OverHall IT!
Vol. 3 Issue 2
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OverHall IT!
Organizing Newsletter for Your Life
Circulation 3,500
Vol. 3, Issue 2
Publisher: Janet L. Hall janet@overhall.com
http://www.overhall.com
( C ) OverHall Consulting 2002
Administration information located at end of newsletter.
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IN THIS ISSUE
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1. Welcome and Happenings
2. OverHalling your Office and Home
3. Space Clearing Tip
4. Ask the OverHaller
5. Computer Clutter
6. Feng Shui Tip
7. Products, Books, and Web Site Reviews
8. Jokes, Quotes, and Anecdotes
9. Tips for Professional Organizers
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1. Welcome and Happenings
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Good day to you all and thank you for being a part of the
OverHall IT! community.
The second Monday of this month many of us celebrated
National Clean-Off Your Desk Day, and so we have
dedicated this issue to cleaning off your desk. Even through
the day has passed, it's NEVER too late!
Last issue I forgot to put the grand total of funds collected for
the NY Firefighters Fund. Although we didn't meet our
donation goal of $1,000 we have tallied up the totals and
they are being sent a check for $193.41. To all that
participated, a BIG thanks for your contribution by
purchasing our products. Your names were included as a
donator along with the check.
If you live in Maryland, pick up the latest FREE issue (Jan.
2002) of Chesapeake Family Newsmagazine in which I was
interviewed for "Organize the Perfect Playroom."
We've added two NEW tips columns:
Space Clearing and Purification is a process in which you
can cleanse and emphasize the surrounding energies in
your home or office, with the understanding and belief that:
EVERYTHING around you is composed of constant
changing energy; that you are not separate from the world;
that everything has consciousness.
Feng Shui has become very poplar and there are many
forms and beliefs of what Feng Shui actually is. Feng Shui
has been described as the Chinese Art of Placement and
also the underlying principle to live in harmony with your
environment so the energy (Chi) surrounding you works for
you. In March I will have the honor of attending the Feng
Shui Institute of America, located in beautiful Delray Beach,
FL, where I will be studying with Nancilee Wydra to become
a certified Feng Shui consultant. Wish me luck!
While in FL I will have some dates open for one-on-one
organizing, consultations, and workshops. If you or your
organization would like to book me for an event, please call
or email me.
Thanks for your support and for being a subscriber,
Janet L. Hall, The Organizing Wizard
***** Do Your Employees Need Organized? *****
Call the Organizing Wizard and let her cast her "spells" on
their clutter! Janet delivers a one-of-a-kind, customized
workshop or speech. Call 800/687-3040 and book her
today!
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2. Ten Tips for Cleaning Off Your Desk and Keeping it
Clean!
By: Janet L. Hall
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On July 15, 1993 Walter S. Mossberg, the author and
creator of the weekly "Personal Technology" column in The
Wall Street Journal, was quoted as saying: "The promise of
the ‘paperless office,’ [and home] where documents are
entirely created, distributed, read and stored on computers,
has been about as reliable as the promise of a check in the
mail."
Now, almost a decade later, that statement is as true as
it was then and possibly even worse! Many still have the
mind set that everything that is on their computer must also
be printed out, never of course to be seen again! You WILL
have paperwork, in some form or another, until you die. It’s
a fact, a part of life that will not go away. The truth is you will
continue to have piles and junk cluttering your desk unless
you take control of the situation and learn how to handle
everything that lands on your desk.
Take a second and look at your desk, your countertop,
dining room table, or what ever you call your desk or
workspace. How much of your desktop can you actually see
and use? Do you even know what’s in those piles? Does
it look like something might be starting to "grow" from all the
yesteryears of lunches, snacks, and dinners you’ve had
there? Do you have so many gadgets and doodads,
personal items and pictures scattered about on your desk?
When was the last time you saw the whole top of your desk
and it saw a can of polish?
Here are just three interesting statistics from two polls
from Coopers & Lybrand and USA Weekend:
>>The average desk worker has 36 hours worth of work on
their desk and wastes up to 3 hours a week just "looking" for
STUFF!
>>7.5% of all documents get lost and 3% get misfiled.
>>Professionals spend 5 to 15% of their time reading
information, but up to 50% looking for it!
Think about your desk for a minute and how your days play
out:
>>Estimate how many hours of work you have piled on your
desk?
>>Estimate how much time you waste each week looking for
stuff on your desk?
>>How many documents did you lose or misfile last year?
>>Are you scheduling regular time to read?
>>What do you do with the article, magazine, or memo you
have read?
>>After reading, if you keep, can you find it if needed?
Ten Tips to Clean Off Your Desk
1. SCHEDULE a date and time with yourself. Write it on
your calendar and keep this appointment, just as you would
an important meeting with a client or a doctor.
