I have a printer.  I like said printer.  It works well, it’s wireless and it does it’s job.  But there was on frustrating thing I hated about this printer.  I could NOT load the paper tray.  This has been a problem since I got the printer several months ago.   I dreaded the “printer is out of paper” alert message.  I knew the bell alarm, and cringed when I heard it.

Why could I not load the paper tray?  I had no idea, but it felt like I had to almost break the thing to get it to load.  I was frustrated.  A lot.

Then one day….

… I got fed up.  I took that paper tray out, took a look inside and made a very humbling realization:  the power cord was in the way.  That’s why the paper tray wouldn’t load.  *sigh*

by striatic on flickr.com

Take a minute to look inside.

Can you relate?  Here I was, frustrated, annoyed, avoiding the problem and (quietly, yet shamefully) blaming others when the problem was mine.  All it took was me looking inside that darned printer to see what was really going on.

If there is something in your office you hate doing, why is that?  Is there something going on that you don’t know about?  Do you need to open up the situation and look inside?  Challenge beliefs that are no longer relevant?

What’s in your way?

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photo by striatic on flickr.com

I love roadmaps.

I like having my weeks mapped out so I know what I’m doing each day.  It helps me stay on task and minimizes the chance that I’ll forget something.  That’s why I love templates.  They make my schedule and tasks brain dead simple.   It helps me stay on task and work each day with a purpose.

Templates are basic plans which can be used over and over again.  They can be set up once and then used and revamped as needed.

How I use templates. Here are some working examples…

• Recurring tasks: I map out the year with my enewsletter publishing days, tax preparation, marketing review periods and administration tasks.  You know they will get done, as you’ve written them down on a calendar and gotten them out of their head.  This is particularly helpful with those tasks which are not exactly favorites.
• Projects:  An example of this is my current podcast, The O Myth (and upcoming NEW podcast on my current site!).  We have a template for our show, with small changes for content and guests.  We use the template over and over again, and the show outline is ready to go in about 15-30 minutes.  With two of us hosting the show, this helps us focus and get the work done quickly so we can get on with the fun stuff.  Like producing the actual show!
• The daily grind: Have you ever come to the end of the day and thought, “Doh!  I forgot to do that again!”  With a daily list of things I need to do on a clipboard on my desk, I make sure the important things get done.

How could you use templates in your work day?

Maintaining Laser Focus in Your Business

Improve Your Workspace: The Spark An Idea Weekly Roundup

15 Project Management Systems for SOHOs

When is a Good Time to Upgrade

Business Lesson Learned from Camping

Sparkplugging is starting a new tradition called ‘Spark an Idea Thursday’. Each week we’ll be sharing some great ideas for a topic of interest to our readers. We invite you to grab our image and carry the tradition through to your own blog! If you do, please link back to this post so we know where you were inspired!

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This upcoming weekend is a holiday weekend in the United States.  Many people will take time off, and yet somehow the business of running their business will be in the back of their mind.  How does one relax and enjoy an upcoming holiday?  I’m a firm believer in taking time off, but you’ve got to have a few tricks up your sleeve.  Here’s a few ideas:

Plan for it.

Have you heard that saying, “Plan your work and work your plan”?  I love it!  When it comes to taking time off on a holiday or vacation, you’ve got to plan ahead.

Set up an email auto-responder.
You know you’re going to get email, right?  So why not let people know you won’t be around to answer them for a while?  Set up an auto-responder to let people know when you’ll be gone and when you’ll be back.   If you have a backup & clientele that may need help while you are out, be sure to include contact information for your backup person.

Simplify & make some decisions.
Are there things that can wait until you get back?  What things must be done before you go?  Simplify and make your life easier, but making some realistic decisions about what can and can’t be done before you leave.  You may even find that some things really don’t need to be done at all!

Delegate or automate.
If you’re the type of person that will be thinking about work regardless, it might be time to delegate.  Have a virtual assistant?  Ask them to handle some things for you.  The other thing you can do to make your life easier is to automate.  Set up an email address specifically for the public to contact, and set up an auto-responder answering some FAQs. Tim Ferriss has some great ideas about this in his book.

Ditch the guilt.
Everybody needs some time off.  Don’t beat yourself up because you are enjoying family, sunshine or just some time by a nice body of water.   Take care of business before you leave so you can check out for a while.  You’ll come back refreshed and ready to hit the ground running again.

