Hummingbirds run on nectar.

Cars run on fuel.

Fred Flintstone runs on his feet.

Office Freaks run on coffee.  Let it be written. Let it be brewed.

I’ve written reviews for North Star Fine Coffees on my food blog several times.  Several several times.  It’s outstanding coffee – I believe I even referred to it as the Cadillac of coffees in one of the reviews.  Such a drama queen.  But, if there’s one thing that can be said about this drama queen, she knows her coffee.

Honestly, I was thinking about it the other day – I can’t think too many brands of coffee I haven’t tried.  I’ve covered all of the varieties you can find in stores.  I’m a regular at my local Starbucks.  I keep expecting them to present me with an apron any day now.

I’ve also had the pleasure of trying many gourmet coffees which can only be purchased online or in specialty shops.

When asked what my top 3 coffees are, North Star Fine Coffees always make the list.   You can taste the excellence – heck, when it’s brewing, you can even smell the excellence as it fills several rooms with the Heavenly aroma.  It’s a coffee that makes you anxious to jump out of bed.  Knowing that it’s waiting for you in the kitchen gives all new meaning to the phrase RISE AND SHINE.

You can read my glowing reviews of this amazing, full-bodied coffee in one of the following posts…

North Star Coffee: Taste the Commitment

North Star Coffee is Truly Amazing Coffee

… Or you can simply trust me (one Office Freak to another) and head on over to North Star Fine Coffees and place the smartest order you’ve placed in a while.  You won’t be the least bit sorry – this coffee is beyond special.

*** Note: This post is filed under Office Productivity, for obvious reasons!

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From everything I’ve read and seen, most people have a similar problem:  How can you get enough activity and exercise when so much time has to be spent at your desk working?!

It’s a real problem for most people.  Truthfully, I can’t imagine how anyone with a desk job for 8 hours a day finds time to fit their workouts into an average day – I mean, on top of eating, cleaning, cooking, sleeping, reality TV…

I work at home and make (and break) my own schedule, but even I run into the dilemma of, “How do I find time for everything?”  If the house would be kind enough to clean itself and the laundry would follow suit, it’d help.  But, alas, that’s almost as ridiculous as asking a teenager to clean up after themselves.

Almost.

I just read a great article on Everyday Health by Jillian Michaels about fitting workouts into your workday.  Great advice – which is what you’d expect from Jillian Michaels.

A few of Jillian’s tips were:

• Bring a pair of light dumbbells — or use water bottles — and do biceps curls, triceps extensions, and shoulder raises and presses, all while sitting in your chair.
• Bring a pair of light dumbbells — or use water bottles — and do biceps curls, triceps extensions, and shoulder raises and presses, all while sitting in your chair.
• Do 30-second static squats, in which you hover over the seat of your chair, every 20 minutes.

She also recommends walking during your lunch break and eating at your desk.   That sounds like another great idea, as long as lunch isn’t a Big Mac, fries, and Coke.

For the rest of the article, click through the following link – Desk Job Blues

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If there’s anything that messes up a work day faster than clutter, I don’t ever want to meet it.  Clutter slows you down, causes distractions, and keeps you from finding what you need, when you need it.

Fortunately, there are some clear-cut ways to cut back on clutter on your desk and around your office – whether you have a home office or work office.

Give Away or Throw Out Anything You Don’t Use

Totally clear off your desk, shelves, and workstation.Put back only those things that you regularly use.   Store the rest  in drawers or file cabinets.  If you don’t use something, ask around your office – someone may be looking for exactly the thing you’re passing on.

Give Away or Throw Out Anything in Your Office You Don’t Love

Take a good look around your office or workspace.  Hold each picture, knick knack, pen, and thumbtack accountable for themselves.   Ask yourself, “Do I love this?”  If not, why are you holding onto it?  You should surround yourself with things that make you smile, motivate you, or inspire you.  All else?  Their what clutter’s made of.

