Oprah has a list of 10 shortcuts in her December ‘07 online edition. It’s an interesting mix of tips–in fact, I wouldn’t have labeled this list as 10 shortcuts. I would have categorized them more like I did below (the tips are the ones listed on Oprah’s site):

Shortcuts

• #2 Finish errands in a flash (The title is a misleading. Prefer something like, “Save time with right turns”.)
• #6 Organize e-mail in a snap
• #7 Leverage what the web has to offer
• #9 Save time by using keyboard shortcuts (I’m a big fan of Mac keyboard shortcuts).
• #10 Change Your E-mail Address with Ease

Shortcut + product promotion

• #1 Fix your hair in three minutes

Global community actions

• #3 Reduce your impact on the environment

Not sure where this one should go. Suggestions? “Connecting with others” perhaps?

• #4 Win over a baby

Things not to do to simplify your life

• #5 Build an instant home library (how about getting a book from the library when you want to read it so that you don’t have to store a bunch of books you may never read?)
• #8 Watch TV shows online (how about saying “no” to TV?)

There you have it. My revised list, or beginnings of lists.

This handy program comes from Lance.

If you are a Mac person, skip this post–you have a pdf creator built in to Mac OSX.

If you’re a Windows person, and you’ve wanted to save a document to pdf, you need a little help–and here it is! pdfforge’s PDF Creator.

Once installed, it acts like a printer. Meaning, that when you are in the document you want to convert to pdf, you select Print from the file menu, and then choose this “printer” for the PDF Creator.

Cost: free — though if you find the program useful, a donation would be appreciated.

When I was in the Yosemite area, I tried signing up for Jott, the phone to email message/transcription service. Even though I had wireless and phone service, I wasn’t able to complete registration for some mysterious reason.

Once home, I completed registration without any trouble whatsoever. I called the 800# from my cell phone to send my first Jott. The recorded voice asked, “Who do you want to Jott?” I answered, “myself”. Then promptly drew a blank on something to say. “This is my first test Jott.” Wow. Profound. Not.

I tried another one. “Who do you want to Jott?” “Myself” then, “Call Mark.” Another recorded voice immediately jumped on me to exclaim “I do not understand”. “Call Mark” “I do not understand.”

This call and response repeated 5 times until I was ready to do something drastic with my phone. For the same reason that limitless phone navigation trees can illicit unreasonable responses from otherwise patient human beings, hearing “I do not understand” after something so simple was rather frustrating. Funny thing is that when I got home, there was, in fact, a Jott email waiting for me that reported: “Call Mark.” Minor glitch in the system perhaps?

After another successful usage the other day, I was feeling amenable to the service. Until today. I still haven’t receive the email message from a Jott I sent over 12 hours ago. Hmmm. “I do not understand.”

I’ll try it a few more times. Unreliable messages will definitely put a damper on my enthusiasm. Right now, I’m willing to give it the benefit of the doubt–user error? one-time glitch? I’ll let you know what I think.

The opening speaker for the 19th annual SF NAPO Conference (original conference post here) was Caterina Rando, business success coach and author.

She covered several subjects–this post is about what I particularly appreciated about her talk.

She had us draw an 8-sliced “pie” on a piece of paper. We then labeled each one: financial, significant relationship, health/fitness/vitality, physical environment, friends/family, recreation/rejuvenation, personal/professional/spiritual development, & career.

Then she had us put a star in the ones we felt strong in–these are our centers of power. And then a check mark in those we felt weak in–these are challenge areas.

We were then asked to choose one of the challenge areas we’d like to improve in. Her first question posed was: “Do you have a vision in that challenge area?” I could feel a collective “a-ha” resonating throughout the room of 200 people. In fact, the general consensus was that No! we do not have a vision of how we want to be in that area.

She then pointed out that we humans like to “hang out” in areas in which we feel strong, and not where we feel uncomfortable or inadequate. Thus, our centers of power become ever stronger, the challenge areas often left behind.