How do you prepare to go on vacation so you can enjoy yourself?

Sparkplugging is starting a new tradition called ‘Spark an Idea Thursday’. Each week we’ll be sharing some great ideas for a topic of interest to our readers. We invite you to grab our image and carry the tradition through to your own blog! If you do, please link back to this post so we know where you were inspired!

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You’ve got it.  We’ve all go it.  It’s email, and despite what some people think, it’s not going anywhere anytime soon.   So, what can you do about it?  Handle it, that’s what.

Filter to your heart’s content.

It’s not a crime to get rid of the email you don’t read.  If there is a enewsletter you don’t particularly read, then unsubscribe.  Keep the good stuff (like my enewsletter, right?) and ditch the others.  Don’t feel one way or another about it.  You’ve only got so many hours in the day, so use them wisely on things that matter.

Delete after you reply.

You don’t need every email you’ve ever responded to.  Chances are, when they respond back to you, you’ll get a copy of the old email.  Again, be selective and only keep what you need to.  Brutally filter the rest.

Get it under control before it gets completely out of hand.

If your inbox is causing you to dread looking in it, take some time out to deal with it.  Avoiding it is not the answer.  Automated auto-responders are another way to cut down on the email.  If you have a contact page, add some verbiage on it that says you may or may not be able to respond, but thank them for contacting you.

What’s your idea for dealing with email?

Sparkplugging is starting a new tradition called ‘Spark an Idea Thursday’.  Each week we’ll be sharing some great ideas for a topic of interest to our readers.  We invite you to grab our image and carry the tradition through to your own blog!  If you do, please link back to this post so we know where you were inspired!

You know when it’s time.  You’ve got a bunch of things all open ended, and it’s about to drive you right out of your tree.  But, how do you finish all those little things you started, when it seems to take most of your effort to finish the job?  How about a “Catch Up Day”?

Catch Up Day is simple, with very little commitment.

This is not a day for long drawn out projects.  It’s a day to finish small details and close some things up.  An afternoon or an entire day is great if you can swing it.  First, make a list of the little things that are bothering you.  Then, decide how long each one of them will take.  Next, priortize them and decide how many of them you can fit into your Catch Up Day.

Focus, focus, focus.

It may also be helpful to shut the ringers and other distractions off for a while.  It will help you focus and get things done more quickly.   If your chosen task is taking too long, consider reassigning it to another day in the coming week.  Catch Up Day is about blasting through a list of small things just hanging on the edge of being done, and feeling a sense of accomplishment at the end. Finishing little details will put your mind at ease and help you stay on task in the overall big picture.   When you feel things starting to pile up, consider a Catch Up Day.

What could you do for your Catch Up Day?

TweetGrid
Setup a grid of automatically updated Twitter keyword search results. This isn’t used as a current contact management tool, but more for monitoring specific keywords or hashtags. I personally use this frequently when attending conferences.

TwitterSnooze
TwitterSnooze allows you to push the snooze button on specific people for a preset period of time. Know someone who will be live-tweeting a conference and you really don’t care? Snooze them and you won’t see their updates. A great tool for filtering out the incredible amounts of Twitter noise.

Friend or Follow
Check to see if people you are following are following you in return. Also use this tool to check to see which people are following you that you aren’t following. Included are a variety of sorting tools to better narrow down your lists to ensure you are following the people you want to be and aren’t suffering from any type of auto-follow mistake you may have made.

Mr. Tweet
Find new and interesting people to follow using Mr. Tweet. Recommend people you follow and receive automatic matches based on a variety of factors.

TweetDeck
The current leader for desktop applications to integrate with Twitter and Facebook. Upload images, shorten URL’s and conducting searches are some of the basic functions. Create groups so you can categorize the people you follow as well as using the additional filtering tools to find when those people talked about certain topics.

Seesmic Desktop
Seesmic Desktop is the upgrade to Twhirl. It is still in a beta (just subscribe to the email list to get the download info) and has many of the functions of TweetDeck including groups and searching to filter the noise. The only advantage I have found of Seesmic Desktop is the ability to manage multiple Twitter accounts from within the one application.

Tweepler
Similar to FriendorFollow, but with the ability to make batch edits of your follower/following lists. Greater ability to search and sort as well to determine who should stay on your list.