2. TOOLS:
>>Set a timer for the length of time you have decided to
work on this project.
>>Make signs or mark boxes with the following: Current
Paperwork, Reference Paperwork, Historical Paperwork,
Refer to someone else or take home, Supplies, Reading,
and Data Entry (those business cards or scraps of paper that
you need to put into your database, address book, or
calendar).
>>Box of garbage bags.
>> Pad of Paper and Pen (to write down anything you think
of doing or to make a to-do list for later.
3. CLEAR and EMPTY:
Take everything off your desk and out of your desk drawers.
4. SORT everything into new piles that you made signs for or
the boxes you marked from number 2 above.
5. File or Toss: Click up a FREE copy of our "5 W's of File or
Toss" at mailto:fileortoss@sendfree.com
6. Read or Toss: Click up a FREE copy of our "5 W's of
Read or Toss" at mailto:readortoss@sendfree.com
7. Polish your desk and get the dirt and grim out of your desk
drawers.
8. After sorting ONLY put back on your desk what you use
Daily, such as:
Pen, Pencil, Phone, Phone Pad, Desk Workbook, Tickler
File, Computer, Calendar, and Lamp.
9. Do NOT put back on your desk items that are seldom
used and NOT used daily, such as:
Gadgets/Toys, Glue, Scissors, Hole Puncher, Pencil
Sharpener, Ruler, and In/Out Box (your Tickler File will
replace this).
10. Drawers: Before you start putting things back into your
desk drawers, think of how you would like to utilize them,
and consider which hand is habit for you to open a drawer.
The hand that is "habit" should be the same side of your
desk drawers that you store frequently used items, such as:
Supplies, Stationary, and Current Files.
Ten Tips for Maintaining a Clean Desk
1. When you stop working on a project put it away.
2. Put date or calendar related papers/files into your tickler
file as soon as they land on your desk.
3. Sort through mail and toss out all junk mail as soon as it
arrives.
4. Schedule regular reading time and put "to read" material
in a reading folder.
5. Do NOT use scraps of paper or sticky pads. Use your
Desk Workbook to record all your notes, ideas, phone
numbers, web site and email addresses, errands, and to-
do’s.
6. Schedule regular desk maintenance.
7. Schedule filing time and store your to-file in the
corresponding date of your tickler file.
8. Make a frequently called numbers sheet and store under
your mouse pad or inside a drawer.
9. Create a Pending Folder to store papers or files in that
you are "waiting" for more information, someone else to get
back to you on, or something you have ordered.
10. Dust, polish, and wipe down your desk weekly.
***** Have You Gotten Your * Tickle * For The Day? *****
Check out the secret organizing tool that ALL organized
families and successful people use on a daily basis at
http://www.overhall.com/tickler_file.htm
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3. Space Clearing Tip
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In her book, "Sacred Space: Clearing and Enhancing the
Energy of Your Home," Denise Linn has this to say about
drawers:
"If your life feels full of confusion, the simple task of
cleaning out your dresser drawers and making them
spectacularly neat will spill over into the rest of your life. The
sense of control and order that you gain from organizing
your drawers can give you a sense of power and order in
your life, and you may suddenly be able to solve problems
which you felt completely befuddled about previously." Why
not give this a try today and please let me know your results
or feelings.
To order this book, Click
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/034539769X/overhallconsulti
***** Get Organized Using Our Audiotapes! *****
We offer several audiotapes to help you organize your
office, your home, your children, and your LIFE! Check
them out at http://www.overhall.com/tapes.htm
Sale ENDS
this month!
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4. Ask the OverHaller
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Dear OverHaller,
I have a plain computer desk that has no drawers or file
drawer, therefore I have no place to put or store the many
things I need at my fingertips. Any suggestions?
--Mary Ann M.
Dear Mary Ann,
There are several things you can purchase to help you with
this dilemma. BUT I caution you: before you buy, evaluate
what is REALLY needed at your fingertips. You can find
trays that your computer monitor sits on that can house
items from stationary to pens and pencils. You can also find
portable rolling drawers and file cabinets, from plastic to
wood, that can slide under your desk (measure first before
buying) or beside your desk
*****Have YOUR Important Information at your fingertips*****
Our little Red WHO, WHEN, and WHERE Home
Management Booklet is now available as a download. You
can get it RIGHT NOW on your computer by clicking
http://www.overhall.com/wwwh1.htm
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5. Computer Clutter
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Disk clutter can be compared to your file drawer clutter.
After all, isn't your disk/hard drive your electronic file
cabinet? This is a great time to delete and/or rearrange your
disk files, and you should actually schedule time for this
each week or month.
