Virtual Assistants Ease Your Workload

Top Five Computer Tips to Get More Done in Less Time

smrogers@easmyworkload.com (Sue Rogers) — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 15:00:00 GMT

Do you wish you could be more productive at your computer? There's good news! There are some things you can do that will allow you to get more done in less time.

You may be surprised at how simple these strategies are, how little some of them have to do with your computer, and how much they have to do with organization!

Here are the top five computer strategies to get more done in less time:

1. De-clutter. One of the simplest computer strategies is having a clean workspace. When most of us think of our computer, we think of the actual machine, but did you know that the space around your computer is as important as the computer itself?

When you keep your computing space as tidy as possible, you can get more done because you won't be distracted by stopping to "clear a path" as you work.
De-cluttering also means removing old software and files that are taking up too much space. You'll be surprised how much speedier the machine will feel when you've cleared all the junk off your computer!

2. Run anti-virus software every day. Viruses can slow down your computer or worse. Obviously if your computer is unresponsive, you'll lose precious time during your workday.

Running anti-virus software will help you make sure your computer is running at its very best so you don't lose momentum by waiting for a document to open.
You'll also prevent things like hard drive crashes and data loss. So run anti-virus software on your PC or get a Mac.

3. Organize. A little observed, but very effective, computer strategy is to organize your files and folders in such a way that everything you need is within reach. This way, you can move seamlessly from one task to another without wasting time searching for files.

Put commonly used files in one place, such as your Documents folder. Also, use full filenames so you can easily find what you're looking for.
Use a search tool like Google Desktop on the PC or Spotlight on the Mac to easily find files not within reach.

4. Clean the desktop on your computer. Many people don't give much thought to their desktop and they may have dozens of unused icons and downloads just taking up space. Keep only the files, folders, and programs you need on your desktop.

Delete the icons you don't use regularly so that you can find what you're looking for quicker.

5. Learn the shortcuts. Set a goal to learn something new about the software tools you use the most. There are plenty of options hidden in menus and keyboard shortcuts that can save you time, energy, and sanity.

Print out a list of common shortcuts and keep it beside your computer for easy reference. When you challenge yourself to learn these new tricks, you'll get faster and more productive over time.

These are all very simple computer strategies that will help you be more efficient and productive. When you incorporate even one of these strategies into your daily routine, you'll find that you truly can get more done in less time.

ed2go New Partnership

smrogers@easmyworkload.com (Sue Rogers) — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 17:48:00 GMT

We are very pleased to announce the launch of our new partnership with ed2go.com

With President Obama encouraging all Americans to engage in at least one year of higher education or career training, now is the perfect time to enroll in an online course.

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Click on the link below to see the ed2go.com full catalog of over 300 programs that start at only $89.00.

Full ed2go Catalog

Voicemail Systems and How It Can Benefit Your Marketing Campaign

smrogers@easmyworkload.com (Sue Rogers) — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 17:13:00 GMT

Listen to Sue Rogers, the Ease Your Workload Expert, as she tells you how to use voicemail to your advantage. First in the Series of Voicemail Systems and How It Can Benefit Your Maketing Campaign.

It Takes Too Much Time to Get Productive

smrogers@easmyworkload.com (Sue Rogers) — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 14:57:00 GMT

You can save one to two hours a day using an Integrated Management System. This fact alone more than justifies the upfront investment required to set it up.

Following are a few examples of how people trip themselves up by not taking the time to set up an effective system.

Writing a to-do list, and then rewriting it a week later on another list, and then on another.
Opening an email message, reading the message, closing the message, and then not doing anything with it right then and there only to open and read it again tomorrow.
Finding yourself at the office in need of the proposal you wrote for a meeting, and remembering you left it at home.
Arriving at a meeting to find that you don't have the notes you need.
Walking out of a meeting and remembering a critical point you wanted to raise during the meeting. Too late now!

These are just a few examples of how people waste time by not having an Integrated Management System to help them remember what, where, and when.