The first step to remedy a challenge area is to develop a vision. How do I want to see myself in that area? What does it feel like? How would I interact or respond when that area is a center of power?

The second step is to identify an action that will help make that center of power become a reality.

The third step is to DO IT! and keep reliving the vision.

(We already know I’m a huge fan of visualizing.) Which reminds me of another thing I really appreciated hearing from Caterina: she illuminated the importance of visualizing.

This is based on the understanding that there are 3 main sections of the brain. One being the reptilian brain which takes care of those basic functions like breathing and pumping blood throughout the body; one being the neo-cortex which is involved in conscious thought and language (the analyzing brain); the third being the limbic which is involved in emotion, motivation, and emotional association with memory (the emotional brain).

For visualization to work, we need both the analyzing and emotional brains pulling for us.

For example, when I state a visualization such as, “I want to fully engage with my audience when public speaking”, I am using the analytical brain. When I imagine and “feel” that state of being as already achieved, I am engaging the emotional brain.

I love this stuff! Thanks, Caterina!

Here’s a quick tip idea triggered by a Lifehacker post and subsequent comments. The post is Keep a File of Your Accomplishments. Post author Wendy Boswell suggests having a “Yay-Me” file to put notes on accomplishments you’ve made. She’s primarily writing about a corporate context in which annual reviews are a reality.

For us self-employed types, we get daily reviews in the form of repeat clients (or not). Precious testimonials from clients are like gold and definitely worth saving for use.

Besides these, I also have a “Nice words” file where I drop grateful emails from clients that aren’t going to the testimonials page but are uplifting to read through every once in a while.

One of the other contexts brought up in the comments section of the above mentioned Lifehacker post was for the resume. Now that’s useful. Not that I’ve updated my resume lately (one of the reasons I’m self-employed, lol) but what about the online bio or a few words for introduction for an upcoming speech? Having a file for miscellaneous accomplishments would be a great place to get some interesting info!

Have you ever received an invoice from someone that didn’t have some crucial piece of information–like where to send the check or the name of the business? Yikes! Following is a quick run down of the parts that should be included on an invoice. The fun thing about the invoice is that the ordering of info is flexible and the design is up to you–just keep it in line with your other forms for continuity.

Your name or business name
Your address
Your phone number and email — In case they have questions, make it easy for them to reach you!

Invoice date — Always date important papers!!!
Invoice # — Even if your operation is small enough to not need invoice numbers, your clients may use them for their own tracking. An easy default can be your clients initials + the date. For example, if you were billing Project Simplify in September 2007 => PS0907.

Bill to — i.e. Client/business name
Client’s address

Services — Provide enough info to remind them what they are paying you for. Include time sheet if that is your agreement with them.
Rate — Example: $X/hour x 5 hours
Total due $

Terms — Examples: “Payable upon receipt” or “net 15″. Ideally, you’ve already agreed upon this point with them and this is merely a reminder.

Payment instructions — Examples: “Please remit payment to above/below address.” or “Paypal payments accepted to xxxxx”

You may add or delete some items for your invoice depending on your business. You’ll also want to let your clients know when you bill, for example at the end of each month, and then stick with that agreement.

Tracking. Not talking about racetrack afficionados. I’m referring to a type of information that may have been living in your head that would be much better suited for a page in your reference binder. Take an example of a general contractor who has continuing education requirements to maintain certifications.

Fred is a green builder so in addition to the regular contractor certifications to stay up on, he has green building ones as well. He recently received an annual renewal notice with the dreaded request for continuing education credits reporting. Why dreaded? The year flew by and he didn’t sign up for and take enough courses.

How can this process be easier next year? We create a simple form that includes:

• name of the licensing body, for ex. Green Builders,
• number of credits required,
• sources of classes offered,
• space to list the classes signed up for & dates completed

A file with the named “Green Builders - certification” would be the storage place for class documentation.

Repeat for each licensing organization.

And finally, drop a note in the Take Action folder to check in on his class sign up situation at the beginning of each quarter.