Spend A Lot of Time Under Your Desk?

How to keep laptop cables readily accessible

This picture from observando is the kind of problem solving and creative thinking I can get behind. A smarter way to work or the solution to your problem is not always a new or expensive piece of technology. Look to the things that are already around you…

The Mystery of Multitasking: Productivity Tips for Busy Entrepreneurs

Today I’m psyched to share a guest video post by my friend and colleague Chris Ducker. I met Chris through Twitter and it was immediately obvious we shared a passion for working virtually and living a flexible lifestyle.

Chris is the CEO of the Live2Sell Group of Companies, a thriving Total Business Outsourcing corporation based in the Philippines where he lives.

Chris has developed systems and ideas to manage his time and make his business life easier and more productive. Watch this short video where he explains why multitasking actually makes you less productive and shares tips for staying focused and growing your business:

Read more

Work Outside Your Office – A shift in perspective

Yesterday was an absolutely beautiful day in sunny Florida so I decided to work from the back patio rather than my home office as I usually do.  It got me to thinking about how this is another example of what Jason and I are always talking about with regards to changing your workstyle – small adjustments that lead to big results.  I recorded this short video to talk about it and encourage you to work from somewhere other than your usual workplace.

Please excuse the shaky camera work – I was holding the Flip camera instead of using a tripod as I wanted to be able to show you some of the surroundings.  I’m still learning how to hold it steady when shooting myself (either that or maybe I should have had a little less coffee!)

So what is your favorite alternative place to work? Post a comment below and let us know!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (10.1MB)

Should I upgrade to Windows 7? A quick primer

This is a questions I am sure many of you are asking yourself – and a lot of people have been asking me.  So with Microsoft’s Windows 7 now a week old here are my thoughts and some links to help you make this decision for yourself.

If you’re running Vista – it’s almost a no brainer.  It’s no surprise to anyone all the issues Vista has.  It has made many people down right disgruntled (me being one of them).  Plain and simple Windows 7 is what Vista should have been.  It takes less resources to run (even runs on portable netbooks), it’s snappier, more stable, works with more hardware, and had some really nice interface improvements that are more fun and can make you more productive.  The great thing if you are upgrading from Vista is that you don’t have to reinstall everything – you can just run the upgrade on your current Vista system and it will keep all your programs and data in place.  Of course that being said – make SURE you backup your system before doing the upgrade just in case something goes wrong.

One thing to note is that while I have read that installing Windows 7 on a freshly formatted system only takes about 20 minutes – doing an upgrade to my existing Vista system took almost 5 hours.  From what I have heard that is not unusual.  However after answering a few initial questions I did not need to interact with or babysit the install.  It chugged merrily away on the laptop in my home office and 5 hours later I was punching in the activation code and playing around with the new interface.

Normally I always like to wipe my system clean before installing a new operating system but I honestly am too busy to take the 2 – 3 days it Read more

Ready.gov’s National Preparedness Month 2009 Business Fact Sheet

It’s not really a ‘put on a funny hat and blow a paper noise maker’ sort of event, but September is National Preparedness Month and I thought in honor of that I would share The Department of Homeland Security’s Ready.gov Business Fact Sheet. The fact sheet is distributed as part of their Ready Business campaign and you can find more details and resources for appropriate disaster planning and business continuity at www.ready.gov.

As our contribution to National Preparedness Month we have made our on-demand teleseminar, Riding the Storm Out, available FREE for the rest of the year.  Visit this page to listen to 4 South Florida experts discuss strategies, tips, and best practices for building a simple but effective business continuity and disaster recovery plan. The whole seminar is only about an hour and is packed full of real-deal advice, and each speaker also provided supporting documents that you can download.

2009 Business Fact Sheet Follows:

U.S. Department of Homeland Security
Washington, DC 20528

Fact Sheet

September 1, 2009

READY BUSINESS

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the Advertising Council launched the Ready Business Campaign in September 2004. This extension of Homeland Security’s successful Ready Campaign, designed to educate and empower Americans to prepare for and respond to emergencies, focuses specifically on business preparedness. Ready Business helps owners and managers of small- and medium-sized businesses prepare their employees, operations and assets in the event of an emergency.

• Ready Business was developed by Homeland Security and launched in partnership with U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Small Business Administration, Society of Human Resource Management, The Business Roundtable, The 9/11 Public Discourse Project, ASIS International, Business Executives for National Security, International Safety Equipment Association, International Security Management Association, National Association of Manufacturers, National Federation of Independent Businesses, and Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
• The goal of Ready Business is to raise the business community’s awareness of the need for emergency planning and motivate businesses to take action. The campaign encourages business owners and managers to: plan to stay in business; talk to their employees; and protect their investment.
• Emergencies, including natural disasters and potential terrorist attacks, can paralyze business operations. Small- and medium-sized businesses in particular are most vulnerable to these events. Having an emergency plan can help protect a company and maximize its potential to survive and recover after an incident.
• According to the U.S. Small Business Administration, small businesses represent more than 99 percent of all employers; provide approximately 75 percent of the net new jobs added to the economy; and represent 97 percent of all U.S. exporters. If these businesses are prepared to survive and recover, the nation and the economy are more secure. Read more

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