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6. Feng Shui Tip
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Feng Shui Practitioner, Rev. Rosemary Bredson, gave me
this Feng Shui remedy to ensure your desk will always be
clean. "Measure the perimeter of your desk. Cut a gold cord
the same length and place the gold cord around the
perimeter of your desk top, making sure there is no opening
or slack in the cord." I have personally never tried this but at
a local organization in which I had invited Rosemary to
speak we used the idea as a fundraiser and had a lot of fun
with it!
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7. Products, Books, and Web Site Reviews
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Jeffrey J. Mayer, president of Succeeding In Business, and
author of many books, has an E-Book, "Winning the Fight
Between You and Your Desk," that I highly recommend.
This inexpensive ebook is filled with humor; Are you a
Pilamaniac? to step-by-step instructions on Creating Master
Lists, Master Files, and Your Master File Drawer. I urge you
all to download this inexpensive but very informative ebook
at:
http://www.1shoppingcart.com/app/aftrack.asp?afid=25003
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8. Jokes, Quotes, and Anecdotes
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>>A molehill man is a pseudo-busy executive who
comes to work at 9 AM and finds a molehill on his
desk. He has until 5 PM to make this molehill into a
mountain. An accomplished molehill man will often
have his mountain finished before lunch.
--Fred Allen, US comedian, vaudeville juggler
>>Happiness is a very small desk and a very big
wastebasket.
--Robert Orben, US editor, writer
>>If you don't know what to do with many of the
papers piled on your desk, stick a dozen colleagues'
initials on 'em, and pass them along. When in doubt,
route.
--Malcolm Forbes, US publisher, editor
>>A desk is a dangerous place from which to watch
the world.
--John LeCarre, English novelist
>>Don't let adverse facts stand in the way of a good
decision.
Colin Powell
>>Eighteen holes of golf will teach you more about
your foe than eighteen years of dealing with him
across a desk.
--Grantland Rice, US sports columnist, author
>>If your company has a clean-desk policy, the
company is nuts and you're nuts to stay there.
--Tom Peters, US consultant, author
>>If your desk isn't cluttered, you probably aren't
doing your job.
--Harold S. Geneen, US businessman
>>Sometimes I want to clean up my desk and go out
and say, respect me, I'm a respectable grown-up, and
other times I just want to jump into a paper bag and
shake and bake myself to death.
--Wendy Wasserstein, US playwright
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9. Tips for Professional Organizers
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Press Releases: How often do you send out press releases
about yourself and your business? Almost every month
something is going on that you can relate to organizing or
time management and you should be sending out a press
release each and every time. Visit our organizing event
page
(http://www.overhall.com/yearly_organizing_events.htm
) to
pick up your FREE copy of such related events. Sometime
this month, write these events into your calendar. Then
mark a date a couple of weeks before the event to start
sending out press releases to print, radio, and television
media. For print, other then newspapers, such as
magazines, you will have to send out your press releases
several months in advance.
***** Learn How to Get FREE Publicity *****
My friend and associates Tom Antion and Joan Stewart have
put together a GREAT publicity ebook, "How to Be a Kick
Butt Publicity Hound." Learn how to get all the free publicity
you can handle with this Giant new reference training
manual. Tom and Joan reveal all their tricks and techniques
to get millions of dollars worth of free publicity. 29 Chapters
PACKED with how to's and such things as "How to Define
Your Publicity Goals, What the Media Want, Identify Story
Ideas, and much much more. Anyone that needs publicity
needs to invest in this ebook! To learn more about this or to
order, Click:
http://www.antion.com/t.cgi/123221/publicityhound.htm
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We want your Organizing, Space Clearing, Feng Shui, and
Computer tips, techniques, products to review, and
jokes in 2002, mailto:janet@overhall.com
or send to address
below.
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Smiles, not Piles,
Janet L. Hall
The Organizing Wizard
http://www.overhall.com
"If your current systems aren't working for you... get an
"OverHall"!"
Janet L. Hall is the owner of OverHall Consulting, and
Organizing By Phone, which is based out of Southern
Maryland and can be reached at 800-687-3040 or
410-586-9440, or e-mail her at
mailto:janet@overhall.com
Janet can "OverHall" your office, home, and computer
clutter and can deliver a customized speech or seminar
for your next event.
Copyright (c) 2002 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.
ISSN # 1533-0702.
OverHall Consulting is proud to send you the bi-monthly
organizing newsletter that you have subscribed to OR
that someone has forwarded to you. If you are receiving
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http://www.overhall.com/newsletter.htm
Here in OverHall IT! it is my hope to help you stop
juggling areas in your life around and help you "OverHall"
the areas that might have become cluttered, ignored, or
put on the back burner. I want to help you bring back into
focus the things that are important to you. I want the
chaos to stop for you and help bring you some structure
and hopefully some useful advice and systems so you
can accomplish the most important task...running your
life!
Please recommend this newsletter to anyone you know
that is interested in getting control of his or her life. They
can sign up at http://www.overhall.com/newsletter.htm
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