MyCleenr
Find out who you are following and sort them based on the last time they updated. This is definitely more of a simple clean up tool than something that will dramatically help you filter the noise. I typically take a moment to see if something catastrophic happened in the persons life before unfollowing just because they haven’t updated in a while.

Tweepular
This is easily the “prettiest” of all of the contact management tools for Twitter. Sort by mutual following, followers only, following only and soon recent unfollowers. Batch follow/unfollow people, search by keywords and sort the individual categories by several different criteria.

If I were to narrow it down, I would strongly suggest Tweepular for fast and easy list management, TweetDeck for desktop interaction and sorting/filtering and TweetGrid for monitoring specific keywords quickly and easily.

As always, exercise extreme prejudice when sharing your username/password with these sites/services and if you feel you may have a security breach, change your password directly at Twitter.com.

Productivity for producitivity’s sake is not productive.

It may well be true that many of us are obsessed with how to do things faster, better, smarter and more effectively.  Maybe you’ve heard some of these things:

“Oh yeah, I cleaned out my inbox in 15 minutes.  I rock. ”

“Have you tried this new xyz software?  It’s totally helped me get more stuff done.”

“I love my new ABC system.  I spent the whole week getting it all in order, and my office looks amazing.”

Ok, that’s all well and good, but what was actually accomplished?   Now, confession: I love finding new tricks and ways to get things done.  However, I’m an Organizer by trade – I help home office professionals find their stuff and get what matters done.   I’ve been known to try out new software, tools, books and other systems.  (It’s kinda like a test drive I do for my clients so I can give them a good assessment of what will work well for them.)  The problem comes when using these things gets one nowhere.

Keep your eye on the ball.

Sure, it’s fun to get a new tool, but tools need to be useful – they are a means to an end.  Organization and productivity are tools for living and business.  Projects, goals and objectives are key, otherwise those tools are just toys and we’re just playing around.  Make sense?

So, let’s all take a deep breath and start thinking of productivity as a tool to be tweaked here and there once in a while.  Then, get on with the work at hand.  Afterall, isn’t that what it’s really all about?

Are you getting things done that really matter, or have you been playing too long in the “Productivity Toybox”?

A while back, I started using Google Grand Central for my business line.  To say that I love it is an understatement!  Then, this morning I read that they were upgrading the service, and it will be called “Google Voice”.  That’s the good news.  The bad news?  Yeah, if you don’t already have a number, you’re kinda out of luck.

Get your name in the hat.

Don’t have a Google Voice Number?  That’s ok, because you can get one… eventually.  Here’s where you can do that.

Here’s why you want a number.

I’ve been using this product for about two years-ish.  There are many reasons I like it.  A few of my favorite things:

Multiple ring locations. I can tell my Google Voice number to ring me wherever I am.  I can also choose different numbers to ring through to different places.  So, say you have a very important contact that you want to be able to reach you at all hours.  You give that number an all-access pass to all numbers listed in your account.  This also works great for emergency situations, if you give your number to your child’s school or caregiver.  There’s infinite possibilities!

One number. My Google Voice number is my main business line, with lots of flexibility.  I have one number I can give out, and it’s not tied to a physical location.  I’ve also been able to check voicemail when I am traveling overseas.
(One word of caution:  there have been a couple times the system has gone down, so make sure you list an alternate number on your business card and/or marketing materials.)

Call recording. I have a colleague I mastermind with on a regular basis.  We use Google Voice to record particularly important sections of our conversations, so we can remember them later.
(Another word of caution: DO NOT record any call without the other person’s permission.  It’s inconsiderate at best, and illegal at worst.)

Alright, so I’ve droned on enough.  Sold yet?  Go check it out!

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Extra!  Extra! (WHY Magazine)
Tips from the newspaper biz on tackling your daily to-do list

“Knock Knock… Who’s There?”
Megan at Disorder2Order Blog talks about this cool product.  I’d not even seen these!

Ten Gmail Labs Features You Should Enable
Oh I loves me some Google.  This is a great roundup if you use Gmail.

The Daily Docket’s Little Sister
Simple Mom’s got it goin’ on with getting stuff done.  She’s also got a great array of downloads!
(Pssst… did I mention she just may be on an upcoming episode of The O Myth?)

Drop.io: Better & More Secure File Sharing
Need to share stuff so a group of you can get things done?  Check out this review of Drop.io – seems like a great option for file sharing!

