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July 27, 2017 by Admin

5 Tips for Keeping Your Home Business Organized

Being able to work from home sounds like the dream for many people—be your own boss, set your own hours, be there if the kids need you—but it’s not without its challenges.

Many people don’t realize how difficult working from home can be. Some days it can be hard to motivate yourself to work and stay on-task when you don’t have a supervisor looking over your shoulder or expecting your work on their desk. Being your own boss requires enormous self-discipline, focus, and above all, organization.

Here are five ways to keep your home business organized and running smoothly.

1. Have a dedicated office space.

Whenever possible, take time to designate one room (or even a large closet) as your office. This space should be quiet, comfortable, and separate from the rest of the house—a location which fosters focus and clear thinking. If you don’t have the space or means to dedicate an entire room to running your business, try to set up a desk somewhere in as quiet a space as possible. Whatever your office looks like, make sure the only thing that happens in that space is work.

2. Treat your work day as a work day.

This means getting up, showered, and dressed like you’re going to the office. It doesn’t have to be a suit and tie or a pencil skirt – that’s one of the benefits of working from home, after all – but getting cleaned up and dressed makes it easier to stay “work-minded” all day. As much as possible, remember to stick to your work hours just like you would with a traditional job. Establish the times you’re going to “be at work,” and then stay “at work” during those hours.

3. Take breaks.27

Breaks are mandated for a reason—they’re humane, and they’re good for you. Our minds need time to rest and refocus. So take fifteen minutes every now and then, and be sure to take a lunch break. Your brain needs that fuel to be efficient and productive. Another perk of working from home is that it’s easier to save money and calories by not going out to eat. One thing you’ll have to be careful about is snacking, however. It’s easy to fall into the grazing habit when your pantry is only a few feet away.

4. Keep your “office” free of personal items.

When it comes to paperwork, you want to keep your business and personal things separate. Many people use their home’s actual office as their business office as well – meaning that birth certificates, insurance and mortgage records, bank statements, and so forth are stored in the same room as their business files. If this is true for you, be sure to store the personal and business records in different filing cabinets or at least different drawers. You don’t want to get the two mixed up or misplace client information.

5. Declutter multiple times a year.

Some of the biggest causes of office clutter is old invoices, various paperwork, inventory documents, etc. Carve out time at the beginning of each season to go through these things, file what you need, and get rid of what you don’t. This includes old electronics and furniture as well.

Office supplies can often be recycled or upcycled through businesses like TerraCycle, and many electronics can be donated to stores like Best Buy. If you’re looking to hold onto the items but have nowhere to put them, look into self storage. Make sure you’re maximizing your storage space by using proper containers and labeling everything.

July 20, 2017 by Admin

How To Choose a College: Looking At Your College Options

Determining the best college for you is a very personal decision that will be based completely on your interests and needs. While the best college for you is not necessarily the best college for someone else, that doesn’t make it a bad choice. Here are 6 questions to ask yourself when choosing where to attend college to help make the decision a little easier.

Have You Decided on a Major?

Knowing the major you plan to pursue will greatly help you narrow down your college options. Look for a college known for offering programs in your field to give yourself more options for specialization and a greater breadth of knowledge on that particular subject. If attending a college that specializes in your major is not a possibility, at least make sure you choose a school that offers your major to avoid having to transfer part-way through your college experience.

What Are Your Interests?

Are you hoping to participate in a college sport or write for an award-winning campus newspaper? Find a college offering top notch programs that align with your interests to help you excel and give you better opportunities to pursue your passions. This is also important to consider when looking at potential roommates and making sure you’ll click.

Is There Somewhere You Want to Be?

For some people, the location of a college is critically important. Are you hoping to stay close to home or move as far away as possible? Would you prefer to be on the beach or in the middle of a big city? These are all important things to consider when contemplating which college to attend, since it’s important you find a place you love where you’ll be happy and comfortable.

What is Your Financial Situation?

Depending on your financial situation, you might need to limit your options to the colleges you can afford to attend. Will you be paying tuition yourself, or do you have parents, relatives, or scholarships lined up to cover the costs? Think more along the lines of public universities if you’re looking for something less expensive, or consider attending a junior college to earn your Associate’s degree for less, then transferring to a four-year university to finish.