Watch Out for Freeloading Papers, Files, Newspapers, Magazines, and Notebooks

Funny how these things always move in on us, isn’t it?  It’s as big a mystery as lost socks in the laundry room (Why don’t they ever disappear in pairs – why is it always jut one that must be sacrificed to the dryer gods?).   I was cleaning the shelf beside me in my home office this morning and found:  A newspaper article about feeding orioles from March, three books I’d read and hated, a Happy Meal toy (don’t judge me), and a Redbook magazine from January. 2007.

Move On To Your Desk Drawers

Organize your desk drawers by like items. Maybe you could put office supplies in one drawer (paper clips, stapler, staples, rubber bands, post it notes), phone directories and address books in another, and stationery, pens, and notepads in another.  Don’t let them mix and mingle – that only leads to hunting expeditions and they gobble up time worse than social networking sites.

Your E-Mails and Bookmarks

Virtual office clutter can cause just as many problems as physical office clutter.   Go through your e-mail account (or accounts if you’re like me) and delete all e-mail that requires no further action on your part.   If you’ve responded to the person, there really isn’t any need to keep the original e-mail.  However, if it’s something that you do need to save, at least put it in an appropriate folder… NOT just a Saved folder.  Be more specific than that or your Saved folder will soon be a hot mess.

Invest in an Office File Cabinet

Take a look at your stacks of paper.  Not imagine how neat and tidy your workstation would be if they were all sorted and filed away in a great file cabinet. It’s a purchase you’ll never regret – neither will your desk or shelves.  They’ll just be thankful that they can breathe again.

Don’t let clutter hinder your productivity or restrict your success.  Adopt the motto, “A place for everything and everything in its place.”

Now I have to sign off.  I have a magazine to read.

Photo Credit: I Can Has Cheezburger (and I can has an online addiction to lol cats…)

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The Plantronics CS50 Wireless Office Headset – Over-the-head, Over-the-ear is the bomb diggity. It brings mobility and hands-free conversations to your phone – a huge plus when you’d rather be using your hands for typing, writing, eating, scratching, or whatever else you do with them, rather than clumsily holding a telephone.

The CS50 gives you eight hours of talk time and the wireless convenience to roam up to 300 feet with secure conversations. That’s a very good thing for people like my husband – he’s a talk-and-walk kind of guy. Due to his business, he spends a lot of time on the phone. Some days I’m pretty sure if he wore a pedometer, he’d blow the thing up. It couldn’t keep up.

I guess this is one of the reasons he hates to be constricted when he’s talking on the phone. Gotta move, gotta move, gotta move…

Features:

• Operating Frequency 900 MHz digital
• Headset Battery: Li Ion Polymer
• 8 hours of wireless, hands-free talk time
• Digital 900MHz for secure conversations
• Fully recharge the headset in less than three hours. 80% recharged in 1.5 hours
• Have clear, private and completely secure conversations
• Be heard clearly with a noise-canceling microphone
• Optional behind-the-head style is also available
• Security/Privacy: Digitally encrypted
• Compatibility: Most office or PBX-based telephones

For more information, check out the Plantronics CS50 Wireless Office Headset – Over-the-head, Over-the-ear on Abe’s of Main’es website.

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I love the message board that hangs near my desk in my home office.  I can place reminders on the board to keep me from forgetting important events – you know, like the next time UK plays basketball…. opening day for baseball…. what the next Ace of Cakes will be about – important stuff.  I also have a few inspirational quotes, a few Audrey Hepburn collector stamps, an adoption certificate from where I adopted a shark (I’ve told you I’m shark crazy, right?), a picture of my daughters when they were about 4, 6, and7 doing the see no evil, hear no evil, and speak no evil routine, cat pictures, and a comic strip or two.

I believe in keeping things that make you smile within eye-shot at all times…. especially when you’re working.  It keeps you from becoming a grumpity grump.

The too handsome for his own good $2.99 Shipping. Bulletin Board-Large-15″ x 21″-Metal/Cork Underlay (above) is ideal for any office – home or away. The large size allows plenty of room – after all, some people need more help avoiding the slippery slope of grumpdom than the rest of us.