An article caught my attention a few months ago.  Merlin Mann at 43Folders.com announced he was taking his productivity-type blog in a different direction. Course correction?  Yes.  Compelling?  You betcha.

As an organizer, I guess it’s widely known that as a group, we have a somewhat passionate take on productivity.  However, what is productivity for?  It’s all well and good to be productive, and brag about blowing through 2,000 emails in one day.  But, what if you had less of those emails, or eliminated them entirely?   I think it’s time we start thinking of productivity in a different light: think of it like a filter with fierce gatekeeping skills, and less like a shiny new thing.

First, a confession.

I love gadgets and things that help me work better, faster, smarter, etc.  I have a PDA phone, and a shiny new iPod Touch (I heart my iPod Touch).  I also have a Moleskine in my bag.  Why should you care?  Because this is not about throwing out everything I use, but about using them better.

Productivity = Filter

I had a great conversation the other day with a friend.  We both felt that we were getting a lot of stuff done, but yet it wasn’t all that focused.  Oh sure, we felt good about what we were doing, but at the end of the day, was it just productively spinning our wheels?  The answer to myself was a resounding YES. Wheel spinning = not good.

So, what’s a girl to do?  It’s all well and good to get things done, better, faster + smarter.  The challenge I want to throw down (to you as well as myself) is that I will be better at filtering.  Now, the party girl in me is terrified.  “What if I miss something?  What if there is something I filter out that I shouldn’t have?”  That, my friend, is a risk I am willing to take.

There is so much noise out there, and at some point it’s got to be sifted through. Otherwise it’s possible to miss out on things right in front of me (and you?) right now, right here.  Inhaling a massive amount of useless chatter and information does nothing positive if it doesn’t have to do with an overall plan & direction.

Clarity & the Gatekeeper

A hundred years ago (or at least it feels like that), I worked as an Administrative Assistant to a Vice President and several Directors.  Oh yeah, I was busy.  One day, I learned I was getting a new boss (i.e. VP).  Before we even started working together, we had a closed door meeting in his office.  He laid out what was important to him, and what direction he was headed.  This short meeting made my life easier when fielding phone calls, taking meetings and general work around the office.  This clarity established a clear filter, and enabled me to be a better gatekeeper.  Did I make mistakes?  Of course.  Was it perfect?  No.  But, can you imagine if that meeting hadn’t taken place?  I would have been lost in Cubicle Nation with a very cranky boss.  Not fun.

Let’s break it down, and get to the point.

What the heck am I getting at?  If you’re rethinking what “productivity” means to you, here’s four essential things you need to roll around in your head:

1. Productivity has less to do with what you use, as how you use it.  It’s all well and good to have your inbox empty, but maybe there is a better way to use email altogether.

2. A filter is your friend.  It takes all the gunky stuff out, and makes the important stuff easier to see and get done.

3. Be your own gatekeeper.  If you work from home, honey you have got to take a serious role it tending your own gate.  Don’t be a doormat.  Guard your time fiercely, and be realistic.

4. Worry less about “missing out”. There’s plenty of things to do, and more than enough opportunities to go around.  Being afraid of missing out is a sure way to miss out on what really matter.

Is your path of productivity based on “something shiny” or a useful system?

How could you make it even better?

Do you need a new filter, some clarity or some gatekeeper skills?

Just starting doing.  Don’t wait to “feel like it”, just start moving on what you need to do that day.  Feeling uninspired to write?  Just start writing.  Don’t want to exercise?  Just strap on the shoes and do it anyway.

Is something holding you back? Look over your “to do’s” and survey the landscape.  Is there something you can get rid of that’s been languishing there for a while?  Is it a mental block?  Is it a task that really is a project with several steps and you’re not sure where to start?

Maybe it’s time for a mental health day. Even working from home, sometimes you just gotta take the day off.  As home office professionals, we many times work harder than most because we never leave the office.  So, maybe one of those days is signalling you it’s time to take the day off.  You might even have fun playing hookie! 

No, you DON’T have to be available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Try this: set some hours for work.  Hang them up, post them in the window, or tatoo them on your forehead, it matters not.  Make sure others know, and YOU know when you are and aren’t working.  Then, when the phone rings “after hours” restrain yourself from answering.

Next time you feel like you just “don’t wanna…” take a step back.  You just might need a break and a little shift.   

