Friday, April 16, 2010
Hazardous Waste Event
Delaware County is hosting a Household Hazardous Waste recycling event on Saturday, April 24, 2010, at the Emergency Services Training Center in Darby, PA. They will also take computers, printers, fax machines and portable TVs at this event. See http://www.co.delaware.pa.us/recycle/hhw.html for details.
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Blogs, Blogs, Blogs: How to Create A Blog Reading List
Blogs, blogs, blogs...It seems like everyone has a blog (short for “web log”) these days. How do you begin to find blogs you like to read?
Internet marketing expert Alex Seigfried of Seigfried Designs (www.seigfrieddesigns.com) suggests using Google’s free online applications. “If you want to be notified of new blog postings on blogs you already follow, then I would use Google Reader,” Seigfried explains. Google Reader (reader.google.com) collects new postings from blogs you like, so you can read them all in one place at your leisure.
“If you want to find new blogs or Web sites on a certain subject, then you can use a service called Google Alerts,” Seigfried adds. Google Alerts (www.google.com/alerts) allows you to create search terms, such as “home organizing blogspot” or “organizing blog wordpress.” The links it finds can be emailed to you on a daily or weekly basis, or they can be sent to Google Reader.
To get you started, here are a few blogs I like to read regularly:
Getting Things Done Blog
www.gtdtimes.com
Author, consultant and international lecturer David Allen writes this blog about personal and organizational productivity.
Stepcase LifeHack Blog
www.lifehack.org
This blog includes articles from dozens of contributors on the topics of saving time, improving productivity and bringing simplicity to your life.
Zen Habits Simple Productivity Blog
zenhabits.net
With articles that help you find simplicity in life’s daily chaos, this blog clears the clutter so you can focus on what’s important, create something amazing and find happiness.
Fitness Together Main Line Blog
www.ftmainline.com/blog
The blog from this personal training company offers more than just exercise information. You’ll find articles on nutrition, stress relief and longevity.
Sara Long Organizing Blog
saralongorganizing.blogspot.com
Yep, that’s my blog! If you like my column, you’ll love the additional organizing tips on my blog.
Internet marketing expert Alex Seigfried of Seigfried Designs (www.seigfrieddesigns.com) suggests using Google’s free online applications. “If you want to be notified of new blog postings on blogs you already follow, then I would use Google Reader,” Seigfried explains. Google Reader (reader.google.com) collects new postings from blogs you like, so you can read them all in one place at your leisure.
“If you want to find new blogs or Web sites on a certain subject, then you can use a service called Google Alerts,” Seigfried adds. Google Alerts (www.google.com/alerts) allows you to create search terms, such as “home organizing blogspot” or “organizing blog wordpress.” The links it finds can be emailed to you on a daily or weekly basis, or they can be sent to Google Reader.
To get you started, here are a few blogs I like to read regularly:
Getting Things Done Blog
www.gtdtimes.com
Author, consultant and international lecturer David Allen writes this blog about personal and organizational productivity.
Stepcase LifeHack Blog
www.lifehack.org
This blog includes articles from dozens of contributors on the topics of saving time, improving productivity and bringing simplicity to your life.
Zen Habits Simple Productivity Blog
zenhabits.net
With articles that help you find simplicity in life’s daily chaos, this blog clears the clutter so you can focus on what’s important, create something amazing and find happiness.
Fitness Together Main Line Blog
www.ftmainline.com/blog
The blog from this personal training company offers more than just exercise information. You’ll find articles on nutrition, stress relief and longevity.
Sara Long Organizing Blog
saralongorganizing.blogspot.com
Yep, that’s my blog! If you like my column, you’ll love the additional organizing tips on my blog.
Monday, March 22, 2010
HGTV's New "Home Rules" Show: I'm Not a Fan
I really wanted to like the new series "Home Rules," HGTV's hour-long show with Life Coach Fran Harris. I thought it would be a little organizing, a little time management, a little money management, a little goal-setting, and a little therapy. That wasn't the case.
Overall, "Home Rules" is a glorified interior design show. I know one of the sponsors is Sherman Williams. I get it. They have to paint, and they have to have close-ups of paint cans while they're painting. But the rest of the show misses the mark as well.
The premise of the show is that a Life Coach is sent to help a family that has financial and relational problems. The show's answer is to tempt them to improve their lives by offering to drastically renovate their house for free. The renovations start while the family attends meetings, completes exercises, and establishes rules.
Okay, pause. Do you see where the first problem is? The family hasn't even gone through one week of attempting to change their lives, and they're already in the middle of what I can only guess is a $50,000 renovation. What are the producers going to do if the family doesn't commit to change, stop working and leave their house worse off than it was?