Perforated metal over a soft center lets you use both magnets and pushpins to post reminder notes, messages, comic strips, photos, artwork, etc.  Whatever keeps you interested, happy, attentive, or all of the above.

From Stacks and Stacks:
This magnetic bulletin board comes with a set of sleek silver pushpins and magnets. This wall mount message board is perfect for the kitchen, home office, laundry room or anywhere you need to post notes. Both sizes of memo boards come with silver hardware on back for wall hanging; nail or thumbtack needed for mounting. You’re your home and office members up to date with these stylish message boards!
Magnetic bulletin boards are available in two sizes:
Large Bulletin Board measures 15″ x 21″
Small Bulletin Board measures 12″ x 12″.

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The adorableness you see before you is the Starbucks Coffee Zebra Knitter Critter Plush from Starbucks’ online store. These beautiful little Kenana Knitter Critters are hand-knitted by rural women in Kenya using all-natural hand spun wool that is dyed with natural plant dyes.

Everyone loves to have special things on and around their desk that mean something to them.  Things that express something about their views of the world and the things that bring them joy and happiness.

Check out what these desk buddies have to say for themselves:

Money earned by these Kenana Knitters goes directly to the women who are able to improve the quality of life for themselves and their families.

How could anyone NOT want to get in on that?

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The guy above looks like I felt during college Algebra class. And Economics class. And Biology….

For more laughs at the expense of poor, unsuspecting sleepy heads, click the link below:

Asleep on the Job

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Don’t you just hate it when things that were preached to you as a kid turn out to be blissfully true?  Things like “money doesn’t grow on trees” (by gosh, it doesn’t), “always wear clean undies,” and “a place for everything and everything in its place” seem almost golden once we’re old enough to know that we don’t quite know everything.
I always thought the stressing on organization was just a way to torment me and my billions of Barbies, Barbie shoes, and other Barbie paraphernalia.  Turns out, there’s a great deal of merit to the whole approach.  You not only function better when everything is tidily in its place, you stress less.  Fewer misplaced papers and less time hunting for a particular pen make the day move along a calmer circuit.

A favorite website of mine (ReStockIt.com) takes a similar approach.  The glorious Double Tier Multi Purpose Steel Book Rack, Mar Resistant Finish, Black (above) is from ReStockIt and is just one of the countless products they have to make your office a more organized place in which to live and work.  This multi-purpose steel book rack features shelves in a decorative, contemporary design. You can use the rack on a desktop or as a wall mount, if  space-saving is the name of your game.

Click through the link or image for more details.  This one is the double tier rack, but they sell a single tier one as well.

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You can save on TurboTax Home and Business Federal and State with efile at Staples if you act before February 6. Five different varieties of Turbo Tax Software are actually $10 off the regular price.

In addition to savings on Tax Software, you can find the following bargains in your nearest Staples, or online ( with FREE delivery on most orders $50+):
HP Premium Office Paper
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Reg. $45.99

Brother QL-570 Label Printer
Now $39.98
Reg. $99.98

Royal MC50MX 5-sheet Micro-Cut Shredder
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Pilot® FriXion® Light Eraseable Highlighters, 3 Pack
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TurboTax Business Federal with efile
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TurboTax Home and Business Federal and State with efile

• Includes everything you need for your self-employment and personal income taxes.
• Designed for sole proprietors, self-employed, consultants, 1099 contractors, and single-owner LLCs
• Expanded interview guides you step-by-step through entering business income and expenses to help you maximize business and personal deductions, home office deductions, depreciation and more

Learn more about each of the Turbo Tax Software products when you click through the link below.  Staples offers an abundance of information about each one, including videos, reviews, and more.  Trust me, you’ll be a walking, talking encyclopedia when they’re done with you.

