Organizing Life, Home and Work
Hidden Disorganization
By Mandie Crawford
Apr 29, 2005, 10:01

Getting it together in your home or office makes life so much easier. It is easy to see when someone is bogged down with paperwork problems, or just plain household chores when you look at the environment that they function in. However there is one area where many of us are very
disorganized- mostly due to not understanding how to get better organized. And that is in the dreaded area where many fear to venture-computers.

Now before I go any further, let me first say that, I am not an expert in any way in that area. However, I am computer literate. I can update my website, create and send out html documents and even dabble for fun with graphics programs. I know e-mail inside and out, but do not ask me how much ram I have. You get my drift. So all you computer gurus out there, we are calling for your tips to get our computers organized.

My first suggestion is that if your computer is running slowly or crashing regularly, take it in to a trusted computer location. Please see the ad in the sidebar for the place I take my computers and would like to refer you to. I have seen computers where there are over 1,000 e-mails in the inbox, and 5,000 deleted e-mails. Your computer and the program will not run well or quickly with that many e-mails. They take up far too much space.

Here are some quick tips that I have learned:

E-mail:

* Please, please, delete your deleted items box regularly
* If you need to save e-mail, place it in a folder under your inbox(Click on inbox, right click and choose new folder and name it. Drag and drop the e-mail into the folder)
* Delete your sent items regularly.
* Do not keep more than 10 items in you inbox. If you do not need it, delete it.
* You can save emails to a folder other than in your inbox. (choose file, save as, and then choose a place to save it)
* Do not open any ZIP files from people you do not know.
* Do not open any attachments with .exe as an ending, if you do not know what the program is.

There are many viruses out there that come as attachments and you must open them to ‘set them free’. So even if something comes as an attachment even from someone you know that has a zip or exe ending, and you were not expecting it-DO NOT OPEN.

Also be sure to have good virus detecting software. Again if you need information about that be sure to contact Don Jess from Computability. If he cannot help you, he will steer you in the right direction.

Other things to remember: (I just learned some myself)

* Do not run your computer ALL the time. There are programs that are running even if you do not see. Every once in a while you need to shut down or reboot, to close some of them down.
* Run a scan disk, or de-fragmentation every so often. This is the computers way of organizing your files so there is more available space. Scan disk can also detect errors and sometimes repair small ones.
* Do not keep a lot of folders on your desk top. Keep them somewhere else and just have the shortcut on the desktop.

As I said I am not a computer wizard. However, I have learned enough that I am not always frustrated by problems on my computer that I may have caused without even being aware of it. I will repeat though, that if you have a problem that you do not know how to solve, call in an expert.

This summer, if there is enough response, I will facilitate a workshop for those of you who would like to know more about organizing your files, email and protecting your computer from viruses. Please contact me if you are interested and I will add your name to the list.

----------------------------------
For more time saving tips, order "When Every Second Counts", Mandie's new book! http://www.simplifylifespaces.com/products.htm

For more information or archived articles visit www.simplifylifespaces.com

If you would like to receive one on one time analysis and coaching or need help get organized from the inside out please contact mccrawford7@cogeco.ca


© Copyright 2010 by MomsNetwork.com