Here are some interesting statistics: on average, people spend two to three hours a day working with email and 60 minutes a day finding and filing information. After setting up an Integrated Management System, they spend one to two hours a day working with email and 10 minutes a day finding and filing information. That's a savings of one hour and 50 minutes a day, which is almost 12 weeks a year!

Bottom Line: You can't afford not to create an effective Integrated Management System.

Planning For Your Online Business

smrogers@easmyworkload.com (Sue Rogers) — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 11:58:00 GMT

If you are determined to build a successful online business, here's a plan that works, even if you are brand new to the Web. The key to it is to take a small step in each of several areas all at the same time. As long as each step takes you closer to your goal, then there is no hurry at all. That is, you can work with it as time allows. The trick is to avoid any move in the wrong direction, any step that is counterproductive.

The Fundamental Questions

Begin by asking very specific questions such as...

Who will I sell to?
What will I sell?
How will I sell?
How can a website help get it done?
What are my financial goals for this venture?

These are not easy to answer. Yet completely defining suitable responses is mandatory. Without them, much of what you do will be a waste of time and effort. On the other hand, answer them definitively, and every move you make will lead you closer to your objective.

The last question may be the easiest to answer. For many, it will be, "To build a business working part time that will grow sufficiently for me to give up my day job and work my online business full time."

The first question may be the most difficult to answer. But it is the one that matters most because you are going to spend a lot of time directly or indirectly with your customers. It is hard to be effective with people you do not enjoy being around.

Finding appropriate answers to the above questions requires a good deal of study and thought. As you proceed, focus on all of them collectively. That is, as you think about who you want to sell to, also consider products to be sold and ways of doing so.

To get started, jot down a few thoughts about each as a beginning point. With these notes, search for ideas and information to help you flesh out a full fledged business plan.

This process will take months, not days. Whatever it takes, it's better to know where you are headed before committing the bucks and time needed to build a website.

Put A Dollar Value On Your Time

smrogers@easmyworkload.com (Sue Rogers) — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 12:11:00 GMT

Starting any business means commitments in time you can not expect to recover over the long run. So good cost analysis is difficult initially. Even so, put a dollar value on your time, perhaps as low as $5.00 per hour, to help you make good decisions about how you will use your time. Even at $5.00 per hour, it will be clear that some things should be outsourced.

Building web pages with HTML when you could be generating leads may not be the best use of your time. Reading a book or two about how to work the Web can be very helpful, but sometimes it's more cost effective to buy the information needed.

Working harder is often the only option available. But when possible, work smarter, which often means hiring services such as a virtual assistant. In the end you'll have more fun and rake in greater profits sooner.

Define What Success Means To You

smrogers@easmyworkload.com (Sue Rogers) — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 15:45:00 GMT

Do you have what it takes to open a business on main street and earn a comfortable living? If you lack essential information, are you willing to take the time to hunt it up? If there are things you do not know, are you willing to learn them? If you lack needed skills, are you prepared to develop them?

One who can answer a resounding "Yes," to the above questions, can succeed. Online or offline. Until you can shout this right out loud to your family, friends, neighbors, and even strangers on the street, any effort to build a successful website will break your heart. And waste a ton of your time. And more than a few bucks.

If you want to succeed on the Web, you must first come to grips with what you mean by success. If your definition can be simplified to making a good living with the opportunity to make more, then all is quite doable. And one of the best ways to start is to begin part time and grow your business as you learn.

Whether you have started a business or are still only thinking about doing so, you may find it informative to know how successful site owners define what "success" means to them:

They are not making a million bucks a year; this was not the goal. Rather they are making a living (their definition) and are in an excellent position to increase their income.
The site designs are quite simple; very few fancy graphics are to be found.
Their site is well focused.
Their site is loaded with content.
Some face stern competition; others have carved their niche and conquered it.

As you search sites, you will probably note ways in which each site can be improved. But this is true of any site, large or small. And it's true of yours, and mine. When I am referring clients to different sites to look at different designs, I usually hear, "You gotta be kidding. that's nothing!" If you visit a site and find "nothing," then you probably need to know more about business and the web in order to build a winning site. Re-evaluate your definition of success, learn what is needed, then take another look. A website is successful if it is a success in the owners eyes, and more importantly in the eyes of their customers. What else matters?

