to give you guys 10% off if you use the coupon code "clutterdiet" in their shopping cart.

Another product we've enjoyed using is Enuff, a software application that limits computer time. Each child has his own login, and you can set up different settings for different kids, evenings vs. days, weekends vs. weekdays, specific programs to use or not, etc.  I think they have thought of everything! And it's tamper-proof if you have tech-savvy kids, too.

Even with tools like these, it's still a constant battle and a "policing" type of feeling. Gaming is an addictive behavior...and they are actually not even into texting (yet?)! We do have family dinners, which is one of the best ways to help everyone feel more connected (that is why planning your menus is so important, so you can make that happen!). What is your experience with this issue? Share in the comments!

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It's Not IF Your Hard Drive Will Fail, It's WHEN...

I do love technology for its amazing productivity gains, but just like a child or a pet, it does annoy you at times and take up a lot of your time in a frustrating way. Always trying to help, I have chronicled anything I have learned about that frustration over the years here on my blog, such as when my hard drive suddenly died in 2007.

This past several weeks my hard drive was getting very full and starting to act squirrelly (that's a technical term), so this time I decided to do a pre-emptive strike. I got a new hard drive last weekend and had the luxury of preparing for the transition at my leisure. Here are some things I learned...

First, I would not have gone through half the hassle that I did if I had only known about my friend Paul Martino's system for setting up data for a small business. I am very excited because Paul and his wife Stacey (some of the nicest, best people I know) have created this very cool webinar series that costs NOTHING-- it is starting this week (and it is a limited time thing, so if you are reading this a while after the post date, it may not be offered any longer). Paul has had an IT company for years helping people in person, and now he is going to "teach people how to fish" with these very detailed videos. They have some quick videos up on their blog right now to ask for feedback and questions as they prepare the webinar series, and then, they are going to give away TONS of information in 30-minute webinars. You just have to sign up here to get in on it. I cannot wait to set up my data correctly! Yay, Paul!!! Thank you!

If you do not have things set up Paul's way and you have everything on your one hard drive like I have and still do for the time being... here's what to do when you switch hard drives so that your productivity will suffer the least amount possible.

• Have two backups of the data on your hard drive before you pull the plug. I use Carbonite, some people like Mozy or other backup services. I think Paul has another one he likes that will be discussed on his webinar series. These perform realtime backups while you are working and store the data offsite on their own servers (encrypted). I also use an external hard drive as a backup of my backup.
• Print a report from Belarc Advisor, a free download that makes a list of all of your hardware and software, including many of the license numbers.
• Make sure you have captured all of the passwords and software licensing information that is stored on your hard drive and have it handy in paper form if possible, just in case. You particularly want to have written down the password for your backup service, for example! If you use an electronic password keeper (I like SplashID and Password Agent), you also want to make sure you have backed up that database and have the password for opening it, along with the license number for reinstalling it.
• Gather all of the CDs/DVDs you will need to reinstall your software.
• Make note of any special settings you have, for example, I have dual monitors and there are special display settings/resolutions that need to be configured for the two screens.
• Make sure you have a way to access your e-mail during the transition, such as via your smartphone or webmail, and make sure you have the password and set-up information for putting it back into Outlook when you've got it running.
• Before you pull the plug on the old drive, sync your smartphone and your iPod one last time and backup your Outlook .pst file one last time too. (That is the Outlook file that holds all of your e-mail, contacts, and calendar information!) Paul says we should not be doing it that way-- we should have true "business class" e-mail that stores that info on a server, but until then, your .pst file is usually found here: C:\Documents and Settings\(yourusername)\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook\Outlook.pst
• Once you have the new hard drive running with a functional operating system, set a "System Restore" point so you can easily revert back to this freshly installed state if needed (Windows only). Do this by going to All Programs> Accessories> System Tools> System Restore. Then click "Create a Restore Point." Name it something like "New Hard Drive and OS" so you'll remember the significance of it.
• When downloading installation files for all of the software you'll be re-installing, make a folder for them on your desktop called "Install Files" and save them all there. You might need to run them again and you won't have to chase them down online. Also, I started a little notepad document called "Installation Notes" where I pasted in license numbers and trial key codes as I needed them (prior to keeping them permanently in my password keeper software).
• You might want to buy a USB converter that allows you to plug in easily to your old hard drive and use it like a normal external hard drive-- makes it easy to grab files and move them from your old data. You can check out this nifty gadget on Amazon.

There is SO much more I learned from the process this time. But I am going to leave all of the rest of the IT information to Paul and his webinar series. And as always, use this information with caution as "your mileage may vary" with a different machine, etc. Be careful out there! And BACK UP YOUR DATA, everyone!

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Lorie's Favorite Things 2009 (Geek Edition)

Last year I did a holiday "Favorite Things" list, kind of like Oprah does, except that I cannot possibly put these things under your chairs for all of you. (Here is the link for last year's list.) I thought it was so much fun, I wanted to do it again. These items may not necessarily be for organizing-- they are just "make your life better" things. Useful, practical things I think are cool!

