Mobile Office

As you may remember, I have an addiction to making my own planners. There is just something satisfying about using paper to organize ideas, thoughts and action items. I’ve yet to find a digital solution that I like better than paper. And nothing does paper like a Moleskine. It’s the crown jewel of notebooks.

Mike Rohde has come up with Creating a Custom Moleskine Planner that is both simple and elegant. Like Mike, I love Gel pens because they write so well, but for my portable needs I’m sticking with the my Fisher Space Pen. Mike’s guide should get you up and running with a nice planner that is about the size of an index card that you can take with you everywhere. It’s simple and it works. What else do you need?

Via Lifehack.org

We’ve been wanting a laptop for some time now. But it seems when we manage to put enough money aside, something else pops up. It’s just so hard to part with hard-earned cash, and laptops want so much of it! On the other hand, a Laptop would be more of a business investment than anything else - and anything that isn’t worth investing in isn’t worth much.

I just had an argument with myself. In public this time.

At any rate, PC World (demigods of all things wired) has a great article: How to Buy a Laptop. Lots of great information. Of course you’ll have to forgive them for using the ever-nerdy word tethered in the opening sentence. Once you get past that, though, the article’s a winner.

I just found a neck-saver, by reading a post over at Successful Blog. Liz showed me this neat notebook lifter-upper thang.

For more info on Notebookup, click that link and check it out.

If it’s your eyes that are tired and not your neck, this is a primer on ClearType.

Like coffee needs cream, like steak needs A1, like the Cubs need a break that doesn’t involve bones…. That’s how badly I need a few of these Document Organizers. They’re only $7.99 each, when you buy two or more at Home Focus Catalog.com.

These organizers have 12 see-through pockets and hold up to 22 documents. Sounds like they’re ready and willing to safeguard our papers as well as my sanity.

You know how maddening it is to have to search and search for something! Just this week I was searching high and low for a vital piece of paperwork. My cat and I looked in all the normal hiding places, but couldn’t find it. Like, 12 drawers later, it turns up. I pointed out to the cat that we had just wasted a whole morning looking for a lousy piece of paper. We vowed that we had to bring a little more organization into our home.

We’re just covered up in paperwork! My husband has some from his nine-to-fiver, we have piles from our home businesses, and then there are the standard, everyday bills and correspondence. There are also piles that have to do with my mom’s estate.

You know the scene from “Mommie Dearest” where she goes 7 kinds of psycho over wire hangers? By the 10th drawer, I was beginning to have visions of me inside of my own little melt down. Fortunately for me, and the cat who would have been perfectly mortified, I never arrived at that point.

But I don’t want to chance it again. Everything would just go so much more smoothly if all the important papers were separated, organized and divided. A place for everything and everything in its place.

What a concept!

I’m in the thick of studying and pricing laptops. I have been for a while now, but I’ve stepped up my game lately.

We have three computers in our house - and each one is in a room where the light can be seen from our bedroom. Usually not a problem, but our oldest daughter, who is in school and has a job - has essentially one time of day to study or work online. From about 11:00 pm to whenever she’s through - which can be anywhere between 1:00 am and 4:00 am. Last night she was up to about 2:00 am working on a paper and IM-ing with two friends - one who lives in New York and one in California. With Emily here in Kentucky, these girls had the country covered.

Unfortunately, I’m one of those people who wants everything to be as dark as midnight when going to sleep. And even with our door closed, just enough light comes through to bug me and my picky sleeping habits. But if we had a laptop for Em to take into her bedroom, she could LOL, BRB, RLBF, and OMG all night and mom could ZZZ.

A laptop would also come in handy when there’s someone at each computer and a bolt of inspiration hits me. Hey, it happens! Okay, once it happened.

Overstock.com is having a HUGE BLOWOUT on Electronics with savings up to 70%!! They seem hellbent on saving us hundreds of dollars. They’d do the same for you, of course. Which is why I’m letting you in on the blowout.

Give them a good look - and while there, you oughta check out their furniture. They have some Asian pieces that are nothing short of gorgeous. Best of all, they’re also marked way down. I loves Asian decor, it makes me almost as happy as Asian food. Almost.

I don’t know about you, but I use several computers daily. Between work, home and my laptop I get very, very tired of trying to sync up all my data. Contacts, email, notes, to-do lists, and my calendar. I used Google for a lot of my projects, especially email where I can keep up with my contacts on the go. No matter where I am I have access to everyone I need to be in touch with.

One tool I’ve been waiting on Google to introduce is a calendar. I live by my calendar and daily reminders. I couldn’t get the things done that I need to without it. I have my trusty “paper” calendar, I use my Mac’s iCal program and I also use Yahoo’s online calendar. That is, until now. Google Calendar is finally here and so far it’s it’s pretty sweet. You can import from outlook or ical to get setup quickly. You can setup alerts and even get them sent to your phone (still waiting on my confirmation code), setup multiple calendars and even share them. Along with the other online tools I use this will round out my “must have” list making me that much less dependent ant on being tied to one computer.

Isn’t freedom cool!

I’ve been working with or on computers since 1992. Not only have I been staring at a computer 8 hours a day at work, it’s also my hobby. I remember my parents, before they got sucked in, asking my how I could stay on the computer so much. They thought the computer was all there was to it. I had to explain that it’s like the ultimate tool, a doorway to all my interested. I write, draw, design, program, play games, read, talk to friends and so much more. The tool that’s changed our way of life is also threatening our health. Not just from inactivity (obesity is an all time high in the U.S.) but also from work related injuries like carpel tunnel syndrome, neck pain and, my personal demon, lower back pain.

