Fresh Focus On Productivity!™

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

My SO and I watch the show Clean House quite frequently. On the newer episodes of this show, they use elfa closet systems to organize the shows’ guests. We’ve really like the look of the elfa system, so we decided to purchase on for our bedroom closet.

We share this closet and it is a typical clothes closet being 60” wide. Fitting two people in a closet of this size is no easy task. Our elfa system arrived on Thursday and we installed it on Saturday.

Right off the bat, I noticed there were no instructions for assembly, so I had to call The Container Store and request directions. What I got were generic assembly instructions. Our closet space was a custom space de to our size constraints and needs. I had thought that this system would come with it’s own specific instructions, but it did not. I talked with the representative for about 15 minutes in order to get clarification on all the details for assembly.

It took us about one hour to assembly it. One thing I really like about the elfa systems is that there is only ONE component that has to be screwed into the wall, and that is the top track that holds the vertical standards. This is a big plus for people that live in apartments or rental properties of any kind. It minimizes the wall patching required.

Our system has four 21” hanging spaces, two long 57” shelves and four 17” shelves. We also purchased a four drawer free-standing piece for “daily wear” items.

It definitely does help for the closet organization and I was surprised on how many closets that we could each get on our two 21” hanging rods. I do feel that I did not get my moneys’ worth, though. This system was 30% off, and I still feel like I paid too much. I did not appreciate the lack of customized instructions for this piece. One would think that if you spent this much money on a system that they would ensure that you get instructions. They do have people that will come and assemble them for you, so it may be that they wish to deter you from DIY assembly.

We have other closets that we wish to organize, but will be going to Home Depot to look at their closet solutions first, to see if we can get a better deal for the same functionality.

Do any of you have elfa systems? Do you like them? Did you get assembly instructions? Tell me in the comments.    

__________________________________________________________


You've read the series, now get the E-Book! Special EXTRA material not included in the blog series, plus three FREE templates!! Templates included are Time Management Matrix, Goal worksheet, and The Completion Journal. Only $24.99 for the book!


__________________________________________________________

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

That’s the motto of Dial2Do, a free voice-to-text service that lets you make a phone call to record reminders and send email and text messages. Since I often think of things I need to do or tell someone while I’m away from my desk or out of the office, this has become one of my most frequently used productivity tools.

You can use it with a cell phone or land line as long as caller ID is enabled (so they can recognize your incoming call).

After you’ve registered for a free account (it only takes a couple of minutes) you’ll need to add the contact information for the folks you want to email or text. You can do this manually or import from Gmail, Outlook, Hotmail, Yahoo, or Jajah.  You’re “limited” to 100 names.

Now you’re ready to use the service.  Just call the dial2Do number.  Tell them what you want to do and record your message.

When they answer they’ll ask you “what would you like to do?”

If you say “reminder” they’ll send you an email with the details.

If you say “email” they’ll ask for the contact name.  They’ll send that person an email with your recorded message.

Here’s the part I really love, since I’m “all thumbs” when it comes to texting.  If you say “text” they’ll ask for the contact name.  They’ll send that person a text (SMS) message that says what you recorded.

You won’t have to fumble with your phone, abbreviate every other word, or take your eyes off the road while driving.  Use your wireless headset with voice control and you can happily practice safe texting.  Shhh…don’t tell my granddaughter this trick…she thinks I finally figured out how to master the tiny keyboard on my cell phone.

I’ve discovered one small glitch with the texting capability and that’s the fact that the recipient can’t reply to the message since it comes from Dial2Do and not the sender’s phone number. So tell folks up front that they’ll have to send you a new message when you text them this way.

With just a little more setup work, you can configure your Dial2Do account to perform a few more amazing tricks like

• listen to your email
• hear your local weather
• add appointments to your Google calendar
• post to your Twitter, FriendFeed, or HelloTxt account
• listen to your favorite news feeds
• post to your Blogger, WordPress, TypePad, or LiveJournal blog
• add a note to your Evernote notebook

All with a simple phone call.  Easy.  Handsfree.  All you have to do is talk.

