Office-Right: Tips & Info

ARRANGING YOUR WORKSPACE

When you're cleaning up, try to decide quickly what to do with each item. Don't put off making up your mind, because delaying doesn't make the process any easier. Avoid making a "decide later" pile. As you begin to get tired, everything will end up in that pile - and nothing will get thrown out!

It's never too late to change. If you want to get organized, you can. If you want to improve, you can. People have different reasons - personal, professional, psychological - for wanting to get organized. Some people realize they are overwhelmed and want to reduce their stress level. Others are ashamed of themselves for being disorganized. Many people would like to have more free time, and everyone would like to have more money. Keep your personal motivation in mind as you implement new organizational strategies.

When space is at a premium, use vertical space. For example, a computer cart stores your computer and printer vertically, leaving you with more surface area on which to work.

Don't try to organize everything in one day. It took awhile to get to the level of disorganization you now encounter. If you try to do everything at once, there's a high risk of getting discouraged and giving up altogether. Break the job down into manageable chunks and tackle one thing at a time. Make a list of everything you'd like to accomplish, and reward yourself for each task completed. Scheduling several interruption-free afternoons is usually a more successful approach than trying to organize your entire business life in a day.

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AT-HOME SHOPPING RIGHTS

Shopping from home or office -- it keeps getting easier... For many products and services, you needn't step out of your home or office to shop anymore. Mail, phone and other forms of at-home shopping couldn't be easer. Before ordering, however, it will pay you to know your legal rights and to follow these simple precautions:

For Further Help -- Contact your state or local consumer protection office. It may be listed in the "self-help" or government sections in the front of your phone book. These agencies can offer further advice, and they may also be able to help resolve your complaint.

The National Fraud Information Center -- non-government service which gives free advice by phone to consumers who suspect fraud or misrepresentation -- maintains a fraud database. (800) 876-7060.

The Better Business Bureau (BBB) -- non-government service advises consumers on fraud prevention. Call your local BBB. Or, for the number of the BBB nearest to where the business in question is located, call Council of Better Business Bureaus: (703) 276-0100.

The U.S. Postal Inspection Service -- covers mail fraud, sexually offensive materials, solicitations that look like government materials, but aren't. If you suspect such violations, contact your local Postmaster or Postal Inspector, or:

Water Preservation and Purification

Water is a primary consideration, as we already know. There are a lot of options. Water should be stored in air-tight containers and replaced about every six month. Store between 3 to 5 gallons of water per person to be prepared for a 72-hour period. Keep in plastic containers in a safe place.

Tap water may not be safe after a big earthquake. You can use purification tablets for tap water such as Halazone and Globaline. Read the label on the bottle before using tablets. Water may also be disinfected by filtering through layers of clean linen and boiling for 5 minutes or adding 16 drops of chlorine bleach per gallon, letting it stand for 1/2 hour.

Emergency water can be found in your water heater, toilet reservoirs, canned foods and beverages. Shut off water to your house. A broken water line elsewhere can drain water from your water heater and cause a fire, or incoming contaminated water can ruin your existing "in house" water heater and toilet tank water supply.

Emergency Tool Near Gas Turnoff

All-in-one water, gas shutoff, crowbar.

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DON'T SEPARATE YOUR PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL LIVES

Home office professionals need to find ways to combine their work obligations with their personal tasks in a way that sacrifices neither. It might surprise you to hear that the key to doing this successfully is not to try to completely separate your personal and professional lives. I've found that this is not only futile, but inefficient. As you plan your day or your week, write down any personal tasks you need to accomplish, but list them separately from your business tasks. This way you can focus on work-related tasks without losing track of personal obligations.

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EARTHQUAKE SUPPLIES LIST

Car Supplies

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FILING

Keep your personal and business papers separate. Otherwise, you end up constantly looking through your business files to find the personal files you need. Also, if your spouse handles the personal files, he or she will constantly be in your office looking for them. The ideal approach is to buy a two-drawer filing cabinet to use for personal papers. If that's not possible, devote one full drawer of your filing cabinet to personal papers only. If you come across stock certificates, bonds, or the title to your car as you're going through your papers, set them aside until you can put them in your safe deposit box. Put information about your credit cards -- including the card number and the number to call if your card is lost or stolen -- in a personal file labeled "important numbers."

Never store papers flat. Papers are easier to find when they are stored vertically in files, rather than horizontally in piles. The only time your papers should be stored horizontally is when you place them in stacking bins, and this is only on a temporary basis. Eventually the papers in the bins will be stored vertically or thrown away.

Give your files names that will immediately come to mind when you need a piece of paper. Use word association. There is no general guide to naming files, in that this is a very individual matter. What works for you may not work for another person. The only filing system that will work for you is one that is customized to meet your needs. In a home office, you'll probably be the only one using the files, so it doesn't matter if the names mean nothing to anyone else. However, if anyone else will be using your files, explain your system to him or her.

Keep your filing systems easy to use. If you choose a filing system that is too difficult to use, or if you get bogged down with details such as whether or not to type the labels on your file folders and whether or not to use color-coordinated tabs and folders, you'll end up never filing anything.

