2. Give gift receipts with your gifts and toss the original receipts.

3. Reduce junk mail by registering with DMAChoice.org.

4. Throw away those small-dollar-amount cash receipts before you even get home.

5. Call the charities you no longer support and request to be removed from their mailing list.

6. Put your magazine subscriptions on a diet.

7. Scan your recipes and get rid of the sheets of paper and recipe cards.

8. Shred your medical explanation of benefit statements after you review them.

9. Throw away those investment prospectus reports if you’ve never read them then request online copies only.

10. Eliminate the other language portions of your product manuals.

I want less paper to deal with in my life and I have a scanner. So where should I start?

I decided to start with my collection of recipes.

So where do I store the recipes electronically? Whatever I store them on has to be able to be taken into the kitchen to use while cooking.

I decided to use my iPad. (A laptop or a smartphone would work too)

What program should I use to capture my recipes? It needed to be easily accessible and easy to use.

I decided on Evernote.

Here’s what I did:

1. Created a Notebook in Evernote called “Recipes”
2. I started by transferring my recipe box and loose paper recipes using my scanner.

Read this post if you want to know what kind of scanner I use.

Here’s an example of a scanned recipe card:

 I went to my mother-in-laws during Christmas and wanted her yummy cookie recipe, so I took a picture of it.

Here’s what it looks like:

Then I was out at the store and forgot to add ingredients to my shopping list so I looked the recipe on the internet using my smartphone. Then saved it to Evernote on my phone. (Evernote syncs with ALL your gadgets)

Here’s the recipe that was found on the internet:

I also just opened up Evernote and typed in a recipe that was very hard to read when scanned.

Here’s the recipe I typed and saved:

Evernote also allows you to use “Tags”; think of them as keywords. So I added tags to every recipe. That way when I want to make something with the ingredients I have on hand, I just type in the ingredient and all recipes with that ingredient comes up.

Aside from using the Tags feature, Evernote also has a search function, references the URL from things captured on the internet and allows me to make notes directly to my recipes, regardless of how they were entered in.  I can notate for example, that I use canned tomatoes instead of fresh and did not use salt. If someone asks me for a recipe, that’s simple too. I just click on “Share” and I can send it via email, facebook, twitter or using a link! Awesome!

I have over 150 recipes in my Evernote cookbook.  I still need to cull through the other cookbooks I have (I only use them for 3-4 recipes) and get those into my Evernote. Then I will pass those cookbooks onto my apartment dwelling, bachelor sons or donate them!

Are you going online and finding recipes, then printing them out to make? If so, you may want to check out Evernote and say goodbye to the paper and save your printer ink!

The benefits of Planner Pad:

• Monthly view
• 2 pages weekly view
• Different sizes calendars to choose from
• Space for roles, tasks, and appointments
• Room on the weekly pages to capture bits of information
• Designed to make all aspects of your life funnel into each week, in one place

Click here to See the Planner Pad video

Remember kindergarten? Specifically, do you remember the kindergarten routine? I had a chance to visit a kindergarten last year. My client at that time was a kindergarten teacher.  Not much has changed in the kindergarten classroom since my kids were in kindergarten. There’s still the reading/story time area, the activity tables, the colorful bulletin boards and the art area. What also hasn’t changed in kindergarten is the importance of routine. Every kindergartner knows what happens in their classroom when they first arrive, then what happens next and what comes after that – all the way to the end of  their day.

Just like kindergarten, we all have routines. Having a routine helps you get through your day smoothly. It’s predictable and heck, most times it’s downright comfortable.

Do you need to get a handle on your routines? Sometimes our routines need to be re-evaluated, adjusted and/or added to.

Re-evaluate

Is your routine working?  Is there room for improvement? Is the routine an old habit that no longer serves you? Is it time for a change? Our lives are not stagnant so sometimes the routine needs an adjustment. Take a moment and assess what part of your routine is working and what may be missing.

Adjust

The first adjustment that might need to be made is your outlook.  Do you have a good attitude towards this routine or do you do it begrudgingly? If your routine no longer serves you, be realistic- say good-bye and stop doing it. Often a routine simply needs to be tweaked or changed a little depending on the present day situation. Sometimes just shifting the time of do in which you do a routine will make it more effective or work better in your day. Make small adjustments at a time and give yourself time to get used to them.

Add

If you are happy with the routines you have, is there another routine you would like to establish? The best way to create a new routine is to pair it with an existing routine. Plot out the new routine and begin to establish it, but give it time. It takes time to get “in the groove” of a new routine and have it established.

“You have to have consistent effort to win the game, period.” -Chris Smith

Once you have a handle on your routines, don’t forget to periodically revisit these three steps –  reevaluate, adjust, and add – to keep your routines working optimally for you.

1. Be Safe –Regardless of how you travel, make sure someone else has your itinerary and telephone numbers so they can reach you in an event of an emergency.

