Email Advise from Seth Godin

I follow Seth Godin's blog. He is a marketing expert and most of his advice he applies to everyday matters.

Here is some advise he gives regarding emails:

1. Change your settings so that email from you has a name, your name, not a blank or some unusual characters, in the from field. (ask a geek or IT person for help if you don't know how).
2. Change your settings so that the bottom of every email includes a signature (often called a sig) that includes your name and your organization.
3. Change your settings so that when you reply to a note, the note you're replying to is included below what you write (this is called quoting).
4. Don't hit reply all. Just don't.
5. You can't recall an email you didn't mean to send. Some software makes you think you can, but you can't. Not reliably.
6. Email lives forever, is easy to spread and can easily show up in discovery for a lawsuit.
7. Please don't ask me to save a tree by not printing your email. It doesn't work, it just annoys the trees.
8. Send yourself some email at a friend's computer. Read it. Are the fonts too big or too small? Does it look like a standard email? If it doesn't look like a standard, does this deviation help you or hurt you? Sometimes, fitting in makes sense, no?

Quote for the Day

When Heidi and I formed Kessler Simple Solutions, we wanted simple to be the most important part of our organizing systems. I think everyone comes to a point where they yearn for a simple way to live. You will notice on this blog the word simple comes up alot! I stumbled across this quote and thought I would share it today:

“Things should be made as simple as possible, but not any simpler.” — Albert Einstein

The Only Thing You Can Change..

You can’t change your entire life.

You can only change your next action.

—

You can’t change a relationship with a loved one.

You can only change your next interaction.

—

You can’t change your entire job.

You can only change your next task.

—

You can’t change your body composition.

You can only change your next meal.

—

You can’t change your fitness level.

You can only start moving.

—

You can’t declutter your entire life.

You can only choose to get rid of one thing, right now.

—

You can’t eliminate your entire debt.

You can only make one payment, or buy one less unnecessary item.

—

You can’t change the past, or control the future.

You can only change what you’re doing right now.

—

You can’t change everything.

You can only change one, small thing.

And that’s all it takes.

Taken from Leo Babauta, Mnmlist

Tips for When Baby Comes Home

April 15, 2010 my great, great niece was born. The memories of when I brought my first baby home came vividly back. Excitement, overpowering love, fear and exhaustion were just some of the feelings I remember experiencing. Following are some tips I want to share with all new parents, especially Erin and Michael, for when you bring the baby home.

1. Have a breast pump ready. Engorgement is worse than childbirth!

2. When baby sleeps, parents sleep, especially Mom.

3. Accept all food gifts.

4. Let Dad get up during the night and bring baby to Mom.

5. Get on first name basis with the pediatrician's nurse.

6. Karo syrup in water is great for baby's constipation.

7. If the baby looks yellow (jaundiced), give her a 15 minute sunbath for a few days.

8. Get in the habit of the ten minute tidy up before retiring for the night.

9. Everyone will give you advise. Say thank you, and then figure it out yourselves.

10. Your life as you knew it is now over and a new chapter has begun. Live in the moment because it is over before you know it and then it is Senior Prom!

I love you guys and will be thinking of you over the next few days!! Anyone else want to offer some advise?

Oak Cliff Celebrates EARTH DAY 2010

Please save the date for the 2010 celebration of Earth Day which will take place on Sunday, April 18, at Lake Cliff Park. This will be the fourth time this annual event has been held. The attendance each year has increased dramatically. In 2007 there were 3,000 attendees, in 2008 there were 6,000 and in 2009 there were at least 8,000 attendees. This large annual increase in participation demonstrates the current interest in the community in recycling, conservation, water-wise gardening, bicycling, community gardening and preservation of both natural resources and historic buildings.

OAK CLIFF EARTH DAY 2010, P. O. Box 5243, Dallas, TX 75208-5243

You've Been Pre-Approved...

Opt out of prescreened credit card offers. This will limit the amount of junk coming into your home, prevent identity theft, and extend the life of your paper shredder too! Go to www.optoutprescreen.org.

I opted out for my daughter too. How crazy is it to offer a pre-approved credit card to a twenty one year old unemployed student???

Get Some Sleep Tonight - Keep a To-Do List!

Having trouble sleeping because forgotten tasks haunt you when you close your eyes at night? A to-do list is a great non-prescription night time sleep aid. By listing everything you have to do the next day before you go to bed each evening, you free your mind to rest along with your body!

There are tons of theories on the best ways to keep a to-do list - small spiral notebook, day-timer, calendar, Outlook calendar, Word notepad, iPhone app. Whatever method you use, keep in mind, this is YOUR personal action plan so YOU have a choice in what will work best.

We will highlight different methods over the next few weeks so stay tuned...

How do you currently keep up with everything you HAVE to do through out the day?

FREE Event April 24th

For us SMART folks who live in Oak Cliff, a FREE event in honor of Earth Day on April 24th @ 7pm.

Mark your calendars (use ink) and go to The Texas Theatre for a community screening of "NO IMPACT MAN", a documentary (and official Sundance selection!!! ) about a year in the life of an ordinary New Yorker who tries to make no impact on the earth while living in the city with his wife and 2 year old.

Free Parking behind Theatre off of Sunset.

EVENT SPONSORS: Eno's Tavern, Urban Acres, Spiral Diner, MAKE, Green Pet, Bolsa, Smoke, Oak Cliff Bicycle Company, Paper Nerds, Eric Cowan, Good Space and New Purpose Urban Farms.

For questions or additional information contact Nikki Cotten at 214-948-7127 or www.noimpactproject.org

Hard Drive Clean Out for Dummies

I don't know about you but when it comes to my computer, I am easily made to feel like an incompetent boob. I'm reasonably confident with software and the internet, but the actual machinery scares me. A hearty thank you to my geek friend Troy who bails me out of messes, but I would like to know how I can keep my hard drive lean, mean and clean.

Well, I found instructions here that are user friendly and includes pictures!!

Check it out on the next rainy Saturday morning.

Keeping Your Possessions Just In Case...

Here is an interesting thought about holding on to things for security. I read this on the minimalists blog, mnmlist.