The Three-minute Paper Test. If you can't retrieve any piece of paper you need within three minutes, your filing system isn't working. Taking more than three minutes to find a document is like taking the local train through all stops when you could have taken an express. As a home office professional, you don't have that kind of time to waste.

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GET RID OF JUNK MAIL

Cut down on the volume of unwanted mail, mail order catalogues, and the like. To have your name removed from mail or telephone lists of many companies, contact the Direct Marketing Association:

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HELP IS ON THE WAY, QUICKLY

Every computer program includes a "help" function that you can click with a mouse to get information about using the program. But did you know that you can also access your computer's help menus with just a single keystroke? Simply press the F1 key. F1 is a kind of universal SOS button for just about every PC application. Pressing F1 can bring answers to your questions more quickly and more easily than fiddling with a mouse.

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MEMORY TIPS

Disorganization has many faces in our lives - none of them very pretty. One manifestation is forgetfulness. If you've suffered embarrassment, anger or loss recently because you forgot something or someone, here are some things you can do to keep important items from slipping by in the future.

To win the paper battle, put your papers to the Paper Test. The more papers you throw out, the fewer you'll have to deal with. To decide what to toss and what to keep, ask yourself four questions:

Thieves steal your money and possessions. But consider the most valuable asset that can be stolen Ð your own identity. When a thief has your personal information, it can be easy to use your good name and make your record go bad.

Be careful with anything that contains your name, birth date, Social Security number and account numbers -- these are the tools of the identity thief. Thieves get your information by stealing your wallet or purse, taking mail from your mailbox or trash, intercepting unsecured Internet transactions, posing as someone who needs the information (like a landlord or employer) or buying information from inside sources.

There are steps you can take to prevent identify theft. Keep your Social Security card in a safe place -- don't carry it with you unless you need it. Shred any paperwork that has your Social Security or other account numbers on it before throwing it away.

By using energy more efficiently -- and conserving where appropriate -- we can cut our consumption of gas and electricity, save money, and reduce the amount of pollution in the air.

Lighting: One of the easiest and cheapest places to start saving energy is with lighting.

SET ASIDE TIME TO READ

Set aside time each week to read. How many of us put off reading as something extra to do? We plan our reading when we can find the time. Instead, we should be finding time for reading. Schedule reading time on your calendar. Make this appointment with yourself a priority. If you have to miss this appointment, be sure to re-schedule for another time. Even spending half an hour or an hour each morning reading makes a big difference in getting through all of the newspapers, professional publications, sales information, brochures, and other material you need to read.

Read all but recreational reading during your most productive times of day. If you fall asleep reading in bed in the evening, try reading in an upright chair in a well-illuminated and ventilated room. Try varying your reading times until you find your most productive time.

Use your waiting time for reading. Prepare a "reading to go" folder and carry it along with you. Small newsletters and articles clipped out of magazines or the newspaper are perfect candidates for this folder. Use those little chunks of time while you are waiting for appointments such as the doctor or hair stylist to scan or study this material.

Reading requires selectivity. Take charge of your reading. There are only so many reading hours available to you. Read only the good stuff and give up on boring, badly written or useless material. In selecting your non-fiction reading material, consider the source and date of publication.

Use helpful tools. Often overlooked are the tools and guides available to you. These are the table of contents and the index. Don't start at the beginning without stopping for directions. Use the table of contents to select the articles, or chapters, that are most suitable. Use the index to research specific needs. Use bookmarks to keep your place.

THUMB LOCK FASTENERS - HIGH-PERFORMANCE FASTENERS FOR HUNDREDS OF APPLICATIONS

Award-winning Thumb Lock Fasteners lock down PCs, printers, copiers, laboratory apparatus -- almost any office or technical equipment that can shake loose, topple or fall in an earthquake or other jarring movement. Excellent for rack-mounted equipment, data center consoles, desk and file cabinet restraints, and a variety of applications for government and military use. Selected by the State of California for earthquake safety. Under $10 a kit for most equipment applications weighing up to 50 pounds.

Tickler files are files that provide you with a reminder of what needs to be done on specific days. These files are particularly helpful in jobs where there is a high volume of follow-up activity that must be done on specific dates. Situations that benefit from a Tickler File include sales positions, bookkeeping and bill paying functions and insurance agencies which must keep track of policy renewal dates.

To establish a Tickler File, set up a series of files numbered 1 through 31. Follow these by 12 files labeled January through December. Any items due on a date this month get filed behind the specific date. Anything due in upcoming months gets placed in the appropriate month's file.

At the end of each month, take the following month's file and distribute all items into the specific date files. An item due on the 5th of September would be in the September file until the end of August. On September 1st, take all of the September items out and place them, accordingly, behind the days of the current month.

This is an excellent system if you have a large volume of items to track. But the only way the Tickler File works is if you check the file every day. Doing this as the first action of your day will help you plan your time and ensure that nothing critical slips by undetected.

The Next Week File: If you do not have many items, then a Tickler system may be too complex. Instead, label a file "Next Week" and place all future items that: do not have broader subject files; or are one-time events that don't rate their own folder.