Ready To Make Millions?

smrogers@easmyworkload.com (Sue Rogers) — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 16:51:00 GMT

Many people have selective hearing. This is, they hear only what they are listening for. When such people tune in to the notion of getting rich on the Web, they can't seem to hear anything else. They are deaf to the news of dot-com failures in mass. Deaf to the certain doom that lies at the end of any path claimed to be quick or easy. And deaf to any mention of how tough it is to succeed in business anywhere, online or offline.

I have had a few potential clients contact me who have fallen into this trap. I tell them there are only two options for them to take. Continue on their chosen path and fail. Or redefine what success means to them, then begin working to achieve it. When they decide to continue on their chosen path, I thank them for contacting me but I will not take them on as a client. I firmly believe in not misleading the public with information that is worthless and would never be able to sleep at night if I were to play a part in helping someone do this.

It is not easier to become wealthy online than offline. The only advantage to beginning a business online, rather than offline, is in the lower startup costs. The rest of it is learning, work, and then more work, then implementing what you learn.

What are the chances of opening a new business in your home town and becoming a millionaire? Unless you have very special talents and skills, it's unlikely. The chances of doing so on a website are not any better.

Will we be texting a president into office some day?

smrogers@easmyworkload.com (Sue Rogers) — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 12:38:00 GMT

A Samsung Mobile survey has found that many teens and their parents would rather vote by text message using their cellphones in the next election than go to the polls. In fact, of those 18 and older, 61 percent of respondents said they'd be open to voting by text. And of those between the ages of 13 and 17, 80 percent say that if they were allowed to vote in this year's presidential election, they'd prefer to do it by text messaging rather than going to the polls.

So my question for you today is...How would you prefer to vote?

Value Diversity

smrogers@easmyworkload.com (Sue Rogers) — Sun, 04 May 2008 19:17:00 GMT

Valuing diversity means having a basic respect for, and acceptance of, the differences among people. Every time you meet someone new, you have a choice about how to relate. If you value diversity, you will choose to treat people with tolerance and respect, granting them the right to think, feel, and believe without being judged.

Being open-minded in this way will help your relationships thrive. Even though you won't like every person you meet, you can make an effort to show respect while focusing on the person as an individual.

Sometimes the Send button can backfire in Outlook

smrogers@easmyworkload.com (Sue Rogers) — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 18:08:00 GMT

Have you ever sent an email to the wrong person by mistake? Have you ever sent an email and then realized a second too late that you forgot an important point, or could have worded things more carefully, or even misspelled something obvious, like your own name.

Luckily, in Outlook you can set up a safety net for the Send button. It is called “delayed send.” You may find that it saves you a lot of potential embarrassment. Delayed send is a simple idea: When you hit Send, Outlook automatically retains the message in your Outbox folder for a short length of time (for instance, one minute) before sending. Most times you won’t notice the delay. And if you hit Send and then realize you made a mistake, you can go to your Outbox, open up the message, modify it, and then re-send it – and the recipients never see the mistake.

But what about e-mails that need to be sent immediately? With a little more effort you can set up Outlook so that if you tag a message as urgent, it will be sent without the delay. Here’s how you set up delayed send in Outlook 2007:

1. Go to Tools>Rules and Alerts.
2. Click New Rule.
3. Select Check messages after sending and then click Next.
4. Click Next again. When Outlook confirms that you want this rule to apply to every message you send, click Yes.
5. Check the checkbox next to defer delivery by a number of minutes:

7. Click Finish.
8. If your mail server is Microsoft Exchange, Outlook will tell you that this is a client-side rule, which is fine; click OK.
9. Click OK to close the Rules and Alerts window.

