Working From Home

I’ve already shared {several times} how much Dave and I are loving our new iPhones… I’m obsessed

It’s true!

Just the other day, I heard of a friend’s house that caught on fire and I immediately thought about our house, and what I would do if it ever caught on fire. Of course, I would grab Nora first {and make sure Dave could get out} but my next “grabs” would be my phone, purse, and computer!

Not sure what that says about me… but it’s the truth!

Anyway, I’m always on the look-out for FREE tools to help improve my business. So when I got the iPhone, I immediately started searching for apps that would do just that.

Apparently there are a ton of free productivity apps, but I didn’t need or want them all… just the best ones. So for the past several weeks, I’ve been playing around and testing out some of these free apps… I quickly came up with a short list of my favorites.

Head on over to the Turnstone blog to see 9 of my favorite free apps for small businesses.

What are your favorite iPhone apps?

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Last week I talked about how we {myself included} often complain about “not having enough time for______” when really, we just aren’t MAKING enough time.

And based on the number of {positive} emails and comments I received, I think the post resonated with many of you!

It’s hard to admit that we might not be managing our time in the most appropriate ways — but it’s even harder {at least for me} to figure out just how we SHOULD be allocating the 24 hours we get each day.

Seriously, wouldn’t life be so much easier if we could just have a few extra hours!

Anyway… I like to think that I’m pretty good at managing my time, being productive, getting things done, etc. etc. However as much as I might try, I can’t do it all. I have to make choices every day about what I will and will not spend my time on. Sometimes, they’re easy choices; other times, they’re not. Many times I make wise choices, but other times I don’t. It’s all just a balancing act I suppose.

So since a few of you asked, here’s a short list of things I do and don’t MAKE time for…

What I DO Make Time For

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Family:

Dave and I are pretty close with both of our families, and now that we have Nora, we can’t even go a week without spending time with each of our parents and whatever siblings happen to be around.

I realize that not everyone has the luxury of family living close by — and we really do enjoy this time {and their help!}

We also make plenty of time to do things with our extended family members {grandparents, cousins, aunts, uncles, etc.} and love getting the whole gang together for holidays and other fun occasions.

Clutter Control:

I know that some of you might say that an organized home isn’t important… but it is for me! {hopefully this doesn’t make me sound like a horrible person with no priorities.}

I’ve always been very aware of my surroundings and I literally can’t function if there is clutter everywhere. I’m much more productive if my home is picked up, organized, clutter free, and when everything is “in it’s place”.

Now, this doesn’t mean I spend all day making sure my house looks perfect. It just means that I spend about 15 minutes every night cleaning out the dishwasher, picking up the toys, taking out the trash, clearing off my desk, defrosting food for tomorrow’s meals, etc.

Meal Planning / Clipping Coupons:

I know that spending a couple hours each week planning our meals and clipping coupons will save me SO much money, SO much time, and SO much stress. I can get in and out of the grocery store in record time and I never have the pressure of wondering “what’s for dinner” at 4:30!

Plus, you know me — I just love saving money and getting the deals, so I always make time for meal planning and clipping coupons each week.

Blogging / Business:

I saved the best for last! Yes, I spend a large amount of time on my blog and my business — but it’s my job. I love doing what I do — and I make money doing it!

Yes, it takes time away from my family — but so does watching TV and zoning out to Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, etc. {and I don’t make time for those activities} so I don’t feel that bad.

I’m also fortunate enough that I can do my work whenever it’s convenient for me {while Nora’s sleeping, when Dave is home, nights, weekends, etc.} which is probably the only reason I can make it all work!

What I DON’T Make Time For

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Cleaning:

This might sound contradictory to what I said about organizing above — but cleaning and organizing are VERY different. My house is almost always neat, tidy, picked-up, and organized. I always know where everything is and we can find whatever we need, whenever we need it.

However, my house is not necessarily always “clean”. I don’t always dust, vacuum, or sweep my floors as much as I should; I don’t always wash the sheets or clean the shower as often as I should, and the kitchen is never as clean as I’d like it to be… but I’m OK with that!

The crazy thing is that I actually really like to clean {and I love a clean house}. However, I’m just not willing to make the time to have a spotlessly clean house at this point. I’ve even hired a college girl to do some of my cleaning and play with Nora one day a week {best decision ever!}

Gourmet Meals:

If you’ve paid attention to any of my weekly meal plans, you’ll quickly notice that I’m not into fancy, gourmet meals! I do cook a lot from scratch, but I also do a lot of “baking from a box” when I’m short on time.

I know I could spend a lot more time preparing organic, 100% from scratch meals — but as long as we’re eating healthy, nutritious meals and have plenty of snacks for school lunches, I’m happy!

Social Media:

Yes, I’m quite active on Facebook — both for Simple Organized Living and for my own personal page — but I honestly don’t do much with any other forms of social media.

