Technology

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Do you have email clutter?

Even though your email clutter will never visibly clutter up your work-space, I can guarantee it will clutter your mind and severely decrease your productivity, time management, and ability to find what email you need when you need it.

In today’s media-centric society, it’s not uncommon to get 50-100 emails (or more) in a single day. All those emails coming in can be a bit overwhelming; and if you don’t have a great system to manage them, your Inbox can quickly spiral out of control and soon you’ll be scrolling through 1,800+ emails to find the ONE email you actually need.

I used to feel overwhelmed with my email until I starting implementing a few very simple principles that have drastically reduced the amount of email clutter I have in my Inbox — and the amount of time I spend dealing with email.

No matter what email platform you use or how many different email accounts you have, these simple tips should also help you to reduce the amount of email clutter you have and in turn, increase your productivity.

Head on over to the Turnstone Blog to read my simple, yet effective tips to get control of your email clutter. 

Believe it or not, at the end of each day, my Inbox almost always has less than 5 emails — and on good days, I’ll totally clear it out. That’s a great way to start the next day!

How many emails are in your Inbox right now?!?!

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3 comments →

UPDATE: This giveaway is now closed.

Congrats to:

Danielle {kyloutx91@…}

Ann {annderooy@…}

Leone {lionsrrroar@…}

I will email you all to get your information!

Have you ever been somewhere without your computer and needed to charge your cell phone, your MP3 player, your camera, or some other device that would normally plug into your computer’s USB drive?

So frustrating! 

I was actually shocked that some of our most recent technology purchases didn’t even come with a wall or car charger — only a USB charger, which means I’d need to have my computer with me and turned on in order to charge these devices.

Until Now…

I was recently asked to try out Energizer’s newest Universal USB Charger — which is only about the size of a small apricot and easily plugs into any wall outlet for instant “chargeability” for all USB device!

I was absolutely thrilled with how simple and easy it was to use — and the fact that it really is “universal”. It will work with any USB charging cord — camera, MP3 Player, smart phone, cell phone, etc. All you have to do is plug your charging cord into the USB outlet on the front of the Universal Charger, then plug the charger into the wall. Done!

The charger is so small that you can easily take it with you wherever you go.

Oh, and just in case you don’t have the right charging cords, Energizer is also including a Mini and Micro USB charging cord that should fit the majority of your chargeable devices {at least they fit most of ours!}

Sound like something you could use to help reduce your cord clutter?

Good, because THREE lucky Simple Organized Living readers will win a fun Energizer Prize Pack!

The Giveaway:

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1 Energizer Single USB Wall Charger

1 Energizer Micro USB Charging Cable

1 Energizer Mini USB Charging Cable

This is such a cool, clutter-free giveaway and I just know you’ll love it as much as I do!

Enter to Win:

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Simply leave a comment explaining your biggest frustration with cord clutter.

This contest is open until Monday, October 10, 2011, at 10:00 pm EST. THREE winners will be selected at random and announced later that week. Please read my full disclosure policy and contact me with any questions you might have. I received a complimentary set of products for review, however all opinions are my own!

84 comments →

UPDATE: This giveaway is now closed.

Congrats to Tabby: tabbyrb3@… I will email you today to get your shipping information!

I am so excited about this weeks “Weekend Giveaway” because it has helped me clear the clutter from one area I have often struggled to keep organized…

Our batteries!

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I know that might sound crazy, but for some reason, I never settled on a great system for storing or organizing all the different types of batteries we have — and then keeping the rechargeable ones charged, the non-rechargeable ones easily accessible, etc. etc. Some were in the kitchen, some in the basement, some in the office… and then we could never find the charger when we needed it!

However, I was recently given an opportunity to write an article for Energizer — and along with that, I was able to test out a bunch of great Energizer products, including their new Universal Charging Station and a bunch of Energizer Rechargeable batteries.

Why I love Energizer’s System:

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The Energizer Universal Charger is so compact and portable — yet it’s still able to charge up to 8 batteries at a time, AND it charges AAA, AA, C, D, and 9V batteries so you don’t need a separate charger for each type!

And even though everything I’ve mentioned so far is wonderful — my FAVORITE features of the Energizer Universal Charger is the easy-to-read LED charge status indicator {located on the top cover} that quickly shows you which batteries are fully charged and how much longer the other batteries have until they are charged. This means I don’t have to try to remember how long the batteries have been charging or guess if they are fully charged or not!

Thanks to the Energizer Universal Charger, we have switched all our batteries over to Energizer Rechargeable Batteries and I keep them in a clear plastic bin in our office with the Universal Charger on top of that box. Our batteries are neat, organized, all in one place, and I never have to look for the “right charger”!

