Your Concentration Will Improve if You Surf the Web at Work

Yesterday, I was enjoying my most recent issue of Woman's Day Magazine, when I came across a statistic I'm sure many of you will like. I liked it, so much so that I did a bit more research on the subject.

According to a University of Melbourne study, people who surf the Web at work have better concentration and are 9% more productive than those who don't.

Dr Brent Coker, from the Department of Management and Marketing. says, 'People who do surf the Internet for fun at work--within a reasonable limit of less than 20% of their total time in the office--are more productive by about 9% than those who don't. Firms spend millions on software to block their employees from watching videos on YouTube, using social networking sites like Facebook or shopping online under the pretense that it costs millions in lost productivity, however that's not always the case.'

Apparantly, the increased productivity has to do with one's need to occasionally 'zone out' enabeling one's mind to take a rest.

But beware, you're advised to surf the Internet at work in moderation. Too much surfing can actually have the opposite effect. And, be sure it's OK with your boss. If it's not, you're next surf session may be for another job.

Stay Organized with Your Photos After a Trip

We just returned last night from a 10-day trip to visit family and friends. We started off visiting my parents in Plainsboro, NJ. We continued on to see one of my husband's sons and his girlfriend in Midtown, NY. We got to see my two cousins in Ramsey, NJ. We also visited with my sister and her family in North Bergen, NJ.

During our trip we went to the Statue of Liberty, Rockefeller Center and FAO Schwartz in New York. We also went to Wild West City in Netcong, NJ for a few days with my sister's family.

What does all this mean? LOTS of photos!

We had our laptop with us during the trip, so each day we downloaded the photos from our digital camera to our laptop computer. Using Picasa (a free photo editing software from Google), we cropped and made any necessary fixes to our photos. We also deleted any photos that didn't work out.

Today, we'll be uploading photos to the photo storage service we use (Phanfare), so we (and our family and friends) can enjoy all the memories.

Within the next week or so, I'll be scrapbooking some of the highlights from our trip. I don't print every single photo. We enjoy most of them digitally and just print our very best.

It's very easy to fall behind on getting photos organized if they're not handled soon after they're taken. If you currently have a backlog, start organizing from your most recent photos, and work your way back. You can always catch up with older photos later, but keep up as best as you can with your current batches.

Make the most of your memories, by keeping your photos as organized as can be.

A Load a Day Keeps the Laundry Pile Away

I'm never behind on my laundry. Why? So simple--I do a load of laundry each day.

I know that if I skip even one day, that the laundry starts to pile up and gets way out of control.

It doesn't take a ton of "hands-on" time to do laundry. It only takes about 5 minutes to check and treat garments for stains, and to toss in and start a load. I get tons done during the wash cycle. I then toss the clothes in the dryer (and hang the delicates on a dryer rack). Again, tons more done while the dryer is in progress. Once the dryer cycle is done, the clothes are removed immediately.

The most time-consuming part, is folding the clothes after the dryer cycle is done. But even that takes 10 minutes or less.

So, all in all it takes about 15 minutes of hands-on time to do a load of wash. This is something most anyone can do.

Even if you have a larger family and must do two loads of laundry each day, that's still only 30 minutes per day of hands-on time.

If you have a washer and dryer at home, and you're always behind on laundry, follow the one-load-a-day system (or two-load-a-day system if necessary). Don't skip any days. You'll be able to keep up with your laundry, and never fall way behind.

By the way, when we go on vacation, we wash our clothes every few nights at our hotel. This is a huge time and stress saver when we return.

Frank Lloyd Wright and Clutter

A few weeks ago, I finished reading 'Loving Frank' by Nancy Horan. It was about the romance of Frank Lloyd Wright (famous architect) and Mamah Borthwick Cheney. It was a riveting story with a tragic ending. Everyone at my book chat loved the book, and rated it high.

Here's my favorite excerpt from the book:

He (Wright) seemed to feel space and objects with the sensitivity of a bat. She (Mamah) remembered many evenings when he'd sit down to dinner and promptly swept aside his silverware. It was a habit that struck Mamah as crude, almost contemptuous, since she had just set the table only moments before.

'Why do you do that?' she'd asked him once.

'Do what?'

'Push aside your silver that way, as if you're angry.'

'I hate clutter.'

'Silverware is clutter?' she asked.

'Until I'm ready to use it, yes.'

Ok, I'll even admit that's a little over the top as far as being organized goes. But I love it that the subject of organization made it into this book.

The next book on my agenda: In A Sunburned Country by Bill Bryson

Paris Hilton's 'Organized' Closets

I was surfing You Tube the other day and came across a video of Paris Hilton's closets. You can check out the video here:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7SU-dhIOLbQ

I'm sure you'll notice that Paris certainly doesn't follow the 'less is more' philosophy, at all.

However, if you can get past the glitz, glamour and absolute abundance of stuff, you'll see that she can actually find things pretty quickly. She makes good use of containers and sorting-- keeping like things together. Granted, someone else likely organizes for her, but still...it's organized.

Now, keeping in mind the fact that most people down here on earth don't have as much space and stuff as Paris, you can still apply what has been done to Paris's closet, to your own space.

For instance, keep all footwear in one area, rather than scattered throughout your house--bedroom, coat closet, mud room, under your bed, etc. If you do have more than one particular type of shoe (like all your sneakers or all your black pumps), keep them in one room, in one area, on shoe racks.

Jewelry is easily found when displayed on jewelry holders, or compartments of a jewelry box--all bracelets together, all necklaces together, and so on.

Clothing can be organized by season first (winter, spring, summer, fall), and then by type of clothing-- all pants together, all skirts together, etc. Closets look more organized when one type and color of hanger is used throughout.

Paris reveals she gives clothing, shoes, etc. away to charitable organizations. You too, can do the same with items you no longer use and/or love. Weed out and give to others who are less fortunate.

I never thought I'd be promoting Paris Hilton as being organized, but there you have it. When it comes to her closets shown on this video, she (or her helper) is doing a good job!