For easy access, place this file in the front part of your file drawer. At the start of each week, review the items and place those you will begin on your To-Do List. A Next Week file is not cold storage or a place for things not yet decided. When you find yourself asking which Monday it is, or if the file becomes thick with all kinds of papers, then you are not using the Next Week file effectively. Purge and organize the material regularly.

TO-DO LISTS, GOAL-SETTING AND PLANNING

Maintaining a daily or weekly "to- do" list is absolutely essential. Studies show that the day you start using a "to do" list you become 25% more effective. A "to do" list not only shows what you need to do, but shows what you are and are not accomplishing each day. More than a random list of things to remember, your "to do" list helps you organize your time and work more efficiently. If you positively can't stand "to do" lists, use another personal organizing system that will help you keep track of your obligations and accomplishments.

Focus on your top-priority tasks every day before working on less urgent tasks. If you are able to accomplish your number one tasks, then you've had a productive day. Strive for a balance between quality and quantity.

Take the time to write down your goals, both long- and short-term. For a home office professional, clearly defined goals are essential. No one else is tracking your progress. If you don't know where you're going, how will you know you're on the right track? If you don't pay attention to how much you are doing, how can you be sure you're accomplishing anything?

Confirm appointments the day before. Sometime before the next day's appointments, call to confirm each one. Sometimes people forget about appointments or wait until the day of the appointment to reschedule. Missed appointments are big time wasters, particularly if you travel to someone's office only to discover that he or she isn't there.

Use one calendar or planner for all appointments. Keep it with you at all times so as not to risk duplications or omissions.

For every hour you spend planning, you will save 3 to 4 hours. 50% of us are unorganized. Half of us waste time looking for things or misplaced information. We write on little pieces of paper and then loose them. We haven't figured out our priorities. Why? Because we think organizing is rigid and will cramp our style. A system doesn't have to be perfect; it just has to work for you.

Yahoo Calendar offers one of the most powerful online calendar services in the Web today. This is a great place to store information on contacts, calendar items, to-do lists and even "reminders" via e-mail to nag you when items are coming due. In addition, it offers synchronization with many popular PIM/PDA devices and packages, including Microsoft Outlook.

If you are having difficulty getting all the text that you see on-screen to print out, you can go to your File Menu, Page Setup option and change the left and right margins to, say, .25 inches. There seems to be a lot of variation between computers, monitors, printers, browsers, etc., but changing the margins has been helpful. If the entire page is still not printing, changing the percentage to 85-90% may be helpful.

ARTICLES

CASUALTIES FROM A QUAKE ON THE HAYWARD FAULT
PREDICTED AS HIGH AS 4,000
Excerpts from the San Francisco Chronicle 2/10/95

A 2/10/95 article in the San Francisco Chronicle stated that casualties from a quake on the Hayward Fault [located on the eastern side of San Francisco Bay] are predicted as high as 4,000. The likelihood of a quake with a magnitude of 7 on the northern Hayward Fault is 67% - 90% sometime in the next 30 years. It could happen today.

The article stated that the northern stretch of the Hayward Fault, running roughly 30 miles from Lake Chabot in Oakland to the north shore of the Carquinez Strait, has been judged the most dangerous in the Bay Area.

Residential areas may be harder hit in a Hayward quake than in any other quake in US history because the fault runs directly through heavily populated areas. The Hayward is likely to rupture the surface violently, displacing it from three to ten feet on either side of the fault as it passes through urbanized areas.

Although it is estimated that up to 20,000 people might need hospitalization, only about 10,000 beds will be available throughout the Bay Area after a large Hayward earthquake. In hard-hit Alameda and Contra Costa counties, many hospitals will be out of action entirely and only half the normal beds will be usable.

Earthquakes don't kill people -- buildings do! Hundreds of thousands of people are going to be relying on emergency services. And only about 10% of the population is prepared at the time of this article. What this means is we need to be prepared to take care of ourselves and our loved ones and neighbors until help comes -- for at least 72 hours. It's likely there won't be any phones (except public or cellular) nor any ATMs.

Earthquakes are a fact of life in California. When the Big One hits, much of what we take for granted will likely be damaged or destroyed. Major medical and emergency services may well be disrupted or overloaded far beyond capacity.

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ELIMINATING PROCRASTINATION
By Sue Barrera

People procrastinate for all sorts of reasons. Non-procrastinators think, "Procrastinators are just lazy." Procrastinators know this isn't true. Being a good procrastinator actually requires a great deal of energy. It's not easy to avoid thinking about the work you're not doing. However, it's possible that all you need to do is recognize the pattern in order to form new habits for getting the work done.

Break your task into smaller pieces: It's a lot easier to do many smaller tasks and you'll have a feeling of accomplishment. You've moved through some work and broken the barrier of procrastination. Do the easier tasks first. Don't wait for a huge block of time to work on a large project. Commit to a specific length of time to make yourself work at the task. Start with a few minutes to get you past that initial block. Then STOP and congratulate yourself! Or - continue, if you're on a roll.