Active Words:

Active Words is a small software which resides in the background, and is activated when you type in your “Active Word”.  You can do many things with it: substitute text, navigate to a website or open specific folders.  You simply tell Active Words what to recognize, and in a few keystrokes, it does all the work for you.  Here’s what I use it for frequently:

• Navigating to my Wordpress Admin or “Add Post” page so I can quickly and easily accomplish tasks
• Open a folder I use almost all day
• Email signatures: I use Gmail (& Google Apps) for email, and I can’t get the email signature to work the way I want it to (I have three, so it’s a little tricky).  So, I have an Active Word for each signature.
• Launching programs I use over and over

There’s so many uses for this little program, but I think what’s best about it is I get some time back!

For more information or to get your hands on ActiveWords:

Click HERE

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*Disclosure:   I paid full price for ActiveWords.  Some links containted in this post are affiliate links, and will result in a small commission. I was not compensated or paid to write this review.

So, it got me thinking… what do others use to manage their tasks?  So, I asked my Tweeps to tell me what they like, and here’s what some of them said…

JaniceSimon: @putitaway @donnasmallin @bkajino I’m all about the Outlook drag for the calendar, contacts and tasks. J ust taught a client yesterday.

donnasmallin:

@bkajino I started using Outlook tasks a few months ago and love that I can drag emails into my task list and a lso insert attachments.

StorageByMail:

@bkajino + #homeofficetips + Evernote (the iPhone app in particular) + evernote.com

ProfOrganizer:

@bkajino My FAVE task/paper management tool is a tickler file http://is.gd/fAfZ #homeofficetips (Hence my TickleYourselfOrganized ebook.)

jathon0815:

@bkajino #homeoffice tips Things http://w ww.culturecode.com

HomeBiss:

@bkajino I use Microsoft Project for everything.

jmcgroary:  @bkajino I use Franklin Covey PlanPlus for Outlook. I sync with my Palm so I always have my current calendar with me.

So, what do YOU use to manage your tasks?

“Week Nine: Organizing Paper”: An editor at The Washington Post shares her journey of organizing.  I like this article, as it has some great tips on organizing paper.

Home Warriors: An Economist article on the challenges of working from home from an employer and employee standpoint.

Moleskine Hack: Jessica of JessicaKnows.com shows how she is using her newly acquired Moleskin.  (I’m a fan myself!)

9 Thrifty Home Office Ideas: Great article on Better Homes & Gardens, about thrify ideas for setting up and decorating a home office.

Here in my area of the country, we are getting some serious snow.  (Notice my frozen grass above.)  Since we don’t really get much snow (that stays for long), this is quite an event for us!  To the tune of around 12 inches of snow in a matter of a few days!  Many people have been trapped in their houses, out of school and unable to drive on roads (uh, yeah, we don’t have a high supply of snow plows around here, only umbrellas and rain boots).

So, what do you do when you’re at home and trying to get some work done and you have the little (or not so little) ones climbing the walls?  Here’s a few tips:

1. Get creative!  Give your child a snow shovel and send them out.  It doesn’t really have to be productive, but the young ones will feel “helpful”.  The fact that they are busy doing something should give you a few minutes, or more if you’re lucky!
2. Help out around the house.  Don’t groan, this can work.  Example:  When I’m folding the laundry, I have my son put one shirt away at a time, as they are folded.  It works for now, so I’m riding that wave!  Use your imagination… are there things your kids are now old enough to do?  You might be surprised.  Like cleaning the bathroom.  They have to start somewhere, right? 
3. Workbooks. I have a steady supply of workbooks which can be pulled out when needed.  My son loves them, I feel good about him learning something and we all get a little peace and quiet.
4. Playdates.  I have one child, and play dates are one of my tricks.  I love it (and so does my son) when kids come over to play.  They have a good time, and I get to work on my task list.
5. Have this list in your back pocket:  Wendy’s list of 94 ways to keep kids busy is something I turn to on a regular basis.  Bookmark it, Stumble it and keep it handy!

What do you do to keep your little ones busy?

Let’s talk about the “Dailies”.  No, not the fresh-off-the-press kind, the daily task kind.  You know, that stuff you need to get done today.  How do you track this stuff?  Are you stuck between a software and a dog-eared notebook?   Let’s talk about how to track, with the goal of getting them done!

What the heck are “Dailies”?

Stuff like: The laundry, the phone calls, writing a blog post, responding to that one email.

