Photo by Moi

Keeping Things Picked Up With A Hostage Box

Posted on August 31, 2012 by LJ Earnest

My daughter, and to a certain extent myself, have a habit of not putting things away. After clearing piles of toys, papers, books and video games off the kitchen table so we could eat dinner, I watched my daughter dump everything into the living room. I decided it was time to give the hostage box a try.

Photo by Marcin Wichary

Simplifying Timekeeping

Posted on August 29, 2012 by LJ Earnest

Throughout my entire career, I have had to track and report on my time. As a consultant, it led to the generation of client invoices, as well as status reports on the projects. Nothing was more brain-wracking than coming to the end of the month and having no idea what exactly I worked on!

Now, as an employee, not only do I have to keep track of how much time I spent on each item of work, but also to keep my time in the payroll system so that I am paid accurately .

Keeping track of what you do is a good habit, even if you don’t have to report on it. Here are my tips for making this easier:

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Open Loops 8/28/2012: Articles I Think Worth Passing Along

Posted on August 28, 2012 by LJ Earnest

On Tuesdays I pull the best of my blog readings to share with readers. Topics can come from anywhere, and cover anything. This week I talk about perspective, three piles for life, snarkiness, micro-rewards and beating procrastination.

Photo by jayneandd

Give Yourself A Productivity Boost By Finishing Something

Posted on August 27, 2012 by LJ Earnest

I am very good at starting projects. Not so much on bringing them to completion, especially if they involve crafts. During a recent vacation, I forced myself to take two projects that hadn’t been worked on since the previous summer with the aim of making significant progress on both of them.

I finished one of the sweaters, and I was buoyed by the boost it gave me on the other project. I thought about why this might be, and how it might apply to other projects. Here is what I came up with:

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Easy Ways To Clean The Shower

Posted on August 24, 2012 by LJ Earnest

Cleaning our shower is hard work. Since Scrubbing Bubbles took the one product that made it easy off the market, I haven’t found anything other than hard work with a Mr. Clean eraser. But I knew there had to be a better way.

Photo by epSos.de

6 Ways to Simplify Your Finances This Year

Posted on August 23, 2012 by GuestPost

Many people’s finances run amuck simply because they don’t take the time to properly manage them. However, taking only a few minutes to accomplish even one financial management task could save you hundreds of dollars. Our guest author today from MoneyCrashers talks about how to do this.

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Simplifying By Using Flexible Tools

Posted on August 22, 2012 by LJ Earnest

I believe that you should use the right tools for the job, but at the same time, I think the tools should be as flexible as possible. It’s not that I am trying to use a screwdriver to pound in a nail; it’s just that some of my tools are made with interchangeable parts that make their use — and their storage — much simpler.

Here are three areas that I use interchangeable and flexible tools:

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Open Loops 8/21/2012: Articles I Think Worth Passing Along

Posted on August 21, 2012 by LJ Earnest

On Tuesdays I pull the best of my blog readings to share with readers. Topics can come from anywhere, and cover anything. This week I talk about Feng Shui, reminders, PocketMods, time sucks and perspective.