Unpleasant tasks: First off, ask if it really needs to be done. If the answer is "yes," see if you can delegate it. If you can't get someone else to do it, do it quickly, because it will only become more distasteful the longer you wait. Reward yourself when you've finished the job. If there is a particular type of work you dislike, it could be that your work environment contributes to the problem. Take stock of the situation and see if you can change the way things are set up around you. For instance, have plenty of filing and other office supplies close at hand so you can create new files quickly without having to hunt around for hanging folders and tabs.

Being a perfectionist can get in the way: Sometimes your standards are too high. Don't aim to be perfect - just dive in and start! You can always polish up your work later. Take a step - it doesn't matter in which direction you go; taking a step will move you forward.

Overcoming inner resistance: Set realistic goals and expectations of what you want to accomplish. Maybe it's just for today that you will get organized. Don't try to organize your whole life TODAY; but just for today you can put a few things away where they belong - or whatever is the most difficult task for you to do and therefore you procrastinate doing it.

Emotional reasons for procrastination: Reluctance to doing some tasks may have deeper reasons connected to them. It's important to look into this and realize that the most important thing you can do is come to terms with the stress associated with certain activities. It may be even more important than actually doing the task!

Most importantly, stop telling yourself you'll never be able to do it. You just haven't done it yet! Right now is a good time to get started!

HOME OFFICE, SIMPLIFIED
By Jeffrey D. Zbar
Home Office Computing, July 2000

Working from home isn't as simple as it seems. Whether you run your own business, freelance, or telework, it's important to have an organized and functional home office. But that's easier said than done. Home-based workers lose up to a third of their workday ferreting out lost papers, searching for crucial information, and wading through documents, says Greg Vetter, president of Better Productivity Inc., an Atlanta-based organizational consultancy. Add faxes, e-mail, cellular phones, and the Internet, and you've created an environment in which data comes in faster than you can process and organize it.

"Organization that leads to productivity gives people control," says Vetter, who's also the author of Find It in 5 Seconds: Gaining Control in the Information Age. "So many people haven't even learned a system for organizing their paper, and now you've got a digital world. Create a working system, and it can be an awesome relief."

To find out what it takes to set up an organized and productive workspace, Home Office Computing recently teamed up three home workers with their own organizational experts. To pinpoint areas of improvement, the experts evaluated several aspects – including work flow, organization, effective use of office space, and the role of a personal assistant – that could help home workers save time, energy, and money. Our subjects learned that the choices they make directly affect their productivity – and their bottom lines.

1. Getting It Together: William C. Nicholson realizes his weaknesses. As founder of SohoLobby.com, a Raleigh, N.C.-based online professional and political action community for small-business and home office professionals, he spends much of his workday thinking about new business. He just can't easily implement or even write down his streaming visions because his home office is so cluttered. Nicholson admits his incoming documents, as well as his notes, correspondence, and new ideas he'd written down, were in disarray. If he had a better way to organize his space, he could focus on developing business ideas and strategies, he says.

"I have the stereotypical weaknesses of the entrepreneur," says Nicholson. "[My] mind is always in chaos. You have to have some structure if you want to do business with others."

Working with Barbara Hemphill, CEO of the Hemphill Productivity Institute in Raleigh, the two scanned Nicholson's office and charted a path to greater productivity.

His Goals: To set up a system that makes documents easily accessible, to create a discrete place to plan new ideas, and to make better use of his home office space.

The Plan: First, Hemphill helped Nicholson create Temporary Action Files – to-do files that need his attention on a daily or weekly basis. These he stores in a desk file drawer….Nicholson created categories for his files – mirrored in both the file cabinet and on his PC.

As for furniture, Hemphill recommended Nicholson ditch his traditional upright file cabinet in favor of a lateral one that holds more papers and also provides a space for his printer and fax machine. This will help him free up valuable office real estate.

Because Nicholson often entertains at home, Hemphill recommended he purchase a filing cabinet with a lock. This ensures that sensitive data – such as business plans, financial statements, the business checkbook, and other proprietary information – is kept from prying eyes. Incorporating security could save him the future grief of misplaced data, Hemphill says.

Nicholson has another often-overlooked filing space: the walls. Typically neglected in a space-starved workspace, Nicholson's walls now are home to a map of the U.S., which helps him visualize and track target markets, and his company's organizational chart, which includes partners, the public relations firm, his attorney, the accounting company, and the support team.

Hemphill also introduced Nicholson to ergonomics, by helping him create a comfortable yet efficient work environment. For years, Nicholson worked on a half-backed office chair without wheels. "It was more like a dining room chair," he says. At Hemphill's recommendation, he purchased an ergonomic, wheeled officechair, and a plastic floor mat to place atop his carpeting. This lets him move quickly around the workspace, and the adjustable seat lets him reset his position if he gets sore.

Get Help. Hemphill's visit also made Nicholson realize one important thing: He needed help around the office. Although his finished basement is 350 square feet, complete with a supply room and several offices. Nicholson is a staff of one – he does all the office work himself.

Bad move, says Hemphill. Like many home-based workers, Nicholson has an accountant to handle his taxes and a lawyer for legal issues. But he doesn't spend $10 an hour for an office assistant. Although most home offices typically don't have the space for staff, he has no excuse, she says.