First this year, the Teeny Turner! No, not the one who was married to Ike... The Teeny Turner Micro Screwdriver has all of the little tiny screwdriver bits you need for fixing computers and eyeglasses and cell phones in a cute little package that is easy to hold and use. I just bought a big handful of these to put in Christmas stockings and give to friends. I found them at Fry's, but you can also buy them at Amazon. (photo from firehawktech.com)

I have been working intensively on my computer this week... do you see a theme here? This next product is actually an "as seen on TV" kind of thing, but sometimes they have good ideas. Cyber Clean is this goo that you use to clean your electronics equipment. You squish it into all of the little crevices of your phone keys, your keyboard, your fan slots, and any other buttons or edges. You can also use it to clean toys and remote controls, etc. You can get it at the Container Store or at Amazon. (photo from Cyber Clean's site)

Last year I wrote about Bose noise-cancelling headphones. They are definitely wonderful, but they are also large. One of my good friends since introduced me to Etymotic headphones. They are the size of normal earbuds, but they have impressive technology, not only for blocking outside sound, but for enhancing the sound quality in general. I have been amazed at hearing things in my music collection I never knew were there, like the sound of a strings player breathing or hitting his music stand. I use the 6i Isolators, and they cost about half what the Bose headphones cost! Love these on airplanes and pretty much anywhere.

I have been telling everyone about this book and have bought it for many people. My friend Renee Trudeau introduced me to it (author of The Mother's Guide to Self-Renewal), and I wrote about it here previously. It's a CHANGE YOUR LIFE book, and it's quick to read. I am filtering everything through the concepts of this book lately. It's called The Big Leap: Conquer Your Hidden Fear and Take Life to the Next Level, by Gay Hendricks. (photo from Amazon) (Click here for the Amazon Kindle version)

And finally, BAGS. I have already written about how much I love my Blue Avocado grocery bags, so they get another mention here as a great gift idea because they are just that wonderful. You can buy them at Sprouts stores and Whole Foods, or on their site. And for other bags... I love pretty much anything made by Built NY. They have many different neoprene cases and sleeves for everything from laptops to wine bottles. I love their charger case for organizing your gizmos on the road... and the colors and designs are fresh and fun! You can buy from their store online, and their stuff is also sold at Whole Foods. (photo from BuiltNY.com)

What are your favorite gift ideas this year? And what do you think of these? Share in the comments!

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(PS: To be proper about it, some of the links here are affiliate links so that I may get a small percentage of commission on these items... but that is NOT why I chose these items, I am just being smart about using an affiliate link if I have one!)

Are You Paying Attention? Partially?

BlackBerry prayer n. n. The head-down, slightly hunched position that is characteristic of a person using a BlackBerry or similar device. (from WordSpy site)

So, have you gotten Blackberry religion yet? I bet you know lots of people who have. According to WordSpy, Microsoft researcher Linda Stone coined the phrase "CONTINUOUS PARTIAL ATTENTION" (CPA) in 1998. Wow, she was ahead of her time... there are many people paying partial attention to loved ones, speeches, meetings, and other activities while they attend to games, text messages, Twittering, e-mail, Facebook, and any number of other applications.

This is truly the new challenge in etiquette-- how do we handle this "CPA" in everyday situations? Is it always rude? The New York Times ran a fantastic article about this on Monday (thanks, Julie M. for pointing this out!). I also noticed that movie theaters are now specifying not only that you should stop talking on cell phones and silence your ringtones, but are also saying "NO TEXTING" during the movie.

This topic really begs discussion. It's Electronic-Time-and-Attention-Clutter (what I refer to as "Allowed" clutter in my book). Here's what I think:

• I think people should openly communicate at the beginning of a meeting or speech about the expectations for that gathering. Ask for what you want, don't make assumptions.
• If you are expecting an important call, text, or e-mail, tell someone that as you sit down together so you can ask their permission and forgiveness for excusing yourself when it happens.
• If you must take a call or text message when with someone, keep it brief and return your attention to the "IRL" person you're with as soon as possible. (IRL means "In Real Life")
• I personally have enjoyed Tweeting a speech from my Blackberry while in the audience as a way of taking notes and sharing the experience with others who can't be there. I think that it does not always mean someone isn't paying attention to you-- quite the opposite in this case. Using smartphones can become a very important secondary conversation... from the NY Times article: "'You’ll have half the participants BlackBerrying each other as a submeeting, with a running commentary on the primary meeting,' Mr. Reines said. 'BlackBerrys have become like cartoon thought bubbles.'" As a speaker, I am okay with that, but not okay with someone playing a video game or doing other work.

What do you think? Do you have some outrageous stories of terrible breaches of electronic etiquette? Do you have any ideas on how to get clarity on this very pertinent time management issue? Share in the comments...

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