I feel like my time on Facebook is well spent because it’s a way to connect with family and friends, share pictures of Nora, and grow my business {all of which are important to me and things I choose to make time for}

However, I could go weeks without checking Twitter, Pinterest, Tumblr, or any of the other number of social media resources out there. Yes, they are valuable; yes, I probably should be doing more with them; but right now, I’m not willing to make the time.

Volunteering:

OK, so before you start thinking I’m the most horrible person ever, let me just assure you that for the past 6 years of my life, I was on more committees, attended more meetings, and was involved in more non-profit organizations than almost anyone I know!

And now I’m taking a break! 

I’m still on one committee at church and Dave and I still help out with a few things at school — but other than that, I don’t make a whole lot of time for volunteer work right now.

Extra Curricular Activities:

I’m honestly not sure how to word this one — I thought about saying “I don’t make time for FUN” but that’s not exactly correct!! I still make time for fun, just not in the way I used to…

Life with a baby is just so much easier if we are home, so while it might be fun to go out for dessert, we might opt for Culver’s ice-cream via the drive-through window instead. While Dave might just want to go for a run, he might opt to walk with a stroller instead. While it might be fun to go to a blogging event, basketball game, or any number of events, it’s just easier to stay home and spend time together {which actually can be pretty fun if Nora isn’t too crabby!}

Obviously, I could add many things to both lists, but at this point in my life, these are a few of the things I am {and am not} willing to MAKE time for — which just goes to show that it really IS all about the choices we make.

I could choose to make more time for volunteering or extra curricular activities, but then I’d also have to be willing to  spend less time with family or on my blog. I could choose to make more time to clean my house, but then I might not have the time I want for meal planning or organizing.

Until someone figures out a way to add hours to my day, I will continue to make choices every day… and so will you! 

What would be on your lists?

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Due to my blog and all the different virtual assistant jobs I have, I currently have ten {yes TEN} different email addresses that all go to one Gmail Inbox! And even though I get upwards of 100 emails every day, my Inbox almost always has less than 5 emails when I “close up shop” for the night.

No, I don’t spend all day checking and responding to email… and no, I don’t just delete them without responding. Instead, I use filters to automatically file my incoming emails to the appropriate folders — this way, they don’t even show up in my Inbox and I can respond to emails in batches when I have time.

For example, I get email notifications any time someone comments on my blog — so instead of having those emails clutter up my Inbox all day long, I have them automatically forwarded {or filtered} to a separate folder. Then, at the end of the day, I can take a chunk of time to read through those comments and respond as necessary.

I also have a filter set up for each of my VA jobs — so whenever I get an email for a particular job, it goes directly to that folder and I can then handle all the emails at one time — saving me lots of time and keeping my Inbox clutter-free.

If you’ve never done it before, here’s how to set up a filter in Gmail:

STEP 1: Get to the “Filters” tab

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Click on the “gear” in the top right corner of your Inbox, then click on settings. Finally, click on “Filters”.

STEP 2: Create Your First Filter

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Once you click on the “Fliters” tab, you should see a link towards the bottom {center} of the window that says “Create a New Filter”. When you click on that link, the following form will pop up.

Fill out the information and then click “Create filter with this search”

STEP 3: Set Up Your Filter

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After you “create your filter” another box will pop up with options for your newly created filter.

I ALWAYS click “Skip the Inbox” so I don’t ever have to look at the filtered emails until I’m ready.

Also, you’ll want to make sure to direct the filtered email to one of your previously created labels.

For example, I direct all the emails with my blog comments to a “Follow up” label. I direct all my VA job emails to specific labels created for each of those jobs/clients.

I also check the box “Never send it to Spam” because I don’t want to miss any of those emails.

Once you have the the filter set up how you want it {you can always edit it later} click the blue “Create Filter” button.

STEP 4: Use Your Filters

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After you have your filters set up, you will no longer get those emails in your inbox — instead, they will go directly to the folders you specified in step 3 above.

However, you’ll easily be able to tell when you have unread messages in any of your folders by the bold number to the right of the folder.

Once you have a few unread emails in a specific folder, you can click on that folder and read, respond, file, delete as necessary.

STEP 5: Edit or Delete Filters

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Once your filters are set up, you can easily change, edit, or delete them at any time via the Settings tab.

So that’s how you set up a filter in Gmail! 

I know this might sound like a lot of hassle — especially at first. But if I had to guess, I’d say that my filters save me AT LEAST 1 hour every day because I don’t have to manually file these emails, I don’t have to look at them and scroll past them to find other emails, and I can deal with similar emails in “batches” instead of one at a time.

Plus, my Inbox is always clutter free — which psychologically makes me feel less stressed every time I check my email!

Do you use filters? Or do you have any other time-saving email tips?