Nicholson commands upward of $300 an hour, and the right assistant could boost his productivity by 30 percent if that person worked 20 hours a week….

Most organizational experts charge between $50 and $250 an hour, with a typical three-hour minimum requirement. Why the disparity? It depends on the consultant's experience as well as the project. It's the difference between "a haircut for $8 [at a chain] and one at a salon for $58," says Hemphill.

Hemphill says many home-based workers fall down in terms of productivity by saying, "I have to do it myself." She adds, "That's insane. They should do things that contribute to their business, not [spend time] stuffing envelopes."

Nicholson realizes that one hour spent with Hemphill won't solve all his problems. But he knows he can be more effective by putting what he's learned into practice. In fact, he now works with Hemphill regularly to tweak his organizational skills.

2. On the Road, Again: Matt Haskins already has his own administrative assistant at company headquarters in Loomis, CA. But she's an underutilized resource that could help this Seattle-based road warrior boost his own productivity.

Integrating his assistant with his work routine is only part of Haskin's solution, notes Ellen Langan, principal with Langan-Bigelow Organizational Consultants in Seattle. Langan and partner Mary Bigelow spent a morning with Haskins in his home office to help him get more use out of his PC.

As director of business development with Monsieur Henri Wine Co., Haskins is home-based, but spends more than 60 percent of his time on the road meeting with customers and retailers. He uses a company-issued Toshiba Satellite 4080SCDT notebook as his primary computer; but one look at his Windows Explorer screen was akin to a novice investor reading the daily stock listings – it was all a jumble.

His Goals: To better understand and use his existing technology – and to take advantage of having an office assistant.

The Plan: Langan suggested Haskins start by having his assistant, Glennis Evanchak, scan, digitize, and electronically file all his faxes, mail, and correspondence on the company server – so he can access them from home or the road. Even the inbound paper that reaches Haskins at his home office should be sorted, bundled, and shipped off to Evanckak for scanning and filing. That way, he can access it via his notebook, downloading important files in case the company server goes down.

He's already quick to ditch needless paper and e-mail documents, Haskins admits. Now it's time to deal with the rest of the paper that clutters his workstation and three desk drawers.

"His paper load is very light, but it's a small space," say Bigelow. "If he could let go of most of his hard copy, it would free up his time to do more work," she adds. By doing this, he can access only the information he needs, and eliminate clutter.

Digitize, Organize. But scanning paperwork isn't the only answer. One look at Haskins' icon-jammed laptop display and Bigelow saw disaster looming. Haskins was given a laptop with no instructions on how to use it properly – or how to tap into its powerful organizational tools. For instance, he didn't realize he could set up subdirectories to file related documents together.

Bigelow showed him how to set up subdirectories that mirrored his paper filing system, putting vendors, products, states, territories, and other important categories into separate folders. She also created an E-Mail Action or Tickler File, which reminds Haskins to act on e-mail from clients, vendors, and the company.

When Langan asked about his data backup routine, Haskins shrugged. He hadn't back up his data in a year. This likely stemmed from the PC training he never received, says Bigelow. She recommended Haskins use an online backup service such as Skydesk, an external Iomega Zip drive, or tape backup device.

The company might also have a backup system that Haskins may not even know about, Langan adds. Within an hour, Haskins had dragged and dropped hundreds of errant files into more useful directories; and because those folders are mirrored on the company server, his assistant can also drop scanned documents for him to retrieve whenever he needs them. By knowing where documents are – and where inbound documents should go – Haskins would save several hours each week, Bigelow estimates.

Haskins admits the time spent with Bigelow and Langan was like opening the owner's manual to his laptop PC, operating system, and his own workstyle. Before the meeting, he had no idea how to maximize his notebook's functionality or delegate work to his assistant.

3. Work in Progress: As director of operations for Boardroom communications, a Plantation, FL-based public relations firm, Shawn Rosenthal works from home two days a week. On those days, she uses Symantec's pcAnywhere and a dial-up connection. If she's out driving carpool, her staff or clients can call on her cellular phone. In her home office, a Brother Intellifax 770 machine is on a shelf nearby, with a Tech Solutions shredder tucked into an armoire.

So far, so good, says Kim Caruthers, an implementation director with Telecommute Solutions. The Atlanta-based consultancy helps companies set up telework programs – ensuring that teleworkers have the same tools and support as their office-based counterparts. Caruthers also evaluates an employee's potential for working effectively from home.

Before giving an assessment, Caruthers had Rosenthal complete a verbal five-part questionnaire that tracks job skills and workflow, as well as technology and communications needs. "Basically, the home office simulates what you have at your cube," she tells Rosenthal.

In addition to the survey, Caruthers asked Rosenthal to recount her workweek to get a better idea of her workstyle. Before she leaves Boardroom's offices on Monday and Wednesday, Rosenthal takes about 5 minutes to pack files into her briefcase. She grabs active account folders, press releases she's composing, inbox documents, and personnel files she might need. She then rushes home to take over for the nanny.

Her Goals: To make a seamless transition between home and office, and reduce communications expenses.