TurboTax Home and Business Federal and State with efile

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I recently had one of those Ah Ha! moments in life. If I’d been a cartoon, a light bulb would have gone off over my head.  Chalk it up to a new year, new goals, reflections, self examination and all of that good stuff.  I was driving along, chugging my Iced Green Tea from Panera Bread (can you say addiction?) and wondering why I didn’t seem to have the same zest and passion for a lot of my online projects, websites, and blogs that I once did.

I mean, I take pride in my sites and in our online web publishing business and I couldn’t love what I do any more than I do.  However, I don’t jump out of the bed quite as excitedly as I used  to.  I also tend to get distracted much easier than before.  I’ve simply noticed a shift in my attitude the past few months – not a huge shift, mind you, but a shift nonetheless.  So I wanted to get to the bottom of it and the sooner the better.

As one part of my brain was lying out the situation, another part offered up the answer with one word:  Overwhelmed.  The part of the brain that was busy dishing out the facts wasn’t so sure…. I work from home for crying out loud, it said… how can I be overwhelmed when I set my own terms, goals, deadlines, and hours?  Nah, I wasn’t buying that.

But, as I drove along, the same word kept playing again and again in my brain.  So, being a blogger, I laid out all of my must-dos and wana-dos in bullet points fashion:

• get fit – I want to devote time to achieving the best health and fitness I possibly can
• I want to expand my self help blog/website and add more articles
• I want to re-do my entire mental fitness/brain fitness website and blog
• I need to add a lot more pictures to my Kentucky site and I want to add a lot of slideshows
• I wanted to re-do 3 other websites and 2 other blogs
• I want to redecorate the living room
• As soon as spring arrives, my husband and I have a lot of landscaping and gardening plans that I’m completely excited about
• I have lots of goals for my recipe blog
• I had 14 blogs that I wanted to keep updated, if not daily – every other day
• I had relaunched a site that would take a lot of work to get back on its feet
• I need to do more article writing and marketing
• Social media – I need to become more involved

Then, add to the list the fact that I am an avid cook who is happiest when she’s in the kitchen cooking for at least an hour each day.  Less than that and I feel cheated.  Also, if it’s college basketball or baseball season – in the evening, my cat Alexa and I want to be right where the action is… in front of the television with snacks nearby.

After a brief inventory, I went with “overwhelmed.”  I envisioned a plate that was packed so full – with so much food piled onto it – that it was atrocious rather than inviting.  I knew some things needed to go and, as is usually the case, I didn’t have any problem pinpointing the ones that were more trouble than they were worth – the things that didn’t offer me enough of a reward or satisfaction to make them worthwhile.

By the time the amazing green tea was gone (and my straw was making its sssswwwwwwwrrrr, there isn’t any left, woman plea) I had mentally shortened my self-imposed obligations and saw light at the end of the tunnel.  What’s more I actually saw the plate.  The plate, to me, represents life and, more importantly, getting all of the enjoyment from it that you can.  When we heap too many expectations onto the plate – and onto life – we don’t have time to really approach life as it was meant to be approached.

Instantly, I mean instantly, I felt better.  I was able to lay out a workable daily schedule – one that allowed life to be beautiful, not just busy.

If you’re feeling a little less inspired or motivated than normal, take a good, honest look at your life.  Don’t just ask yourself what you NEED, ask yourself what you WANT.  What makes you happy?  What makes you feel relaxed?  What gives you the greatest joy?  Are you allowing yourself enough time for these things?

By the same token, you may be one of the few people carrying a plate that’s too empty.  Instead of biting off too much, you’ve been guilty of having lips so tight a straw couldn’t squeeze through them!  Maybe you’re at the point where you want more from life and more from yourself.  If that’s the case, fill your plate wisely.  Choose things that you are truly passionate about – the sort of things you could, literally, talk about for hours without taking a breath.  These are the things that will almost always seem like play even when they’re work.

If you need to add to your plate, go for it… just be smart about it.

If you need to clean off some of your plate, get busy. I highly, highly, highly recommend it.  And, with that said, I am now off to look at some miniature tomatoes, a hummingbird garden, and a shade garden that my husband showed me online last night.

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