An Organized Computer Is a Safer Computer!

Five Steps to an Organized & Safer Computer!

I've used PC Tools as my virus protection for several years now with great success and would definitely recommend them. They recently sent me an article on the benefits of an organized computer. Right. We don't just need an organized house or an organized life -- we also need an organized computer!

The premise behind the article is it is easier for malicious software that has inadvertently been downloaded to your computer to hide in messy files that resemble a tangled subway map.

Click HERE for hints on making your computer more organized AND safer!

Organized Chaos

http://www.organizedchaosbyang.com/

I've been following a blog called Organized Chaos by none other than another former missionary! She has lots of good ideas. She is also a professional organizer. If you live in the McHenry County area of Illinois (or in the surrounding area) and are in need of help with organizing your house, you might want to look her up! She is a member of the Faithful Organizers. To read more click on: http://www.organizedchaosbyang.com

Learning to Say Yes

Most articles on saving time will tell you to learn to say no--and they are probably right. Yet there are times when we need to learn to say yes.

Two days after my last posting called Stressfree Holidays, my healthy husband of 25 years was in the hospital receiving a blood transfusion.  Christmas week found us facing the news that he had cancer, presumably pancreatic cancer that had metastasized to the liver. This was later confirmed.

Having a strange sense of humor, I had to chuckle a bit as I remembered my Stressfree Holidays posting. This was not the Christmas I had planned. I was thankful for all the preparations I had made, but realized this was going to be a tricky Christmas to pull off even if we made it home for Christmas.

After seven days of not sleeping in my own bed, I was blessed to be able to bring my husband home two days before Christmas. Knowing the state the house could be in after seven days at the hands of our three young adult sons, when my wonderful daughter-in-law offered to clean the house before our arrival, I quickly learned to say yes. 

When this same wonderful daughter-in-law (and no, you can't have her!) also offered to purchase all the groceries needed for Christmas dinner and have them at the house waiting for me, I quickly learned to say yes.

We chose to enjoy Christmas, to enjoy the time together as a family, despite the hard news we had received. Having learned to yes to help, things worked out remarkably well even having arrived home two days before Christmas with out-of-town and also out-of-country guests! 

Most articles on saving time will tell you to learn to say no--and they are probably right. Yet there are times when we need to learn to say yes. This was one of those times.

Stressfree Holidays

I love Thanksgiving and Christmas. They are holidays geared for family time. They are just a day each, yet packed into that time between Thanksgiving and Christmas the average person (moms in particular) have this written or mental list that could scare the elves away. And yet, moms, unlike Santa, don't usually have a company of elves at their bidding to do all this preparation. The trick to stress-free holidays is to learn to enjoy not only the holidays, but the preparations as well!

The day after Thanksgiving begins the Christmas preparations in our house. Black Friday is when the majority of my Christmas shopping is done. My goal is usually to have it all bought that day, but goals are made to be adjusted.

That evening, or the next day, the Christmas decorations go up. This is when I usually call on my elves if they are available. Decorating as a family is quicker and easier. It's family time. It's memory-making time. And yes, having the boys bring up the plastic containers of Christmas decorations from the basement is much easier for me!

The next available Saturday when the house is not full of watching eyes is when I wrap the presents and get them under the tree. Stockings are stuffed and stored out of sight. This usually goes over much better for me if I've a large cup of coffee and a chocolate bar to set the mood.

As Christmas draws closer there are cookies to bake, a menu to plan, and a myriad of other events to plan and attend that take place in that time period between Thanksgiving and the end of the year.

It's a fact that the preparations and events surrounding this Holiday Season take time and effort. Yet if we can learn to slow down on the inside as we hurry up on the outside, enjoying the preparations as much as the holidays themselves, we'll find that stress-free holidays are possible! It's a paradox...but it works for me!