The Plan: At home, Rosenthal works while toddler Hanna naps or plays at her feet and her two older sons are at school. Caruthers notes that Rosenthal is fortunate to work for a company whose owner also teleworks with her children around, since companies typically frown on the idea.

Once Hanna is awake and starts playing, Rosenthal should stop calling clients or doing the company's books, and focus on work that doesn't require silence or concentration, like answering e-mails or sending faxes, says Caruthers.

Picking Up the Tab. If Boardroom president Julie Silver only knew how valuable Rosenthal was, Caruthers muses. Rosenthal paid for her own PCs (a Packard Bell Platinum and a Gateway desktop on order), a shredder, two phone lines, and a dial-up Internet connection – all costs usually borne by an employer, Caruthers notes. Rosenthal doesn't log her long-distance calls, either, though she admits they are few. Still, these are costs most employers cover, the consultant stresses.

Some of her South Florida calls incur a toll charge as well – an additional expense Rosenthal could avoid by subscribing to, say, BellSouth's Area Plus calling plan. For a flat monthly fee, subscribers escape local long-distance charges for calls up to 75 miles away.

Although Rosenthal picks up many of the expenses, her home office lacks some basics that could boost productivity, Caruthers says. First, neither the corporate office nor her home office has voice mail or an automated attendant; instead, they rely on answering machines to take incoming calls when no one's around. If she's using one line for her Web connection and another for business calls, Rosenthal will miss incoming calls.

She should also opt for local DSL service, says Caruthers, instead of using a slow dial-up. This will help her connect to the Internet faster, and enhance interaction with employees and clients. And she'll save money in the long run.

This scenario earthquake is for a magnitude 7.3 earthquake on the entire length of the Hayward fault [on the eastern side of the San Francisco Bay] from San Pablo Bay to the border of Alameda and Santa Clara counties.

The damage estimate for an earthquake along the entire Hayward fault represents, by far, the forecast with the most significant housing losses of the eleven estimates outlined in this report. [Refer to the website for more information]. With an area-wide loss of over 150,000 housing units, this scenario is over 70% higher than the Northern Hayward event, the next highest damage estimate. An earthquake along the entire Hayward fault would have devastating consequences for the cities in this region. As in the case of the Northern and Southern Hayward events, Alameda County is again the hardest hit. This time the impact is even greater; over 16% of Alameda County's total housing stock would be uninhabitable.

The impacts of multi-family construction are even more staggering; 37% of Alameda County's multi-family housing stock would be deemed uninhabitable. Over the entire Bay Area, 16% of the multi-family housing stock would not be fit for habitation. Likewise, the devastating damage estimates for unreinforced masonry buildings emphasizes the vulnerability of these buildings. Over the entire Bay Area, almost 55% of them would be uninhabitable, while in Alameda County an astonishing 92% of them would become uninhabitable.

The effects of an earthquake along the entire length of the Hayward fault would be devastating due to the shear magnitude of the numbers. Overall, over 370,000 people would be displaced creating a need to shelter over 106,000 people, or the equivalent of the entire population of Berkeley. As in the case of the uninhabitable units, Alameda County is again the hardest hit. Almost 205,000 people in Alameda County would be displaced, creating a need to shelter over 60,000 people in that county alone.

As with the scenarios on the Northern and Southern Hayward fault, the peak shelter population is not limited to the area adjacent to the fault, but is most significant within inner city areas. Again, both Alameda and San Francisco counties are expected to produce the highest percentages of shelter populations relative to their respective displaced population. These counties combined are expected to generate over 81% of the total shelter population.

INTEND SEGMENT BY SEGMENT TO BECOME A SELECTIVE SIFTER
From A New Beginning I: Handbook for Joyous Survival
By Jerry and Esther Hicks

The physical world in which you are currently focused has evolved to a highly technical and complicated state.

Because you have the ability to receive communication and information, literally, from all around the world, you also have the ability to be influenced by that which is happening anywhere upon the face of [the] earth.

While technology allows you many advantages, it also brings with it the disadvantage of confusion and overwhelment [sic], for you are living in an age of information overload.

Your marvelous Conscious Thinking Mechanism is eager to participate in thought, and quickly goes to work upon whatever stimulation you provide it. And, in this time of technology, you are receiving tremendous amounts of thought stimulation to be sifted and sorted.

Because most of you are not making deliberate decisions about what is most important to you, you are dealing more with that which is immediate than with that which is important.

Rather than tending to your dominant desires, you are bombarded by, and giving your thought and attention to, whatever is near you. And because of the technological society in which you live, literally everything that is happening upon [the] earth is "near" you. Therefore, it is more important now than ever before in the history of [the] earth that you take time, in every day, to identify, and state, clearly, that which is most important to you. Otherwise, you may be easily influenced to give your attention to that which surrounds you.

...[People] are going through the motions of life, performing the physical activities that they term "life" and creating experiences through their thoughts -- but not by their deliberate thought. In short... people... are living by default.

Until you have made a decision about what is important to you, all stimulation of thought draws your attention and as you give your attention to anything, you begin to create in the direction of it. And that is the reason that there is so much value for you to break your day into segments and to intend clearly what is most important to you within each segment.