Typing is so 20th century.  I’m almost ready to put my pencils up for sale on Craigslist.
____________________________
Sheryl is a CPA, author, teacher, and consultant who helps new business owners with their choice of business structure and teaches them how to manage their finances and maximize their tax deductions.  She’s the founder of the Business Startup Success Club, author of “Save $100’s in Taxes With a Home Office Deduction ” and frequently writes about free software and services and productivity tips on her blog at SherylSchuff.com.

__________________________________________________________


You've read the series, now get the E-Book! Special EXTRA material not included in the blog series, plus three FREE templates!! Templates included are Time Management Matrix, Goal worksheet, and The Completion Journal. Only $24.99 for the book!


__________________________________________________________

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

Let me tell you about an experience that I have and am still having….

On August 28th, one of the blogs that I read was offering free blog inspections and critiques, I would assume to get their name out there and get “street’ cred”. I signed up, because I’m always interested in what others have to say about my blog and content.

I got a reply back the same day or next, promising me that I would have it by the following Monday. Monday came and went….you guessed it. No critique.

By September 8th, I had not heard anything. I emailed and told them that I sure hoped that this wasn’t the way that they treated their paying customers. The email reply stated that it certainly wasn’t and that paying clientele had come along and priority was given to them. I can completely understand this and concur 100%.

HOWEVER…

It has now been over a month. I just read today that this blogger is going to start offering blog consulting services and that “you’d better sign up now before I charge a monthly fee”.

This pissed me OFF. A new project has been started and advertised for the readers when this blogger hasn’t finished honoring current commitments? How the HELL does that work? I can understand the need to make money, believe me I can. But to start to offer a new service, advertise for alpha testers when you do not have your current commitments complete is ludicrous. It is apparent that this blogger cares more about the money than honoring a commitment made to someone over a month ago.

I just don’t get it. I am a person that honors what I say. If I tell someone I will do something, I will unless I have a damn good reason and will make damn sure I’ve honored it before I start anything else. Why would you start new projects and advertise for more business when you haven’t honored your current commitments?

Can someone explain this to me?

__________________________________________________________


You've read the series, now get the E-Book! Special EXTRA material not included in the blog series, plus three FREE templates!! Templates included are Time Management Matrix, Goal worksheet, and The Completion Journal. Only $24.99 for the book!


__________________________________________________________

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

Truly awe-inspiring is the phenomena of todays’ social media. We’ve grown up with media, but never in our wildest dreams did we figure on something like this!

Social media comes in many forms: email, social networking like Twitter, blogging, and social websites like Digg and StumbleUpon. But do you find those site to be more a distraction that productive? I don’t, and let me tell you why.

Social media contains opinions and thoughts of millions of individuals. In an instant, searching for a particular product or service on these sites will garner you a plethora of hits about it. I had a need arise to find online project management at a reasonable price. I posted this to Twitter and within the replies that I received, I found an excellent project management site that was FREE to boot!

Upon surfing through my RSS feeds, I found a link to a service called YouMail, which processes voicemail from your cell phone. I had been using CallWave for a couple years, but this looked to be a better alternative. I posted on Twitter to see if anyone had any experience with Youmail and received one reply that was in favor of it. As I wanted more than one for a reference, I went to search.twitter.com and did a serach for it. Right there before me were over fifty 140 character reviews of the product. There were only a couple of negative responses about it, so I made this switch over to YouMail.

In regards to whether social media can help you to be more productive, the answer is a resounding “YES”! I almost always look for reviews of a product or website before I use it. This used to take me at least a half hour, if not more. With social media, you can do your search on two or three major services and get an absolute boatload of reviews in about 10 minutes. It has saved me a great deal of time and effort when I have needed to research something. Start to use social media to your advantage: if you have the tools available, why not use them? Just stay focused and don’t wonder off to all the cool links you’ll find!

__________________________________________________________


You've read the series, now get the E-Book! Special EXTRA material not included in the blog series, plus three FREE templates!! Templates included are Time Management Matrix, Goal worksheet, and The Completion Journal. Only $24.99 for the book!


__________________________________________________________

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!