The Giveaway:

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Energizer has a lovely “gift basket” for one lucky Simple Organized Living reader.

The gift basket includes:

• One Universal Charger
• One 4-pack of AAA rechargeable batteries
• One 4-pack of AA rechargeable batteries
• One 2-pack of C rechargeable batteries
• One 2-pack of D rechargeable batteries
• One 9V rechargeable battery

Enter to Win:

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All you have to do is leave a comment telling how you would benefit from the Energizer Universal Charger and batteries.

You can also get ONE extra entry by posting the following message on YOUR Facebook wall: {and let me know that you did}

Enter to win an Energizer Universal Charger gift basket over at Simple Organized Living: http://ht.ly/6dA6v

This contest is open until Tuesday, August 30, 2011, at 10:00 pm EST. ONE winner will be selected at random and announced later that week. Please read my full disclosure policy and contact me with any questions you might have. I received a complimentary charging station and batteries for review, however all opinions are my own!

141 comments →

source: alexkerhead

I hate wasting time!

So I’m always on the lookout for quick organizing projects to tackle when I have a few extra minutes here and there. I’ve even started timing some of my daily tasks, and found that I could accomplish many of them in 10 minutes or less!

After thinking about these 10-minute tasks, I realized that by completing one every day for a year, I would tally up over 60 hours of organizing — pretty impressive!

So what can YOU accomplish in just 10 minutes a day?

Lots of stuff!

Head on over to the AboutOne Blog to read 22 simple ways you can get more organized in 10 minutes or less!

And I know you have at least 10 minutes!

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1 comment →

Welcome to my Huge Birthday Giveaway Celebration!!

Instead of receiving gifts this year, I’ve decided to give YOU an opportunity to win a bunch of awesome products I currently use and love.  I’ve partnered with 26 amazing companies to offer 26 different giveaways for my 26th birthday. There will be multiple giveaways every day from June 13-18 — so make sure you come back!

You will be able to find all 26 Birthday Week Giveaways here — just keep scrolling down to view them all.

Giveaway #12: NeatReceipt Digital Scanner

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Remember a few months back when I professed my love for the NeatReceipt Digital Scanner?? Well, as someone who absolutely despises paper clutter, I’m still in love with it! My goal for 2012 is to be nearly paperless and I’m well on my way!

Some people might think I’m a bit nuts for loving such a small, simple product so much; but the Neat Company didn’t think so… They recently asked me to be an elite members of their “Neat Fleet” — a group of organizers, entrepreneurs, and business professionals that provide advice and expertise. So maybe I’ll get to help them design their next product — maybe!

Either way, I’m super excited that the Neat Company is willing to give another NeatReceipt Digital Scanner away to one lucky reader!!!

If you’ve been struggling to organize your paper clutter, I am confident the NeatReceipt will be able to help you… and even if you aren’t tech-savvy, you’ll still be able to use it. Watch this video to see just how simple it is to use.

If you’re reading this in a feed reader, you may have to click here to view it.
And if you still can’t see the video, click here to watch it on the NeatCo website.

Enter to Win!

Simply answer the question below by leaving a comment on this post. You can even gain bonus entries for doing each additional item listed below (just make sure that you leave a comment for each one).

REQUIRED ENTRY:

• Leave a comment — How would a NeatReceipt help you?

BONUS ENTRIES:

• Subscribe to Simple Organized Living via email or RSS

• Follow Simple Organized Living on Facebook or Twitter

• Follow the Neat Company on Facebook or Twitter

Just a reminder that any comments left on Facebook or Twitter will not count for my birthday giveaways, and you must provide a valid email address to be considered.

All giveaways during my birthday giveaway week will close on Monday, June 20, 2011 at 10:00 EST. The winners will be selected at random and announced via a full blog post on Tuesday, June 21. I will also notify all winners via email.

421 comments →

Do you have Too Many Passwords?

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Over that past few months, I’ve been asked numerous times if I could create a simple way to track and organize all the passwords, usernames, account numbers, and other information that is SO easy to forget.

Well, since “simple” is my specialty — I quickly whipped one up!

Actually, I already had a really cool spreadsheet that Dave and I have been using for the past several years. It helps us to organize all our many passwords…and believe me, it has saved out butts more times than I can count!

Since we do everything online, our life tends to run on usernames and passwords. So we keep a digital copy of this Excel Workbook on both our computers, and  printed copies in our filing cabinet and in our fire-proof safe. This way, if anything ever happened to us, our relatives could access our bazillion different accounts without much trouble at all.

