Everything you have plugged into a power strip still sucks the power even though its turned off. This accounts for 10% of your electric bill. Think about that for a second, you've turned the power off but your still paying. Hmm, not such a good idea. So grab a new and improved power strip by Smarthome USA that stops the current. So stop using all that energy and do something else with the savings.

Looking for a way to save space and money? Keep kids up to date with toys according to their age without cluttering up your basement and return them when you are done. Check out baby play toy rental for the latest toys your kids will enjoy each month.

I highly recommend using a single notebook to keep track of notes. Use this instead of writing notes on little pieces of paper. Here is the rule on shifting your note taking to the notebook. You must go through your notebook on a regular basis or your notes will get lost in the shuffle of your 200 page notebook. Please write the date on the top of each page so you have an idea of when you took the note. Dont shift around to the middle and back of the notebook to write notes. They too will get lost. Finally pull sheets out when you have completed the tasks on the page. Your notebook should be out of pages when you are done with it. Then you can go out and buy a new one.

I just read Karli's post and thought I would add a couple of options for reading books on your cell phone.

Dailylit.com has a unique way of breaking up books into small chunks, then they e-mail the chunks to your cell phone. You can choose when chunks are sent. For my first book I requested the chunks to come just before bedtime. If I don't read before bed then it is waiting for me for the morning bus ride.

Next is mobipocket.com. This site downloads a small application onto your phone that will connect you to an online store and let you download and view the books to your phone.

Enjoy!
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It's true many of us have cell phones. We also have so much downtime during the day like riding the subway or waiting in line. So, many people are taking advantage of this downtime by reading books on their tiny little cell phones. You usually have your cell phone with you, so why not carry a book downloaded to your handy cell phone and read it anywhere! Mobile websites are offering novels classics, best sellers and some works written especially for the cell phone user. Check out this article from Wired about this reading books on your cell phone.

HON, the office furniture company that makes durable office furniture which is also an organizing staple is running a sweepstakes this year that corresponds to tax season. The sweepstakes is entitled “Win an Audit,” and details are at www.staples.com/hon. Entrants sign up to win a fully loaded Audi TT, which is a great deal!

Go to http://iw.rtm.com/HON/register.asp and enter to wint!

Shopping tip of the day - Do you use the same products in the kitchen, bathroom and office such as dish detergent, toothpaste or printer cartridges? Make your shopping trip easier next time by having a master list of commonly used products for each area of your home. Make sure the other shoppers in your home also have a copy of the list.

Lately I have been relying more on my mobile phone and less on my computer. Like many people I spend less and less time at my desk, and more time travelling, en route and attending appointments. To keep organized I am leaning more on my mobile phone to keep up on e-mail, manage to do and task lists, review documents and keep up with the news. In the process I have learned that I am willing to sacrifice bells and whistle's for convenience and formatting for speed. This post is the first in what I hope will be a helpful series of tips on using your mobile phone to get organized.

There are lots of ways to manage to do lists. Several programs and notepads are available to help keep a daily to do list organized, but the simplest and most effective method I have found is by using e-mail on my Blackberry. I simply write a draft e-mail to myself of all the items I wish to accomplish that day. Through out the day I can edit the e-mail and place an X next to items that have been completed. I believe this simple method of organizing to do items works for me because I am already heavily relying on my Blackberry for e-mail, so every time I check my e-mail I see my self addressed e-mail titled "To Do List". When I am finished responding to e-mail on the go, I then review the list and check off completed items.

At the end of the day I copy the items that remain to be completed and paste them into a new draft e-mail for tomorrow. Then I send todays list to myself so that I have a record of each days to do list in both my inbox and sent folders. I usually just delete the one in my inbox and use the item in my sent folder for archiving.

The trick is getting into a routine. But I find that the more I rely on my mobile, the more I successfully manage my to do lists using e-mail.

I also should mention that I use a 4 level action system to manage responsibilities. Each time I am presented with a task I first determine if it can and should be accomplished right away. If so, I simply accomplish the item without recording it anywhere. If the item can and should be accomplished that day I enter it into my draft to do e-mail. If it can not be accomplished that day, but is a simple task, I enter it into my task list. Task lists will be my next post. And finally, if an item doesn't belong in the first 3 categories, then it must be a project...and goes into the project list.

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