The exception to the rule: It’s important to remember that this delayed-send rule will apply to every message you send. There may be times when you don’t want the delay in place. For instance, you may want to send mail immediately. Or, you may want to delay the delivery of a single message for longer than the rule specifies. (The delayed-send rule will override any delay-delivery settings you put on a single message, so it could cause messages to be sent sooner than you want.) If you want to be able to send mails without triggering the rule, you can set up category that exempts mail from the delayed-send rule. Here’s how to do that:

1. Tools>Rules and Alerts.
2. Select the delayed-send rule that you just created and click Change Rule > Edit Rule Settings.
3. Click Next, and click Yes for the “apply to every message” prompt.
4. Click Next again.
5. Under “Are there any exceptions,” check the checkbox next to except if assigned to category category.

7. Click New to create a new category.
8. Name it “Urgent” (or whatever you prefer) and click OK. (Note that some people who receive your messages marked in this manner may see the category attached to your message; it’s best to choose a category name that you don’t mind other people reading.)
9. You should now see the “Urgent” category checked:

10. Click OK. You should now see that the rule will only apply to messages that don’t have the “Urgent” category:

11. Click Finish.

Then you can do the following to mark an individual mail as urgent before sending it:

1. Home tab, click the dialog launcher () for the Options chunk:

2. Click on the Categories button and choose “Urgent.”
3. Click Close.

Hall of Fame

smrogers@easmyworkload.com (Sue Rogers) — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 17:13:00 GMT

Host a free hall of fame or museum on your web site related to your target audience. For example, if your target audience is music buffs, you could create a gallery of old, rare album covers. Another example, if your target audience is baseball card collectors, you could create a online museum of old baseball cards.

The Key To Time Management - Organization

smrogers@easmyworkload.com (Sue Rogers) — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 14:20:00 GMT

If you are better organized you have a better chance of managing your time effectively. When we talk about getting organized people generally get an impression of a spick and span office with not a paper out of place. But my experience has taught me that a neat office does not necessarily mean it's a very organized office.

If you throw away every single piece of paper that comes to your office, certainly your office will be neat but not organized. I believe that organizing is all a matter of having systems in place. Here are a few tips:

In an organized office you should be able to lay your hands on the object you need the moment you need it. If that means that you have a few items sitting on your desk at arms reach then that is where it should stay.
It's also not enough that you know where everything is, somebody else should know it too. If for some reason you are not able to be at the office, somebody else should be able to find what is needed. This is where labels and tags can prove to be vital. Every single file should have a name tag and everything should be filed properly. It is not enough that you name things according to your convenience. The names should be intelligible to others as well. Often we tend to use abbreviations like ARCS, CRBER, WHOSH which might make sense to us but may sound like double dutch to every one else.

Now that's enough about office organization. Let's move on to getting yourself organized. The best way to get organized is to find out the loop holes where we usually end up in a mess and see whether we can get around them.

For every working man or woman, the following are often pitfalls:

Forgetting appointments
Forgetting deadlines
Being unable to meet deadlines
Being late for meetings and appointments
Forgetting Names
Forgetting telephone numbers
Forgetting to take important documents along to meetings and appointments
Misplacing objects

I have used the following tips in my life and they have proved to be quite effective. Maybe you could also try them out and see whether they work for you:

Accept the fact that we cannot rely too much on our memories. The human mind is exposed to a hurricane of information every day. As a result the mind does a very nice filtering process and very little of what we see and hear is retained in our minds. So instead of depending on our very selective memory why not depend on a piece of paper.
Carry a tiny scribbling pad and a pen with you all the time. The moment you set an appointment or are asked to attend a meeting, jot it down on the scribbling pad or better yet use the memo recorder on your cell phone.
Each time you tell somebody to do something or when somebody like your boss asks you to do something write it down or record it.
If you have an electronic pocket organizer be sure to use it. Each time someone gives you his or her telephone number, immediately enter it into your organizer, along with the person's name of course.
Use the backside of business cards to help your memory. Usually we get a lot of business cards as we go about our daily business of life. The business card of course contains the name of the person, his or her telephone number and probably the name of the company for which the person works. But the problem is, the next time we meet the person, the face may seem familiar but we won't have the foggiest idea as to where we met the person. The best thing to do would be to jot down a few points about the person and probably the reason for meeting him or her and the place as well.
As soon as you can put the information from the business cards you collected into a database, excel spreadsheet, or contact program that you use. Toss out the one's you don't think you will need.
Prepare a to-do list everyday. I cannot over-emphasize the importance of to-do lists in getting yourself organized. It is probably the most sensible thing that a busy person should do.
Plan what you have to do well in advance for the future. It is a good idea to have daily, weekly and monthly plans.
Have a fixed timetable. It may seem kind of mechanical but it would be wonderful if you could have a fixed time for everything and try to stick religiously to the time table. Believe me it really helps because in that way you will have time for everything and everything can be done in the time for it.