One task = one thing to do.  And, as in, today.

How to manage them:  A notebook, desktop software (like Outlook) or online with a program like Remember The Milk or Google Tasks (Gmail).   Get it out of your head and on paper or into software.  Cross off when done.

Other things to consider:  Is your list piling up, or just carrying over into the next day?  It might be a few things:

Are you really, honestly, truly attached to doing it? That lingering task might not be all that important to you.  Be honest with yourself: Do I really intend to do this?  If not, cross it off, delegate or move on.  If you use the word “try” in a sentence with that task, it might be time to cross it off the list.  As Yoda said, “Do or do not, there is no try.”

Is it really a project? Is there a start and end date beyond today?  It might be a project.  Get it off the list of “Dailies” and onto another list of Projects.  Don’t ya feel better?

(photo by Sancho Papa on Flickr.com)

Have you ever stared at a pile of paper on your desk with utter awe and wonder of what you were going to do with it?

Have you ever dealt with a pile of paper, only  to discover it has been replaced by another the following week?

Paper piles are stealing your time.

Paper can be a difficult thing to conquer, and sometimes it can be magnified by small things.  Have you ever thought that your piles of paper are stealing precious time away from you?  In her widely successful book, Time Management From The Inside Out, Julie Morgenstern says that paper clutter is a sign that time management needs improvement.  Can you relate?

A few years ago, I remember looking around my apartment at piles of paper.  I was so frustrated by it all, and wondered why I was unable to get control of the darned stuff!  I also remember feeling very out of control.  I was consistently late to work, social functions and commitments.  Paper accumulating on every vertical surface of my home symbolized a sort of chaos that was swirling around inside my head.   I didn’t take time to deal with it, and so the piles grew.

It might be time for a time management tune-up.

Paper piles can indeed indicate a need for time management improvement – that was certainly the case with me, and for clients I have worked with.  A pile of paper  takes time to deal with.  Not making decisions in the beginning leads to putting it off for “another day”.  This procrastination can make you crazy, until you deal with it.

Make time to deal with the paper, and don’t just toss it in a pile.  Make a decision about the mail, the homework, the artwork, holiday cards and letters.  The time you waste feeling guilty or doing a “crash and burn” session to deal with the paper could be much better spent somewhere else… like spending time with someone you love.

Ready to deal with your paper?  Check out my paper management crash course series over on Wendy’s blog starting HERE.

I had an opportunity sit down and chat with Peter Shankman of Help a Reporter Out.  The audio is below, but here are the highlights:

• “I don’t have time” is really a myth, because we make time for what we like and things we want to do
• Passion will take you a long way, so be sure you like what you do for a living
• Working offline can help tremendously with getting things done
• Use technology to help you get things done on the go
• Delete emails once you respond (I LOVE this one!)
• Filters (email, etc.) RULE
• Peter recommends Gmail, Blackberry and a GPS in every rental car (so you can get where you need to go)
• Biggest tip:  Get up 45 minutes earlier to get things done first thing in the morning.
• To find Peter: peter@shankman.com and helpareporter.com

Take a listen:

Peter Shankman on Productivity

Image by bkajino via Flickr

Drowning in email?  Boy, I understand!  Today I decided to buckle down and tackle my inbox.  You know what else I did?  I created a label (I use Google Apps for email) that is for “calls to make”.  Why would I do such a thing?  Cuz email is out of control, and sometimes it’s easier to just make a call.

So, should you call or email?  Here’s a handful of reasons why I pick up the phone (or Skype) instead of perpetuating the email flood:

• I need to talk it out.  Sometimes you gotta share more than a “yes” or “no” to an email, or work out a problem.  That may be better handled with a 3 minute phone call.
• I want to talk to a human. Let’s face it, we are getting more and more connected while being more unconnected at the same time.  Weird?  Yes.  True?  Yes.  It’s not that I don’t LOVE Twitter, but sometimes I want to actually hear a human voice.  *ring ring*
• I don’t wanna play email tag. Uh. Uh. Call me old fashioned but sometimes I just don’t want to manage the email conversation thread.  I want to ask a question, have a conversation and move forward.  Period.
• Shake it up a little. Email is the standard for communication these days, good or bad.  It’s a valuable tool if used in the right way.  Sometimes a girl just needs a little, so shake it up a bit and pick up the phone.