February OverHall IT! Issue
FEBRUARY, 2000
Vol. 1, Issue 2
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Table of Contents:
1. Welcome Message
2. OverHalling and Balance
3. Guest Article
4. D-BUST Your Computer-Part 1
5. Jokes, Quotes, and Anecdotes
6. Products, Books, and Web Site Reviews
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1. Welcome Message
Happy Belated Valentine's Day, Happy February, and
Happy Days to all!
I would like to thank each of you who have subscribed
and/or forwarded this newsletter to someone. I hope
all who read will learn and enjoy OverHall IT! The
OverHall IT! Community has doubled since the first
issue and I thank you all for making this possible BUT
we are still new and I would love to see the community
double again this month, SO we're having another contest.
I'm really enjoying the ease and convenience of my laptop
which arrived just in time before my main computer starting
acting up again! Hopefully you can avoid some of the other
problems I had by reading Part 1 of * D-BUST Your Computer *
This article is written in five parts, so for the next five
months I will attempt to help you keep your computers in top
notch working order.
If you recall, last month we started working on your health area,
one of seven areas that Dr. Don E. Wetmore has identified that
one needs to work on to maintain daily balance.
Our guest article was submitted by fellow organizer Lorraine
Pirihi from Australia. If you get a chance, please visit her website,
It is packed with organizing articles and a fun questionnaire!
Please don't forget to read our P.S. this month. It might surprise you!
Okay, ready to start "OverHalling"?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
2. OverHalling and Balance
-What is ALL this *STUFF*-
Home, Office, and Car Clutter
by: Janet L. Hall
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(Excerpts from What is ALL this STUFF-Home Clutter
Teleclass and Workshop).
Clutter and chaos in your bedroom could be the reason you wake
up with a headache, a stuffy nose, or runny eyes.
Maybe you feel stressed out, depressed, fatigued, or distracted
when you wake up to all your clutter and chaos.
We spend 1/3 of our lives in our bedrooms. A place we go to to
find solitude, peace of mind, and slumber. But how can you expect
to get a good night sleep or to awaken with vitality and energy with
all that clutter facing you?
~~ What's the first thing you see when you wake up in the morning?
~~ Is it piles of clothes, books, newspapers, and mail all over the place?
~~ Are you stepping on and tripping over stuff on your floors?
~~ Do you just want to pull the covers over your head and stay in
bed rather then face all that clutter and chaos?
Let your world stop for 15 minutes and announce to the world,
"This is the day I'm going to make a change in my life." Jump out
of bed, throw back the curtains, open the shades and windows
(yes, even if it is 20 degrees outside!), turn off the news, crank up
some music and do the Toss In Box!
Get a box (a garbage bag will also work) and pick up everything off
the floor and do the Toss In box! (TIP: Don't stop and dawdle over
any items, we'll do that later).
Feel the energy?
Hip Hop over to the dresser, bureau, makeup table, and nightstands
and take everything off that you don't use daily or nightly and do the Toss
In Box!
Feel the adrenaline?
Waltz on over to your sitting area, chaise, or clothes valet and
take it ALL off and do the Toss In Box!
Now, doesn't your bedroom feel better already? DON'T YOU feel better?
Grab 10 more minutes, another box, a garbage bag, your car keys and
sprint out to your car. Tune into your favorite radio station and
do the Toss In Box. Get rid of everything that you don't use daily
(please keep your emergency equipment). Get rid of everything that you
don't need. Don't forget to check under the seats, in the glove
compartment, and the trunk.
Forget about those boxes for now. Get ready for work and with a song in
your heart, another box, and garbage bag zip off to work.
When you get to the office take another 10 minutes and proclaim to your
co-workers that you are changing your ways. Go into your office, cubicle,
or workspace and start doing the Toss In Box.
Okay, now reality starts to sit in. You still have a lot of work to do
because you have to go through ALL that STUFF! Don't panic, I'm still with you.
Decide which of your boxes is the most important box to attack first.
Set a date and time that you can start sorting through ALL that STUFF.
What's that I hear, "But I don't have time." You have to FIND the time.
Make an appointment with yourself and keep it, just as you would go to
the doctors or attend a meeting.
Decide on a reward you will give yourself when you finish sorting your box,
such as a new outfit, tickets to the theatre or ballgame, or my favorite, a
chocolate milkshake.