And so you are now moving towards becoming a more organized person. For more tips on how to manage your time you can download a free report titled "Tips To Create More Time" at http://www.easmyworkload.com

Take A Risk Today!

smrogers@easmyworkload.com (Sue Rogers) — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 13:10:00 GMT

There is such a thing as being too cautious in life! If you never try anything new or never try to do anything that seems just the slightest bit risky, you will never change your life. Toss your hesitations out of the window today and start working on that new idea or project you've been putting off and grow your business to the next level.

Displaying Leading Zeros in Excel Number Formats

smrogers@easmyworkload.com (Sue Rogers) — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 21:36:00 GMT

Here is a question often asked by club membership committees trying to keep track of membership numbers:

I have a column of Membership Numbers (6 and 7 digits long) that were
sent to me in Excel which must all be 8 digits long for uploading to
a Membership program on a website.

Could someone please tell me if there is a formula that can be
applied to the column telling it to add one "0" in front of the 7
digit numbers and two "00" in front of the 6 digit numbers?

I have tried changing the Format/Number selection but nothing seems
to work.

Here's my answer:

To display leading zeros, create a custom number format that uses the 0 character. For example, if you want all the numbers to be displayed with 8 digits, use the following number format string; values with fewer than ten digits are displayed with leading zeros: 00000000

Follow these steps:

Highlight your column
Right click within the column
Select Format Cell
Click on the Number Tab
Select Custom
Under Type: enter 00000000 (or whatever the number of digits you need in your string)
Hit Ok

Now all the membership numbers that are less than 8 digits will display with additional zeros in front of them.

Start The Year With Delegating Your Workflow To Your Virtual Assistant

smrogers@easmyworkload.com (Sue Rogers) — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 15:55:00 GMT

As you plan for the new year and start going over all the projects you need to complete you should also be outlining the work that you could be delegating to your virtual assistant. Follow the steps outlined below to help make the process more streamlined.

Prepare a summary of your business processes throughout the year. Include short and long term goals, special projects, events, and major deadlines that are vital to your business success. Providing the VA with this insight will set their expectations and allow them to assess the key information about your business to help you meet your milestones.
Make a list of the tasks you dislike, are less skilled at performing and find time consuming. Estimate how much time these tasks actually take up in a month. Delegating these tasks will be fun and getting your time back will be productive.
Create custom categories for your tasks. Think in terms of priority, urgency, productivity, and wish list. This process will allow you to take stock of what needs to be done and when, group the related tasks, and prioritize the workflow.

Other key points to consider when delegating your workflow include understanding skill sets, having confidence in others abilities, setting manageable time frames, allowing room for learning curves and accepting mistakes.

Remember your partnership will be based on achieving the common goal of "assisting you with your business endeavors". Initially, your VA will be focused on learning the in's and out's of your business and working style while your focus will be on building a rapport and getting to know more about your VA.

Jump to it! Use the Document Map in Word 2008

smrogers@easmyworkload.com (Sue Rogers) — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 17:52:00 GMT

If you need to find a particular section in one of your Word 2008 documents you can use this very useful navigation tool.

Open your document.
On the main ribbon select View.
Select Document Map.

On the left, you'll see a list of your main and sub-headings. Just click on one to instantly jump to that location in your document.