As you begin the process of Segment Intending, you will be in control of your physical experience one segment at a time. The confusion that you are currently experiencing will lessen immediately, and instead of feelings of overwhelment [sic] and confusion -- which are negative emotions, "warning bells" -- you will be filled with exuberance and forward motion.

Making a decision, or giving conscious deliberate thought to that which you want, puts you in a position of being a Selective Sifter.

As you decide what it is that you are wanting, the entire Universe goes to work upon making that a reality within your physical experience. As you make no decisions about what is important, then you are not a Selective Sifter but a receiver of all things, and that is the reason for the confusion. Therefore, the more decisions ... you make, in any day, the more selective sifting you will do and the less confusion and the more satisfaction you will feel.

...The power of influences from others... [is] a tremendous hindrance to your own individual creative thinking. It seems that you prefer to accept the creative thoughts of others above setting forth creative thoughts of your own. This is primarily due to ... effective communication systems through ... televisions and radios and publications [since] a very small percentage of [the] population makes the decisions regarding what is being offered, while a very large percentage of [the] population participates by viewing or hearing or reading. And the result is that many are influenced by a few.

Every being who receives anything does so by his own choosing. The information that is offered is not being thrust upon you. You are making the decision whether to receive it -- or whether not to receive it.

As most of you are not making a decision about what is important to you, you are not utilizing the value of becoming a Selective Sifter; therefore you are receiving some of everything that is being offered. And because there is so much that is being offered, and because you are not selectively sifting by making your decisions about what is important, you are, for the most part, overwhelmed.

...Instead of making decisions about what you want so that you may selectively receive that which applies you are bombarded with information, regarding all topics, to the point that you withdraw. While you are occasionally stimulated by something that is outstanding or more unusual, for the most part you have become numb to life experience, for it seems to be coming at you faster than you can cope with it, and so you literally close down, out of self-preservation.

...We are wanting to offer you a more joyous alternative: by making more decisions, in every day, about what you want, you will automatically sift through all of the data, all of the words and all of the information that is coming to you. You will receive that which enhances what you want -- while you will not receive that which does not apply.

Instead of feeling overwhelmed, you will feel refreshed. Instead of feeling bombarded, you will feel stimulated; and instead of being closed to life, you will be open to life.

Michelle Passoff promises miracles in her "Free Yourself From Clutter" class. But don't expect any burning bushes.

"Clutter cleaning is dealing with yourself," Passoff told about 20 of us at our first of three classes last month, at the Open Center in SoHo. "The miracle is coming face to face with oneself."

I looked about the room and wondered for a weird second if we were characters in an Anne Tyler novel. We are slightly rumpled and frazzled-looking. We have an inability to organize. We can't throw anything out. We are unable to make decisions.

It dawned on us, with a kind of bemused horror, that we are our clutter. All those piles of unread newspapers on the Stairmaster, the bathroom cabinets full of dusty bottles of pills for some disease you had 10 years ago.

"The only difference between a person who clutters and one who does not is the ability to respond," Passoff told us. We exchanged timid looks.

Passoff reminded me of Rita, the no-nonsense, clear-eyed clutter counselor in Anne Tyler's Saint Maybe, who barrels into one of the author's rumpled families, the Bedloes, and throws out their junk. Passoff is 42. She used to run her own public-relations company. Now, she is a clutter counselor (she calls herself a clutter healer) and advises corporations on de-cluttering (she is helping Microsoft form a club called Organized Chaos.) She's not, she said, one of those recovered clutterers.

She told me her story later. She had to learn to be organized when she started her public-relations business 15 years ago. But over the years, it was a drain. She needed to do something nurturing. Then in 1992, events snowballed. Her best client changed hands, but the company kept paying her for six months. She had time to rethink her life. Then her father died. Six months later, her brother died. She found a rabbi who helped heal her heart. In the midst of all this, within two weeks of her father's death, two friends called independently and asked her to clean their closets.

"It was a strange request, but I knew how to manage my own clothes and papers," she said. They were inordinately grateful (she has this effect on people.) She put up a sign in an Upper West Side copy shop. Her phone started ringing. She told her "natural power" women's group about it: Five hands went up.

"It came to me like a geyser," she said. "I'd tapped into something already there." I'll say!

Now, back to class. When people whine about all the clothes they can't throw out, she is sympathetic. It's hard to admit you are not going to lose the 20 pounds that won't let you squeeze into that little brown skirt.

"I had to learn to deal with clothes because I grew up with a mother who should have been paid to shop, she was so good at it," Passoff said. "We had clothes in our closets with the tags still on them." Now, she buys clothes like the French do; a few good outfits she wears over and over again.

"Instead of shopping, take four friends out to dinner." You know, have relationships. Have a life.

Our first assignment: Go home and survey our clutter -- without judging ourselves. There is even a cassette tape for this exercise: "Close your eyes and imagine you are turning the key in your door," Passoff's voice says. "What do you see?"

I turn the key. I see underwear drying on the handlebars of my bike, because I haven't fixed the dryer in two years. I see a dining room table piled with story ideas I can't make up my mind about, books I haven't returned to a man I was seeing.