I've developed a technique called TEASER which will give you 11 actions
you can take to help you sort through your boxes of clutter.
What? Teaser only has six letters...you'll see. First yell, "What is ALL
this STUFF!"
Get a garbage can or bag, 10 boxes and label them with the following:
Toss it
~~ It's not yours, you don't know who it belongs to, it's outdated, it can't
be repaired, you don't need it.
End it
~~ You don't want it, you want to cancel it, or you don't read it.
Act on it
~~ Needs an action, such as your signature, phone call, or immediate
attention.
Store it
~~ This will have three boxes: Current Stuff, Things I need to Reference,
and Historical Stuff.
Enter it
~~ Information you need to enter into your planner or computer.
Refer/Recycle/Read it/Repair
~~ It belongs to someone else or you think they need it.
~~ Use it again or put into a recycling bin.
~~ Something you want/need to read.
~~ Something that can be fixed.
Be ruthless, determined, and honest and start sorting ALL your STUFF by
using the TEASER.
Your next step to take is to schedule a date and time (don't forget your
reward) to act on the items that you sorted.
~~ Call, write, or email the items you want to END or stop from coming into
your life.
~~ Decide how and where you will STORE your current, reference, and
historical papers or 'stuff'.
~~ Sit and ENTER all your information.
~~ Pack up and take items that you are REFERRING to someone else,
RECYCLING, or taking to get REPAIRED.
~~ Put READING material in area you like to sit and read and create a
TO GO reading folder to take with you whenever you leave the home or
office.
Congratulations! You have taken the first steps to "overhalling" your home,
office, and car. Keep up the good work.
If you want to know more or need additional help with your home clutter,
please sign up for my March teleclass. See http://www.overhall.com/teleclasses.htm
Remember, YOU control your STUFF! Don't let your STUFF control you or make
you sick.
Next month: We will be finishing up your Health Area with * Puzzled by Your
Insurance Coverage? Let's OverHall the Pieces! *
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
3. 10 Habits of Highly Successful People (Excerpt)
by: Lorraine Pirihi
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Last week while working away in the peaceful seclusion of my office,
I came up with a brainwave... an idea that would motivate people and
enhance their work environment. I've called it 10 Habits of Highly
Successful People.
One of the habits listed is:
Highly successful people exercise regularly and eat healthily (most of the
time).
Get Fit for Living
Now this is an interesting area.
A recent article in my local gym's newsletter quoted Greg Harbor,
National Sales and Marketing Director of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu saying:
* We are experiencing a trend that every top manager and CEO is very
sincere about taking care of their own health. Paying attention to exercise
and nutrition is fast becoming a priority. So they must believe that a
healthy lifestyle works, but that doesn't necessarily translate into fitness
programmes for their employees.
Research being carried out at Harvard Business School on "employee churn"
is showing that employees are more readily taking into account "lifestyle"
decisions in determining their employer of choice.
Loyal customers mean bottom-line profitability. That correlates very
closely with loyal employees and increased staff morale.
It is therefore important for us to provide information on developing a
balanced lifestyle. Coupled with this is providing our employees with access to a
health club *.
Part of organising your life both professionally and personally is allowing
time out for yourself.
You may have to get up an hour earlier each day to go for that walk, ride or
run.
Perhaps you can exercise in your lunch break.
And don't forget the food part.
If you exercise regularly and eat healthily you will naturally have more
energy and be more productive. The same applies to the rest of your team.
If you're already in the habit of exercising and eating 'properly' then
congratulations.
If not, take action and start today and do what highly successful people do.
Lorraine Pirihi
The Office Organiser specialises in:
* Time and Paper Management
* Workshops and Keynote Presentations
* Timesaving Products
* Tel: 61 3 9532 5497 Fax: 61 3 9532 3398
* lorraine@office-organiser.com.au
* http://www.office-organiser.com.au
Member of the National Speakers Association of Australia
"You'll do so much you"ll be surprised when you are organised"
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Office Managers and Business Owners-Just released!
"The little WHO, WHEN, and WHERE Office Manager's Booklet"
http://www.overhall.com/wwwo1.htm
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
4. D-BUST Your Computer-Part 1
(Instructions for Microsoft Users)
by: Janet L. Hall
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
D stands for Delete.