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Whether you work in a corporate office, have a designated home office, or even just an area in the corner of the living room where you pay the bills, schedule appointments, and check emails; it’s important to keep that area clean and clutter-free.

So since I talk a lot about cleaning {and more specifically “spring cleaning”} I thought I should talk a bit about cleaning and organizing your office area.

Spring Cleaning… For Your Office

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If you’re like me… you probably spend a good chunk of the day in your office. And if you’re like me… you hate working in a messy, dusty, dirty space!

OK, so even if you don’t mind a little mess, dust, and dirt, a good spring cleaning might just bring new life to your office space and facilitate even more productivity on your part!

Here are a few quick tips to clean up your office space.

10 Ideas To Organize Your Office in 10 Minutes or Less

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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 task every day for a year, I could tally up over 60 hours of organizing – pretty impressive!

So even if you’re short on time these days, I challenge you to think about little things you can do each day to get your office space more organized without wasting a bunch of precious time.

Here are 10 ideas to help you get started!

I know I’m always SO MUCH MORE productive if I’m working in a clean and organized space. If you can relate… Spring might just be a great time to do a little deep cleaning and organizing {and enjoy your more productive space!}

Do you have any great tips for keeping your office space neat and organized?

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UPDATE: This giveaway is now closed.

Congrats to:

Stacey (swags11@…)

Amy (amyctilson@…)

I will email you shortly!

When I first started my business {almost exactly 5 years ago!} the first purchase I made was for quality business cards. I didn’t know a lot about business, but I remember being told that nice business cards automatically make you look more professional.

And it’s true, I still get tons of compliments on my cards whenever I hand them out at blogging retreats, business events, to clients, family, friends, and even just to people who need my phone number or email address.

I love my business cards — the rounded corners, the simple fonts, the fantastic colors, etc. I think they reflect ”Simple Organized Living” perfectly!

However, you don’t need a full-time business inorder to carry cards with you. Maybe you have an Etsy shop or other craft business; maybe you have a personal blog or website; maybe you are a tutor or give private lessons; or maybe you just want cards with your contact information, social media information, family information, etc.

Whatever the reason, I think it’s a great idea for everyone to have some type of card. And if you DON’T already have cards… or if you would like to update your current cards, today’s giveaway from Next Day Flyers should do the trick!

With their custom design options, you can pretty much create any type of card you want! Plus, their prices are really reasonable… but of course, FREE is better than reasonable, so make sure you take a minute to enter the giveaway below!

The Giveaway:

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Today, two lucky Simple Organized Living readers will win 250 rounded corner custom cards from Next Day Flyers.

How to Enter:

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1. {required} Leave a comment on this post. What type of card would you create? Business, personal, hobby, family, general information?

2. {optional} Like Simple Organized Living on Facebook, and then leave a separate comment letting me know you did {or that you do already}.

If you are reading this in your email or feed reader, please visit the actual blog post to enter. Email entries, Facebook comments, and Twitter messages will NOT be counted.

Prizes:

(2) 250 cards from Next Day Flyers as described above.

This giveaway ends at 10:00 pm on Monday, 3/19/2012 and is open to all U.S. residents 18 years or older. I will use And the Winner Is to select the winning comments at random. Winners will be notified by email and noted at the top of this post. Winners must respond within 48 hours of notification to claim their prize or I will choose a new winner. Please see my full disclosure policy and contact me with any questions you have. Good luck!

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The following is a guest post from Prerna of The Mom Writes.

As a busy work-at-home mom who’s constantly juggling deadlines, errands, play dates and menu plans, I need my workspace to be as organized as possible. Especially since my workspace is also our dining room. And no, it does not have a door!

Here are 5 of my favorite things that keep my workspace organized and my sanity intact:

1. A Basket to Hold Knick-Knacks

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First of all, I can’t live without my li’l basket that holds my must-have-at-hand supplies – pens, glue, stapler, cell phone charger and my cell phone itself. It sits neatly on my desk, takes up hardly any space and any clutter is contained neatly.

You can do the same with any spare basket-like container. How about the spare bowl from the kitchen?  Or even that gift box that you got chocolates in this Valentine’s.

2. A Drawer Organizer

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Next up is a drawer organizer that I fashioned out of an old tea-tray and an ice-cube tray. Yes, I know. I’m cheap. **laughing**

However, both trays fit neatly into the single drawer that we have in our desk. The tea tray holds larger items such as my notebook and a spare spectacle case filled with extra pens.

The ice cube tray is awesome. It holds paper clips, pins and other fasteners, along with a bunch of elastic bands.

3. A Dry-Erase Board and Cork Board

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I use the area above my desk for a pin board and dry erase board to jot down to-dos and pin bills and other papers that need immediate attention.  The small size of the boards keeps me from holding on to too much paper, while giving me the space to tack on a happy photo or an inspiring quote as well.