By car- make sure your car is road worthy.  Simple things like checking the fluids, tire pressure, and wiper blades can prevent bothersome road side stops. Fill up the tank before you go and refill it when the tank reads less than half full.

By plane/train/bus – keep your valuables on your person rather than in a carry-on or purse.  Always have a change of clothing and a toothbrush in your carry-on for unexpected layovers and delays.

2. Pack Light 

• Dress in layers and pack clothing that will mix and match.  Use packing cubes inside your luggage to keep things neat and accessible.  Only bring one extra pair of shoes.  Be sure to leave room in your luggage to bring things home with you.  

3. Ship Ahead

If you have gifts and things for people you will visit while traveling, ship them out the week before you arrive. It’s less hassle for you at the airport and less to carry. The Post Office’s flat rate boxes are a very economical way to go.

Today’s blog post is from a new friend of mine, Jennifer Gallagher.  She is very talented and is the owner of Virtual Assistance by Jen. If you are self employed or a busy executive, you can confidently delegate tasks to her company. Jen’s mission is to make a difference in the world, one client at a time.  Today, she gives us a few pointers on the “To-Do” lists we all have.

“To-Do” lists. Everyone has them. Some even have multiple lists! YIKES!!! But, do you ever notice those lists never seem to shrink? In fact, they seem to get larger by the day; at least in my case.  Well, I’ve come up with 15 items that may be on your list that can each be done in five minutes or less! READ MORE

For at least 15 years I menu planned weekly in an effort to feed 5 hungry children and an even hungrier husband.  It helped me to save time, money and, best of all, know what to take out of the freezer ahead of time.  I used a small binder with menu plan sheets and grocery lists.  I did it so consistently that  I could probably create a 365 day cookbook/ menu planner for busy families because I saved many of the weekly menu plan sheets.

Well, now my husband and I are empty nesters I have slacked off on my kitchen time a bit (okay a LOT). READ MORE

Do you remember that TV commercial where they showed two eggs cooking in a skillet? It was an anti-drug campaign and the slogan was “This is your brain on drugs“. The metaphor being that using drugs fries your brain. And yes, drugs do mess with your brain however every day we “fry” our brain cells without the use of drugs. We do this by trying to keep all of our appointments, errands, projects, speeches, and important numbers in our head. We are essentially “frying” our brain. Okay not really, but that 3 pound lump of gray matter in your cranium has so much going on and is bombarded with so much new information every minute that we find we forget things, miss appointments, and often have to backtrack.

Have you ever said something like-

“I think my memory is going.”

or

“These days I can’t remember sh**!” (My cousin is fond of saying that one.)

The worst use of your mind is the act of trying to remember.

If you’d rather listen to this blog post, click here> The Worst Use of Your Mind. READ MORE

The “U” in FOCUS stands for:

Use a planning tool

Dwight Eisenhower said, ” Plans are nothing, planning is everything.”

In other words, it’s not about what you are going to do, it’s about what you have planned to do.  So set up some type of planning tool.  There are many varieties to choose from: white boards, wall calendars, paper planners, pdas and smart phones just to name a few.   Use what works for you.

Set aside time each week to plan your schedule, not just your time sensitive appointments but time allotted for your projects, your family and, most of all, time for yourself.  Make sure to leave margins in your schedule too. These are gaps of time that allow for things like travel time, meetings that run late, and last minute errands. Remember we have already discovered that you can opt out of a few things…. To be productive also think in terms of time blocking.  This means using chunks of time for similar tasks.  For example:

1. Run all your errands on the same day instead of going one or two different places each day.
2. Set up a specific amount of time to spend checking email and being on the internet.
3. Make all your phone calls in one chunk of time, instead of spreading them throughout the day.

If you need help finding a planner or learning how to do weekly planning, I’m here to help!

Click on the word below to see and hear this topic!
Planning (Don’t leave home without it!)
For quicktime, click here: Planning

Planning goes a long way in helping your productivity. Whether you use a paper planner or a digital one, such as a PDA or a new iPhone is not the issue. You should use what works for you because you like it, not because everyone has one. The real benefit of having a planner of any type is actually using it to plan.
Set aside a time weekly that you can look forward into the next week to 30 days and review your appointments and assign your tasks. Making a giant to-do list, is not planning. After the to-do list is made, you will then need to assign a date or time frame to them. Without a deadline, how can you be accountable to completing a task?
Time blocking is a helpful tool to being more productive. Time blocking involves consistently setting aside a set amount of time for the high priority activities. For example, if you need to make sales calls, you would set aside a block of time each week, where you make those calls. This time should be uninterrupted. Let your emails go unanswered, close your office door and focus on the task at hand. Some may even find it useful to use a timer.

Join me for Organize Your Office Day – virtually. This is a virtual event where we will work using email and targeted phone sessions that day to get your office in shape for the New Year. If you want more information on how this class works, jump on my website to register for the free preview call!