When was the last time you deleted a document or
Email off your computer?
Do you ever go through your folders and files to see
if you really need all those documents or are even
using them?
Schedule a date and time to go through your files and
delete any you are NEVER going to use or refer to again.
If this "OverHall" is going to take many hours that you
might not have time for, then try to schedule to do a
folder a day or week until you have everything deleted
that is old, outdated, and unused.
If you work for someone, first see if they have a document retention policy
in place. If they don't have a policy; suggest that they develop one.
If you own your own business or just use your computer
for personal matters then YOU need to determine how
long a document is kept.
If you are unsure due to legalities or accounting reasons,
please seek the advice of an attorney or accountant
before you start deleting your documents.
I personally recommend that if you haven't used a
document (printed, edited, copied, or sent) in the last
six months that it is probably safe to delete it. Again,
if unsure, ask someone.
If you still don't want to delete but DON"T need it on
your computers hard drive taking up space that you
might really need check the May 2000
issue when I'll write about "T is for Transfer".
To check how much Free Space is on your Hard
Drive
~~ Double Click My Computer
~~ Place Pointer on [C:]
~~ Right Click on [c:]
~~ Click Properties
~~ Click General
Okay, how can you check to see how old a document is?
I will explain the process for those of you that use Microsoft.
To those of you that use other systems please refer to
your manual or look (click) around using similar steps
or wording to see if these steps work for you.
~~ Click Start (Usually located on the left bottom of your screen)
~~ Place Pointer on Programs
~~ Place Pointer on Windows Explorer and Click
You have now entered into your electronic file cabinet.
Here you can "see" every document, file, and program
that is on your computer.
Your screen will show one of two things:
A simple list of all your folders and documents
OR
A detailed list that includes not only the name but the
size, type, and date and time.
If you do not see the detailed
list
~~ Locate the VIEWS button in your toolbar near the
top right of your screen
~~ Locate the little down arrow button next to VIEWS
~~ Click on the little down arrow and a drop down
menu will appear
~~ Click on the Details option
We'll going to be looking at MY Documents Folder...
not really mine but yours:-)
~~ Double Click on My Documents
You will be presented with a list of all the folders you
have created in My Documents and any documents
or files you have saved under My Documents.
Notice the date and time under Modified. Now here is
where the date can fool you. If you backup your folders
and files (You do do backups don't you? I'll be writing
about that in March) or have opened the folder or file
or did something with the document, it WILL NOT have the created date.
To find out the creation date:
~~ Click on the document you want to check on
~~ Click on File in the toolbar, usually located at the
top left of your screen
~~ Locate Properties on the drop down menu
~~ Click on Properties
~~ Click on General or Statistics
~~ Locate the creation date
~~ Click OK
Now decide if you need to delete the document or keep it.
If you want to delete the document press the Delete key
on your keyboard and follow the on screen instructions.
*******************Please Remember********************
OPEN a folder to see all the documents you might have
stored there before deleting a folder!
*****************************************************
You are now on your way to D-Busting Your Computer!
Please check back next month when I will be writing about
B is for Backups!
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Home Managers-(If you make sure the bills get paid, call the
vendors to have repairs done, and keep track of all the important
documents...you are a Home Manager) check out
http://www.overhall.com/wwwh1.htm
"The little WHO, WHEN, and WHERE Booklet"
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
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5. Jokes, Quotes, and Anecdotes
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~ In 1775 a one celled microscopic animal
was discovered and named Chaos. Since then,
it has only been seen 50 other times!
~~ Let your boat of life be light, packed
with only what you need--a homely home and
simple pleasures, one or two friends worth
the name, someone to love and someone to love
you, a cat, a dog, and a pipe or two, enough
to eat and enough to wear, and a little more
than enough to drink, for thirst is a
dangerous thing.
--Jerome Klapka Jerome
~~ The word Clutter is derived from the 14th century
word clotter, which means to coagulate.
~~The word Chaos is derived from the 15th century,
void and the 16th century, utter confusion.
~~Changing brings questions and questions bring change.
--Anonymous
~~ Subscriber, Mary Lee Kolich of DisCom
International, Inc. http://www.discom1.com
submitted the following joke:
This is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but
the truth, so help me God.