"What is that bag at the bottom of the closet?" Passoff's voice asks on the tape. "Look in it."

Weep, if you must. (A journal may help, Passoff says, until you bump into your miracle; i.e., yourself, which may make you cry again. Or maybe you'll find a man at the bottom of the pile. Or something easier, like a puppy.) Then think of clearing a path. And envision what you are clearing the path for.

Is it to be with people? To have a relationship? Clutter is no different from carrying fat around, Passoff told us in class. It insulates you from the world.

Is it to do something creative, like painting or writing a novel? "I've spent years talking to people about what they're working on, only to discover that they're not working on anything," Passoff said.

Dead silence. We looked at one another, furtively, thinking of those boxes of novel notes and unfinished canvases.

"So, what are you working on?" she asked us. "If you never do look at it, you're not working on it. So, throw it out."

And stop holding on to ghosts. She told of one client who kept her dead mother's sewing machine in her living room -- and she doesn't even sew.

"I told her: 'You're a photographer. Take a picture of it and send it on its way.' " "It's not that easy," whimpered a voice from the back. "I didn't say it was easy," Passoff said. "I think it takes courage to carve a life that you say you want."

Maybe you don't know who you are. "But eliminate what you're not," she said. And what's left will be you.

"It's like Michelangelo carving the Pieta," she said. (Was that a halo behind her, or just a fluorescent bulb malfunctioning?)

At the next session, some classmates reported they were now driven to clean. A man with 106 boxes of books hired a helper for four hours and got rid of six! A woman said she couldn't wait to get back to her clutter -- to throw out more! Another man said every place he has ever lived in, including his childhood home, has depressed him. He sat there for a minute. Maybe he needed more than a clutter class.

"Feeling comfortable at home always translates into being at home with yourself," Passoff said. "You want to create a place where you can live and be and thrive."

And how do we do that? (I actually like my clutter, but it's starting to act like a black hole.) Get some large trash bags, she said. And boxes for presorting. And file folders (hanging and manila) and labels and nifty pens, like an ultra-fine Sharpie, to make you feel sharp.

Then clear a space, where you can comfortably sit and sort. Maybe your desk, but you'll have to move all that stuff. Or the living room, if you like to sit on the floor. (But not the bed, which is for relationships.) Then start going through those piles Ð one piece at a time. If it's a financial thing, put it in a box labeled "financial." If it's a professional matter, put it in the "professional" box. If it's a love letter, the "personal" box. If it's a sock, put it under the bed. No, wait. In the laundry bag.

That's the easy part. Now, take one of those boxes and go through it, one item at a time, and deal with it. If it's a letter you want to answer, answer it, address the envelope and put a stamp on it. If it's a note to call someone back, call her and throw out the note. If it's an unpaid bill, pay it. If it's a paid bill and you need it for tax purposes, file it. But do not put it in another pile.

[That's the end of this article, but it seems unfinished. My thoughts on this subject, to summarize, are that many people need help in the early stages of this project. Finding someone to help you, motivate you and perhaps hold you accountable, may be necessary. That's where someone like myself, a professional organizer, can come in and, as one of my clients put it -- "help unlock the log jam." Thanks, Jeff! Editor]

LONG-TERM EFFECT ON BODY FROM QUAKES: STRESS FROM NATURAL DISASTER SUPPRESSES IMMUNE SYSTEM, UCLA STUDY SAYS
By Dennis Anderson, A.P., the San Francisco Examiner 3/22/97

Earthquakes will do more than shake you up emotionally. The stress they bring can suppress your immune system and make you sick, a new UCLA medical study has concluded. "This research shows that natural disasters such as an earthquake not only cause emotional distress, but they also can create negative physical effects," said Dr. George Solomon, a UCLA psychiatrist. "Psychological well-being and physical well-being are inextricably intertwined," said Solomon, principal author of the study.

The study of 68 people at the Sepulveda Veterans Administration Medical Center was released Friday. It was begun just 11 days after the 1994 Northridge quake. Researchers conducting the study collected blood samples periodically for four months afterward. The researchers studied the numbers and function of natural "killer cells," considered a first-line responder of the immune system, and several types of immune T-cells, which help the body fight microbial invaders, cancer and other illnesses. Nearly one-third of people in the study were injured during the quake, or had a close friend or relative who was hurt.

The most severe suppression of people's immune systems occurred among people whose emotional response to the natural disaster seemed inappropriately low, or inappropriately high. People who adopted a business-as-usual attitude probably suppressed their emotions, and that corresponded with a drop in their immune systems, Solomon concluded. On the extreme side of the scale, people who reacted hysterically also suffered big drops in their cell counts, Solomon said. Those who suffered depression were likely to experience a corresponding depression of the T-cell count. "Most people are somewhere in the middle," the psychiatrist said. "People around the middle did the best."

Despite generally mild weather, in the weeks after the quake "there was already a high incidence of upper respiratory infections, and they stayed high.... There were an awful lot of people with colds and flu, and things of that sort." Immune system functions continued to sink during the four-month