Proofing Your Excel 2007 Data With Audio

smrogers@easmyworkload.com (Sue Rogers) — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 23:46:00 GMT

Being a solo-professional I never have anyone around to read back information that I enter into my Excel spreadsheets to help me double check for accuracy. That's why I love the feature Microsoft introduced back in 2002 for Excel called text-to-speech and this is one of my favorite tips that I share with everyone I know that uses Excel. But when I upgraded to Excel 2007 I couldn't find this feature. I searched and searched the ribbons and couldn't seem to locate it. Then one day I just happened to click on the Quick Access Toolbar (QAT) and after a few more clicks I found it.

If you're like me and need to have your Excel data double-checked for accuracy follow these steps to get the help you need:

Click on the Quick Access Toolbar.
Choose More Commands.
From the drop down menu under Choose Commands From box scroll down and click Commands Not in the Ribbon.
Scroll down the list of commands until you see five commands that begin with the word Speak. Select each one, and then click Add.
Click OK to close the Excel Options box.

After you perform these steps, the Quick Access Toolbar displays five new icons.

To read a range of cells, select the range first and then click the Speak Cells button. You can also select either having them read By Rows or By Columns. To read the data as it's entered, click the Speak Cells On Enter button before you enter your data.

You can change the voice if you like, along with adjusting the speed the information is read back. To accomplish this follow the following steps:

Open the Windows Control Panel.
Click on the Speech properties dialog box.
Select the Text to Speech Tab.
Choose your voice selection and then adjust your speed.
Click OK to close the Speech properties dialog box.
Close the Windows Control Panel.

That's it--you now have a helper to make sure your data entries are correct in Excel 2007.

Positive Changes for the New Year

smrogers@easmyworkload.com (Sue Rogers) — Sat, 29 Dec 2007 11:24:00 GMT

What can you do to change your physical environment in 2008 to increase productivity, profitability, or your overall sense of well-being? The Chinese believe that the placement, shape, and color of structures and objects can have a powerful impact on your life, your energy, and the chi--or the positive energy--around you. In response to this belief, they developed Feng Shui, the Chinese Art of Placement.

Here are a few Feng Shui tips for you to implement for positive change in your workspace:

Reposition your desk so that you are facing in the direction of the entrance into the room. If you can't move the furniture in that way but you are working at your computer with your back to the doorway, hang a mirror on the wall in front of you or attach it to your computer so you can see behind you. The idea is to keep you from being surprised.

If you do not have windows for a veiw of the outdoors, hang photographs of nature scenes on the wall. Or put a potted plant next to your computer. Create something pleasing to the eye and soul.

If a tall piece of furniture is visible in the room where you are working, move it out of your line of sight. Otherwise, you may feel a reduced sense of well-being and adequacy.

Sharp angles can be unlucky in an office. Strategically place plants at corners of furniture or in corners where walls meet to soften the edges.

Understanding that your environment can have a major effect on not only your comfort but also your attitude and health is a starting point for creating change around you. Changing small things to improve your surroundings can bring about immediate and positive results.

Happy New Year to everyone and my wish for the coming year is that we ALL have a very productive and profitable year!

To help you find books on Feng Shui visit Bookbyte.com.

Year-End Tax Savings for Small Business Owners To Highlight SBA's December Live Web Chat

smrogers@easmyworkload.com (Sue Rogers) — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 13:45:00 GMT

Thomas P. Ochsenschlager, Vice President of Taxation for the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), will host the SBA's December web chat on "Year-End Tax Savings for Your Small Business." Chat participants will receive answers to questions about the importance of year-end tax preparation and planning for small business owners, as well as receive tax tips.

The SBA's live web chat series provides business owners the opportunity to have discussions online about relevant business issues with experts, industry leaders and successful entrepreneurs. Participants have direct, real-time access to the Web Chats via questions they submit online in advance and during the session, with insant online answers.

WHEN: Thursday, December 20, 2007, from 1:00p.m. to 2:00p.m. (Eastern Time). Ochsenschlager will answer questions for one hour.

Participants can join the live Web chat by going online to www.sba.gov and clicking "Online Business Chat."

Web chat participants may post questions for Ochsenschlager before the December 20th chat by visiting http://app1.sba.gov/liveMeeting/dec07/ and posting their questions online.

To review archives of past Web chats, visit online at http://www.sba.gov/tools/monthlywebchat/index.html