One afternoon a man came home from work to find total
mayhem in his house. His three children were outside,
still in their pajamas, playing in the mud with empty
food boxes and wrappers strewn all around the front
yard. The door of his wife's car was open, as was the
front door to the house.
Proceeding into the entry, he found an even bigger
mess. A lamp had been knocked over, and the throw rug
was wadded against one wall.
In the front room the TV was loudly blaring a cartoon
channel, and the family room was strewn with toys and
various items of clothing. In the kitchen, dishes
filled the sink, breakfast food was spilled on the
counter, dog food was spilled on the floor, a broken
glass lay under the table, and a small pile of sand
was spread by the back door.
He quickly headed up the stairs, stepping over
toys and more piles of clothes, looking for his wife.
He was worried she may be ill, or that something
serious had happened. He found her lounging in the
bedroom, still curled in the bed in her pajamas,
reading a novel. She looked up at him, smiled, and
asked how his day went.
He looked at her bewildered and asked, "What happened
here today?"
She again smiled and answered, "You know every day
when you come home from work and ask me what in the
world I did today?"
"Yes" was his incredulous reply.
She answered, "Well, today I didn't do it."
~~If you have a joke, quote, or anecdote that would fit
well into OverHall IT!, please feel free to email it to me.
mailto:janet@overhall.com
SUBJECT=Newsletter Jokes
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
6. Products, Books, and Web Site Reviews
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I actually got through two books this month!
They are both rather small in size but full of valuable
content. Both are easy to read
and you might find that once you start reading them, you won't
want to put them down.
~~* Clear Your Clutter with Feng Shui *
Written by Karen Kingston, Space Clearing Practitioner
In the West feng shui is typically identified as the art of placement.
One usually clears their clutter before entering the world of feng shui.
However, Ms. Kingston combines the art of * space clearing * with
the art of feng shui in this little book which has 166 pages to read divided
into three parts. Part 1 is Understanding Clutter and speaks
to you about Feng Shui, how clutter affects you, and
letting go. Part 2 is Identifying Clutter and addresses
the Feng Shui Bagua, zones in your home, and Feng Shui
Symbology. Part 3 is Clearing Clutter, not only in your
home but in your physical being, mentally, emotional,
and spiritual.
* Clutter is trapped energy that has far-reaching
effects physically, mentally, emotionally, and
spiritually. The simple act of clearing clutter can
transform your life by releasing negative emotions,
generating energy, and allowing you to create space
in your life for the things you want to achieve.*
To read more about Karen and this book:
http://www.spaceclearing.com
To order this book:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0767903595/overhallconsulti
~~* Simplify Your Life: 100 Ways to Slow Down
and Enjoy the Things That Really Matter *
Written by Elaine St. James
This little book contains 238 small pages with
eight chapters. The chapters move you through
your home, life-style, finances, job, health,
personal life, special issues for women, and hard-core
simplicity. I especially liked #21, * Sell the
Damn Boat * and #45, * Check Register System *
To order this book:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0786880007/overhallconsulti
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
That's it for this month! Next month we will
finish the Health Area and continue to D-BUST
Your Computer.
Here's hoping that you (and your computer) get healthy
and STAY healthy.
Smiles, not Piles,
Janet L. Hall
Professional Organizer, Author, and Speaker
http://www.overhall.com
"If your current systems aren't working for you...
get an "OverHall"!"
P.S. Did you know that your pillow could also be contributing
to you waking up with a headache, stuffy nose, or runny eyes?
The average one-year-old pillow contains more than 250,000 dust mites!
To read more about this and what you can do, please check out these sites:
http://www.health-line.com/articles/ac990101.htm
http://www.breatheright.com/pp/pp9.asp
http://www.healthyenvironments.com
Janet L. Hall is the owner of OverHall Consulting.
Janet is based out of Southern Maryland and can be
reached at 410-586-9440, 800-687-3040, or e-mail her
at janet@overhall.com . Janet can "OverHall" your
office, home, and computer clutter. http://www.overhall.com
Copyright (c) 2000 by OverHall Consulting
P.O. Box 263, Port Republic, MD 20676
All Rights Reserved. Permission is granted to
reproduce, copy, or distribute OverHall IT! or any articles
by Janet L. Hall so long as article(s) is kept intact, this
copyright notice, and full information about the author is
attached.
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