Let me show you around…

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So when you download this free document {links are at the bottom because I actually want you to read this} you’ll see four different tabs — or worksheets.

The HOME tab simply explains more about this document, how to use it, and the copyright laws.

Credit Cards & Money Accounts Tab:

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This tab provides a place for you to list ALL your different credit cards, bank accounts, and other money accounts.

I made enough space for your password and user name; PLUS extra space for all the other important information like the name on the account, the account number, company phone number and website, your secret questions and the answers —  because all of that information is necessary at times.

Email, Internet, & Website Tab:

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The second worksheet gives you a spot to store important log-in information for email accounts, craigslist, E-bay, PayPal, facebook, twitter, and any websites or blogs you have.

I also left a few blank spaces for you to add your own internet passwords.

Utilities Tab:

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Dave and I pay ALL our bills online, so you better believe we have usernames, passwords, secret questions, pin numbers and more for every single account. But I keep it all organized on this Utilities Worksheet!

OK, so that’s my Password Workbook!

It works great for us, and hopefully it will work for you and all your passwords as well.

Obviously, this is not something you should carry around in your purse or computer case — it would be REALLY bad if you lost it!

However, keep it in your desk drawer, save it in a secure folder on your computer, put a copy in your filing cabinet, etc. so you always know where to find it when you need it.

Download this Free Workbook!

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If you would like to simply PRINT the workbook and use it “as is” – click here.

If you would like to PRINT a BLANK version of the workbook — click here.

If you would like to DOWNLOAD the EXCEL workbook to EDIT on your own computer — click here.

Please Share This Workbook.

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If you like this workbook, please feel free to share it on facebook, twitter, email, etc

6 comments →

This giveaway is now closed.

Congrats to Martha G: “I have been on a conquest to scan my files into an external drive already this year. My problem is that I can only access them at my house and what about if something happens to the external drive? This sounds like something that would make my traveling lighter with less paperwork!”

And congrats to Mary D: “My kids papers . . . I never knew how much paperwork would be generated with children – and they’re only 4 & 2!! Recording medical history would be great as well!”

You should receive an email from About One with your discount code in the next few days!!

I just think it’s so important to have our bills, tax document, health records, financial information, and other important paperwork, organized in a way that we can quickly and easily find it whenever we need to.

And while I don’t think everyone needs to have their files organized the exact same way I organize ours, I do think that everyone needs to have SOME sort of system for organizing their important papers and documents.

I’ve seen SO much stress associated with disorganized paperwork and believe me, it’s not worth it.

Thankfully, there are resources like AboutOne.com that offer simple, practical, and convenient online storage for all your most important paper documents and household information.

What is AboutOne?

AboutOne is a program designed by moms, for moms, to help organize all your important paperwork and information. AboutOne offers convenient online storage for all your photos, memorabilia, medical records, daily events, and more.

See why these busy moms and dads love AboutOne!

How will AboutOne benefit you?

Not only will AboutOne help you to clear the paper clutter from your home, it will also proved you with a safe, secure place to store your important information AND access it wherever you have internet — even from your phone!

Watch this quick video that explains more AboutOne benefits.

Click here if you can’t see the video player.

My favorite AboutOne features:

I love printables! I have all kinds of free printable documents on my blog, so I immediately fell in love with the great list of printables I can create with my AboutOne membership.

The image above is a screen-shop of my AboutOne dashboard and you can see I am able to create Family Newsletters, Babysitter Information Charts, Home Maintenance Logs, Health History Reports, Caregiver Reports, Education History, Volunteer Hours, Capital Gains, and more!

The best part is that once you input all your information into your AboutOne profile, it will automatically create the printables you need with just the click of your mouse!

AboutOne also offers the ability to send cards, invites, announcements, etc. right from your computer for the same price as a normal card — and you don’t even have to go to the store!

Are you excited to organize your paperwork yet? If not, maybe a free AboutOne membership will do the trick!

AboutOne has generously offered a full-year memberships to TWO lucky Simple Organized Living readers!

Want to win?

Simply leave a comment below explaining your biggest paper problem and/or why you’d love to try AboutOne.

Also, make sure to visit AboutOne on Facebook and Twitter.

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This is a weekend giveaway, so the contest is only open until Tuesday, February 22, 2011, at 10:00 pm EST. Two winners will be selected at random and announced on Wednesday, February 23. Please read my full disclosure policy and contact me with any questions you might have. I received a free one-year subscription to AboutOne, however all opinions are my own.

Want to try AboutOne free for 17 days?

Head on over to AboutOne.com to start your free 17-day trial membership today!

23 comments →