I currently suffer from chronic lower back pain. It’s been going on 8 months and I’m having to makes some changes in my lifestyle and in the tools I use to get my work done. In my research to try and figure out what’s causing my pain along with a lot of talks with my doctors I’ve started looking into replacing a lot of my office furniture and equipment with stuff designed to promote good health. Along with exercise, stretching and healthy living I hope to one again be pain free.

You can correct and prevent a lot of work related injuries by making some small adjustments to your environment and daily routine. Here is what I’m doing:

1. Posture. Most people lean back, slouch down or otherwise contort themselves for hours at a time. These is the road to pain. You need to make sure your chair has excellent support for your back and neck and that your feet touch the floor at 90 degree angles. Your feet should rest flat on the floor most of the time, but there are some foot rests that will take some of the pressure off your lower back. Sit up straight to keep the pressure evenly distributed. Adjust your monitor so you don’t have to look up or down or to far left or right. Your monitor should be centered in front of and the top of the monitor should be at eye level.

2. Keyboard and Desk. What kind of keyboard you have and where it’s located can play major roles in staying healthy. Find an ergonomic keyboard that feels comfortable to you. I do a lot of typing, I mean a lot and switching to an ergonomic keyboard has made miles of difference. Even more important is where your keyboard is located. Your keyboard should be a bit lower than your desk (usually) allowing your wrists to find a natural position. Having your keyboard too high or too low puts stress on your writs, neck and shoulders. Over time you’ll find out why this is bad. Take the time to get setup right from the very start. You’ll be glad you did.

3. Move around and stretch. I’ve started doing some simple stretches at my desk when I know I’m going to be there a long period of time, which is pretty much every day for me. You can find easy to do stretches for your neck, back, wrists and legs online. You should do these several times a day. It’s also very important to get up and move around. I get up and pace around ever 2 hours. It helps me clear my head and I feel much better at the end of the day.

These are just 3 simple tips to help with the physical aspects of living most of our days behind a computer. Stress also plays a large role in our overall well being and especially in neck and back pain. I’ll talk more about office stress and tips to reduce it in my next post.

If you have any tips that work well for you, please feel free to post them in the comments below so we can all share in them and feel better!

Disclaimer - This is my personal experience with back and neck pain and should not be taken as medical advice. I’m simply sharing my experience and you should seek the advice of a doctor if you are experiencing any kind of pain.

The HP 12C Financial Calculator is prepared to do all the thinking and figuring for us if were so inclined. Since I do well to add and subtract, this might just become my electronic baby.

Special Keys

• Over 120 built-in business functions
• Financial: Time, value of money, amortization, bond price and yield to maturity, register-based cash-flow analysis
• Statistical: standard deviation, mean, weighted mean, linear regression, forecasting and cumulative statistical analysis

Display

• 1-line, 10-character LCD screen

Memory

• RAM
• Converts register memory dynamically into program memory as the user enters additional program steps
• When all 99 program steps are used, 7 data registers still remain available for storage
• Keystroke programming — enter a series of keystrokes into the memory, then execute your program at the touch of a button

Additional Features

• Reverse Polish notation
• Long battery life

This particular electronical genius (the HP 12C) is the accepted calculator of the New York Stock Exchange, and is available by clicking HERE!

Hopefully, “Eat more healthy foods” had top billing on your list of Resolutions. That, and possibly the E word…

I’m convinced that lunch time is our dieting downfall. We usually manage a pretty good breakfast, and sometimes even drink juice with it. (In addition to coffee, of course.) And often, supper is healthy enough, complete with a variety of vegetables. But, if we were to be honest, our lunches are far too often far too fattening - and nothing even close to healthy.

You could easily leave the house with the best of intentions - planning to grab a salad out instead of a burger and fries. But…

• A. Salads are, surprisingly enough, pretty expensive - even in fast food places.
• B. The willpower that was so strong when you started outwill bottom out when you see that burger and fries on the menu, or worse yet, if you step inside and smell them!

Solution? Make your own awesome salad at home and take some with you for lunch. The Salad Chill & Go above is available at Improvements Catalog.com.

From the website:

No one enjoys soggy salad, so fill the Chill & Go™ with your fresh garden ingredients, and fill the separate in-lid container with up to 6 tbsps. of your favorite dressing. Double-wall insulation keeps it cold for up to four hours. When noontime comes, just twist the lid off, pour your salad onto your plate, then unscrew the lid’s leakproof inner cup and pour the dressing over the crispy salad!

Check it out! You’ll find the little lovelies under Indoors>> Kitchen >> Cooking Tools>> Measuring/Hotpads/Utensils.

Ingenius!

Tumi luggage and laptop carriers have a stellar reputation for quality. According to the company’s mission statement, they strive to “…create bags that are true extensions of the human form. Each piece taking a step toward the goal of simple perfection. Consciously designed and detailed to achieve effortless navigation through our world. Constantly evolving and growing to increase your potential.”

Personally? I just think they look hot.

The Tumi Laptop Carriers pictured here are from the Luggage Collections at Macy’s.com.

They’re available in basic Black as well as Beet, Fir and Yam….which on unpretentious days go by Red, Green and Orange.