In the episode I watched, a family needed a new refrigerator, insulation in one room, and to finish a bathroom and a laundry room. (Also, the kids didn't like the styles of their rooms, but I'm not considering that a dire need.) Why couldn't the show just fix the broken things? Instead, they rewarded people who made poor financial decisions and lived beyond their means for at least ten years with a whole-house renovation that most levelheaded, frugal people could only dream of.
To reign in the spoiled oldest daughter, they made her take out an old toilet. Good television, yes. But couldn't they just teach her to do laundry? Or cook pasta? Or even clean a toilet? Couldn't they make her do something she could do to help her mother and that would be a good skill for her future as well? I'm a handy person, but I'll tell you, I never have taken out a toilet and never plan to take out a toilet. The idea was too extreme.
Also, there were several camera "asides" where Harris was shocked and almost teasing her clients. Really, Fran Harris? You've never seen this before? I realize these quick asides were probably just for entertainment value, but it's kind of insulting to all professionals who make a living helping people find order in their lives. Believe me, we're not all that judgmental.
Maybe I have an inaccurate perception of what Life Coaches do. I remember watching a TV show called "Starting Over," where a group of women going through life transitions lived in a house together and participated in coach-lead exercises, goal-setting, and therapy. Granted, it was still a cheesy "crazy house" reality show, but it had some great ideas on how to help people overcome common roadblocks. I've also seen similar shows about financial management and time management that used a "tough love" approach to help people and share practical advice that all of us can use.
It may be the producers, editors, or just the nature of the TV format, but "Home Rules" breezes through these people's transitions without pinpointing what was really wrong with their value system. They treat the family's obsession with over-spending on expensive stuff by...giving them a lot of expensive stuff. Sorry, "Home Rules," you lost me.
Overall, "Home Rules" is a glorified interior design show. I know one of the sponsors is Sherman Williams. I get it. They have to paint, and they have to have close-ups of paint cans while they're painting. But the rest of the show misses the mark as well.
The premise of the show is that a Life Coach is sent to help a family that has financial and relational problems. The show's answer is to tempt them to improve their lives by offering to drastically renovate their house for free. The renovations start while the family attends meetings, completes exercises, and establishes rules.
Okay, pause. Do you see where the first problem is? The family hasn't even gone through one week of attempting to change their lives, and they're already in the middle of what I can only guess is a $50,000 renovation. What are the producers going to do if the family doesn't commit to change, stop working and leave their house worse off than it was?
In the episode I watched, a family needed a new refrigerator, insulation in one room, and to finish a bathroom and a laundry room. (Also, the kids didn't like the styles of their rooms, but I'm not considering that a dire need.) Why couldn't the show just fix the broken things? Instead, they rewarded people who made poor financial decisions and lived beyond their means for at least ten years with a whole-house renovation that most levelheaded, frugal people could only dream of.
To reign in the spoiled oldest daughter, they made her take out an old toilet. Good television, yes. But couldn't they just teach her to do laundry? Or cook pasta? Or even clean a toilet? Couldn't they make her do something she could do to help her mother and that would be a good skill for her future as well? I'm a handy person, but I'll tell you, I never have taken out a toilet and never plan to take out a toilet. The idea was too extreme.
Also, there were several camera "asides" where Harris was shocked and almost teasing her clients. Really, Fran Harris? You've never seen this before? I realize these quick asides were probably just for entertainment value, but it's kind of insulting to all professionals who make a living helping people find order in their lives. Believe me, we're not all that judgmental.
Maybe I have an inaccurate perception of what Life Coaches do. I remember watching a TV show called "Starting Over," where a group of women going through life transitions lived in a house together and participated in coach-lead exercises, goal-setting, and therapy. Granted, it was still a cheesy "crazy house" reality show, but it had some great ideas on how to help people overcome common roadblocks. I've also seen similar shows about financial management and time management that used a "tough love" approach to help people and share practical advice that all of us can use.
It may be the producers, editors, or just the nature of the TV format, but "Home Rules" breezes through these people's transitions without pinpointing what was really wrong with their value system. They treat the family's obsession with over-spending on expensive stuff by...giving them a lot of expensive stuff. Sorry, "Home Rules," you lost me.
Friday, March 19, 2010
Hazardous Waste Recycling Event
Delaware County is hosting a Household Hazardous Waste recycling event on Saturday, March 27, 2010, at the Marple Transfer Station in Broomall, PA. See http://www.co.delaware.pa.us/recycle/hhw.html for details.
Friday, March 5, 2010
Big Shredding Event
Save the Date!
The National Association of Professional Organizers Greater Philadelphia Chapter (NAPO-GPC) will host a big Get Organized shredding event on Saturday, March 13, at Ikea in Conshohocken.
And it's free!
Click here for more information.
The National Association of Professional Organizers Greater Philadelphia Chapter (NAPO-GPC) will host a big Get Organized shredding event on Saturday, March 13, at Ikea in Conshohocken.
And it's free!
Click here for more information.
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