Labeled at Last

The labeling of the basement storage took longer than planned. My initial attempt was using my handy-dandy label maker. I labeled the containers and stood back with a pleased look on my face. I figured I would have to get the camera later, take a picture, and reveal this one organized area of the basement. (Yes, there are more sections of the basement to conquer!)

Returning at a much later date than planned, I found the humidity in the basement had wrecked havoc on my labels—or I had just inserted a bad label-making tape? For whatever reason, instead of finding tidily labeled containers, I found curled up labels laying on the floor in front of my organized shelving units. Groan....

After several frustrated attempts at finding the correct container when needing items from the storage containers, I went back to the old-fashioned method: a permanent black magic marker. The containers are now organized AND labeled! When technology fails ... reach for the old standby, the permanent black magic marker.

The Basement With a Mind of Its Own!

Shortly after moving into the parsonage, we faced a hiccup when our basement decided to take on about five inches of water when the sump pump went on the blink. Like a wayward child pulling a temper tantrum and screaming for attention, our basement used this method as a cry for attention. The rest of house was settled into, organized, and looking quite nice. The basement on the other hand was our boys' domain, boys who had little care for my grand organizational ideas. It was functional and they loved it. It was a frontier that I had yet to breach with a frontal assault of organization. Amazing how a little water can spur one on!

Knowing my time was limited and that this territory would have to be taken over in sections, I decided step one of the frontal assault on the basement would be to corral the storage into one area. This meant finding the perfect freestanding shelving unit that was sturdy, could hold much weight, be easy to assemble, and could withstand the possibility of another temper tantrum acting itself out in our basement!

Researching on the internet I found the perfect shelving unit wasn't as easy to find as I first thought. Sifting through one after another and reading up on the reviews, I finally found what I wanted at our local Lowe's. I bought one on my first trip to the store, bringing it home to test it out before committing to buying more. Though two people are recommended for putting it together, it's easy to do. Once together the shelves can be adjusted to the desired heights by one person alone. I loved it so much I went back and bought two more! The pile of storage containers stacked and difficult to access are now nicely organized on the new shelving units. Labeling them is the next step.

Lofty Goals and Reality

There are times when our lofty goals and reality do not match up. Have you ever suddenly looked at your desk (and the mess thereon) and shuddered? Did you then stop what you were doing, distracted as you were, and proceed to clear away the non-essentials in the hope of not simply clearing your desk, but clearing your mind? Do you relate to the correlation between clearing the physical clutter from your office with clearing the mental clutter in your mind and thereby increasing your productivity? Been there. Done that.

The perfectionist in me yearns for a clean, uncluttered desk. A clean, cleared desk exudes a calmness and peace that must be conducive to productivity, right? The distractions are gone. One can dig right in and work. But life gets in the way... .

Here's my life as a secretary/receptionist. My desk will look great. The files are put away, the phone message pad is laying nicely on the side, a notepad is ready for longer directives. My large wide screen monitor sits in front of me. I'll be editing a letter on part of the screen; my e-mail and "To Do" list open on another part of the screen. Things look so under control, so clean, so uncluttered.

And then the phone rings... . Jotting down the message, I turn back to edit the letter -- but don't quite get there before the phone rings again. I head to the file cabinet to pull out a file in order to answer the question at hand. Someone enters the office as I'm finishing up the call. The file gets dropped on my desk while I go to help the person make some photocopies. While helping them, someone else comes into the office needing copies of a form. Heading back to the file cabinet I locate the necessary file, pull out the form, and make the copies. I'm barely through photocopying those when I need to excuse myself at the sound of the phone ringing yet again. I take another message... . Hanging up the phone I suddenly realize I am alone once again in a quiet office, but my once cleared desk is no longer clear.

Lofty goals of a cleared desk and reality don't always line up...at least not in my world. Accepting the fact that at various times throughout the day my desk will be a messy desk is a necessary compromise, knowing that whenever possible I will take the time to clear it. And of course, by closing time, I will consistently clean and clear my desk.