4. Shelving on the Walls

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A tiny workspace that does double duty as a dining room means that we use the walls to store anything that is essential but can’t be placed on the desk. Shelving is great for stashing items that are needed but not on an everyday basis.

Again, I use baskets and boxes to store things, along with some photos and curios to add a dash of prettiness and break up the monotony.

5. One File for Paperwork

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Finally, using a single file for office-related paperwork means that we don’t hold on to unnecessary paper and we have all the papers we need in one file.

Using electronic versions of bills, forms, and correspondence has really helped us cut down on paper clutter and keep our tiny workspace reasonably organized.  I’m also a BIG fan of scanning documents and then recycling or trashing the paper versions to reduce paper clutter.

Do you have a tiny office? How do you keep it organized?

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Lover of small spaces, Prerna Malik writes about being a work-at-home mom at The Mom Writes and helps small businesses and mom entrepreneurs rock their social media presence with Social Media Direct. For more handy organizing tips and tricks, check out her free eBook 100+ Simple Tips  to Get Organized, Cut Clutter and Increase Productivity.

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I’ve been working for myself for almost 5 years now — and it definitely hasn’t always been easy, or even always enjoyable. There were many, many days when I wondered why I was working so hard for “nothing” — and I often thought about returning to the corporate world, just because working for myself was really overwhelming and stressful at times.

However, I’m so glad I stuck with it and fought through those difficult months {and years} of long hours and hardly any pay… because now I’m doing what I love, working from home, AND actually making money

Yes, I make money doing my job and I suspect that you also make money at your job — after all, that’s what a job is!

Should I Work For Free?

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While I’m certainly NOT against volunteering, charitable giving, bartering, or offering free/discounted services when the opportunity presents itself; I often have to remind myself and others that this is MY JOB, and I can’t work for free!

You would never expect a plumber, electrician, web-designer, or accountant to work for free; so why should I be expected to work for free just because I’m a stay-at-home-mom who “sits at my computer all day”?

Maybe I have a more flexible work schedule than most traditional jobs, maybe my daily commute is shorter, and maybe my office dress code allows PJ’s until noon — but this is still my job. I’ve worked REALLY hard and have made tons of sacrifices to get where I am today. I have goals and dreams too — and I’m not going to reach them by always working for free!

Yet I’m always amazed at how many people expect me to work for free! 

I frequently get emails with 3 or 4 images of someone’s room/closet, the dimensions of their space, and a novel-length message describing what their issues are and how they would like their space to function. The emails conclude by asking me to reply with a few design ideas, links to organizing products I would recommend, and any other advice I am willing to give them — all for free of course!

I get just as many requests asking me to donate my services for certain organizations, speak for different groups of people, write for other websites, and train people to become professional organizers… all out of the goodness of my heart. And while I am generally a pretty nice person, I just can’t do that all for free.

I’ve even been asked to put advertisements on my blog… for free! Maybe I’m wrong, but isn’t the whole concept of advertising to PAY someone else to promote your products? Yeah, I don’t do that for free either

In these situations, I usually just send a quick email explaining that although I would love to help them with their requests, I’m extremely busy and can’t always offer my services for free. I make sure to direct them to any blog posts that might be helpful for their situation… and I also provide links to my services and my advertising information.

Sometimes these people become clients, sometimes I never hear from them again, and sometimes they respond back saying how offended they are that I would ever think to charge them for my advice and my time!

After all, I’m JUST a stay-at-home-mom who sits at my computer all day long!

If you work from home, you know as well as I do that there are many pros AND cons of this type of work – especially once you throw kids into the mix!

And just like most jobs… it’s just not worth all the time and hassle to do it for free — at least not for me!

I suspect I’m not the only work-from-home-person who has run into these issues before!

And while I sometimes feel rude, money-hungry, or like I’m a horrible person when I explain that I can’t work for free; I just have to remind myself that this is my job!  

I love getting a great deal as much as the next person, but I also feel like my services have value and shouldn’t just be “given away” for free — at least not all the time!

Finding Balance

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Now before you leave thinking bad thoughts about me, let me reassure you that I definitely DO donate lots of my time, my services, and my money to people and organizations I have a personal connection with or causes I feel strongly about.

I also happily respond to tons of emails and comments each month with helpful information for readers looking to start up a blog, start an organizing business, or just with general questions {seriously, LOTS of emails!} I don’t mind doing this at all because I know how many questions I had when I first started my blog and my business… and I still go to other more experienced bloggers with my own questions.

I have no problem being helpful or providing information, I just don’t understand why some people expect me to give up hours and hours of my time for free — like I have nothing better to do.

Yes, I love my job… yes I love being helpful… but no, I can’t work for free! 

What are your thoughts on working for free?

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