What Are Your Future Goals?

Maybe you don’t know exactly what you want to major in yet, but have a good idea of what field you’d like to pursue after graduation. Take your goals into account and make sure you choose a college that will help you achieve them. Choosing a college offering mostly agricultural degrees, surrounded by miles of farmland probably isn’t the best bet for someone hoping to go into fashion design. Go somewhere not only with programs that interest you, but local opportunities for internships and apprenticeships.

Have You Reviewed College Ratings?

Every year, lists are released rating colleges and offering college reviews. While consulting a college list won’t necessarily make the decision for you, these lists can give you a pretty good idea of what to expect at any particular college, for instance, whether it’s known to be a party school or not. Review these lists and determine what’s most important to you, and what campus cultures you’d prefer to avoid in helping make your decision.

Time for the Next Step

Picking a college can be stressful, but choosing carefully will help you succeed in the next phase of your education. When in doubt, review these 6 simple questions and you’ll find the best college option for you is easy to identify.

July 13, 2017 by Admin

10 Must Know Tips for Organizing Your Small Bathroom Now

Bathrooms tend to be messy and cluttered given the number of items that need to be kept in such a small room. When looking to tidy up your bathroom, the key is to improve the amount of storage available. Here are 10 tips to help you do just that.

1. Add a Mirror

Although adding a mirror doesn’t necessarily add space or storage to your bathroom, it will definitely make the room feel bigger. Choose a mirror that fits your style, allowing it to be a functional part of your bathroom decor.

2. Over the Toilet Storage

Regardless of the size of your bathroom, you can greatly increase the amount of storage space available utilizing the space above the toilet. Install floating shelves or an organizational unit built specifically for this placement to hold extra soap, towels, toilet paper, and really anything else you need to be kept close at hand.

3. Organize Drawers

Consider purchasing a drawer utensil organizer to help whip your bathroom drawers into shape. This is especially good when you have lots of small items you need to keep track of, including hair ties, bobby pins, makeup, and combs.

4. Roll Towels

Rather than just folding towels and storing them on a shelf or beneath the sink, rolling them up makes them easier to access and frees up more space, allowing you to better utilize bathroom storage.

5. Consider a Bathroom Remodel

Is the current layout of your bathroom leaving it lacking in functionality? It may be time to think about a bathroom remodel—even just rearranging your tub, vanity, and toilet can make a world of difference, freeing up more space for storage.

6. Minimize Your Possessions

One of the best small bathroom ideas to reduce clutter and make your small space feel bigger is to downsize your possessions. Do you really need two drawers full of makeup or 10 different cologne or perfume bottles? Sort through your bathroom and get rid of anything that is expired or that you don’t use. You’ll be surprised how little you actually need.

7. Install a Lazy Susan

Are bathroom accessories overrunning your master bathroom? Try installing a lazy Susan to hold your soaps, lotions, and any other items you need daily access to. This not only makes them easier to find, but eliminates the need to dig through the cupboard, knocking everything over in the process.

8. Reconfigure Towel Racks

There never seems to be enough space in the bathroom to hang your towels, does there? Rather than covering what’s probably the only empty wall in your bathroom with towel racks, consider attaching them to the back of the door, stacking two or three vertically. This frees up space for more storage along that empty wall, while allowing you space for extra towel storage.

9. Use Behind-the-Door Storage

Behind-the-door shoe racks are excellent for storing just about anything you want to keep out of sight. Hanging one from the back of your bathroom door, you can store makeup, cleaning supplies, extra soaps and shampoos, brushes, washcloths—just about anything small you need easy access to in your bathroom.

10. Wall Storage

No medicine cabinet? No problem. Mount spice racks to a wall in your bathroom to hold items you’d prefer to keep off of the sink top, like toiletries, nail polish, and medication. Paint the spice racks to match the color of your walls so they blend in, or add a bold color to help liven up your space.

Get Organized Now!

There is no better time than now to start organizing your small bathroom. With the help of these 10 tips, you’ll notice a world of difference in that tiny room.