(www.myorganizedbiz.com) – There’s some great writing going on around the b5 Business Channel I though you should know about, so here’s my roundup for the week…

At Yielding Wealth, Miranda’s got a fun video feature that captures my heart – and the essence of my own financial values.

Miranda also wrote a post called Me and My Cash Flow Problem – where she discusses a financial mistake she made and shares a lesson we can all learn from.

On TaxGirl, Kelly gives us the DL on health insurance premiums and how to deduct them. This is an oft-overlooked writeoff so check it out.

At StartupSpark, Shannon starts a conversation about business insurance – and how it can CYA in a dire situation. Chime in with your insurance experiences.

I love just about everything Glen at LifeDev writes, but this post is exceptional (I mostly wish I’d written it myself) and highlights the 10 ways history-makers kept focused.

And lastly, lively conversations about taming email continue at HomeBizNotes and The Golden Pencil – with great tips and ideas from all sides.

This weeks featured blog: Pimp Your Work. I must admit the name turned me off initially, but I spent some time checking out the content and was impressed. Get great info about how to make your work easier and your day more enjoyable.

Check out Celine’s suggestions for taming email (what a theme we’ve got going!) at Pimp Your Work.

(www.myorganizedbiz.com) – Images are featured here every Sunday to encourage rest, contemplation, and delight. Without these, no business is truly organized.

This image is provided by Christine Paintner of Seattle, WA and used with permission. See more from Christine here.

Have a restful Sunday.

Until a few years ago, the only options for recycling CDs included making mobiles from fishing wire and tiling your bathroom floor.

Despite their primarily plastic contents, CDs and DVDs can’t be included in household recycling and very few centers are set up to accept them. Most people chuck them in the trash – where they go from the trash can to the incineration facility to be burned or the landfill to never biodegrade.

Good news!

Several companies have taken up the challenge to remove these plastic disks from the waste stream and put them back into use. In some cases, they’ll recycle an unlimited number of disks and you only pay for postage!

CD Recycling Center of America in Salem, NH – accepts CDs, DVDs, and jewel cases free of charge. You pay for postage.

GreenDisk in Sahammish, WA offers unlimited CD recycling, technology equipment recycling, and their own line of recycled products.

FreeRecycling in Laguna Niguel, CA has a practically unnavigable website, but also offers CD and DVD recycling and bulk containers that destroy data on the CDs upon disposal.

In a life-cycle analysis of compact disks, the EPA gives an ironic “fun fact” that “more than 5.5 million boxes of software go to landfills and incinerators, plus people throw away millions of music CDs
each year!”

What are you doing with your CDs and DVDs? Did you know that recycling was an option?

(www.myorganizedbiz.com) – This is so cool! You get quality light generated by the earth – and never have to worry about where to plug it in.

This modern LED-illuminated light generates the equivalent of a 40watt bulb (great for ambient lighting) and recently was awarded 2nd place in the Greener Gadgets Design Competition.

Get the whole scoop in this article from Science Daily!

Photo credit: Clay Moulton

Like it? Hate it? What’s your take on this lamp?

(www.myorganizedbiz.com) - Whether your head is in the sand, you’re quaking in nervous anticipation, or scoffing at the absurdity, 70% of economists agree that the U.S. is in a recession. In other words, our gross domestic product has had two successive quarters showing a loss rather than a gain.

Myself, I alternate between putting my nose to the grindstone and breaking out in a cold sweat. As a small business owner, I wonder how I’m going to keep afloat.

The good news is that no amount of worry will to change the way things are going. So what’s a savvy, organized business owner to do?

Have a kitchen table financial summit.

My buddy, Mark Silver introduced me to this concept and it has proved to be a life- and sanity-saver. Not to mention a really cool way to stay financially organized.

The basic idea is to develop a regular and sane relationship with your money and finances. So often we run from money issues, and this allows you to face them squarely and gently.

What do you do in a kitchen table financial summit?

For one, make the time for it. Put a kettle for tea and begin to treat your money like you would a good friend. Mark recommends doing it for an hour on a weekly basis. Time invested will pay off.

Once you’ve set aside the time, you develop a spreadsheet. It can be high tech or low tech. Personally, I like scratching it out on paper because the physicality is grounding for me and I can see everything without scrolling. Use what feels comfortable to you.

Enter any upcoming expenses and the dates they’re due. And then enter income you’re expecting. If you’ve been doing it for a while, cross off anything you’ve paid already.

How to beat the recession

A weekly Financial Summit can recession-proof your business because it helps you analyze where your money is going in a non-judgemental way. Over time, you may be able to cut back on certain expenses, pay off debts, and build savings – just by paying more loving attention to your money.

Sound wild? It’s awesome. And if you want to get a complete description of Mark’s Kitchen Table Financial Summit process (as well as a sample pdf spreadsheet) visit his website.

Is your head in the sand? Are you nervous about the recession? What are you doing to stay on top of your financial situation?

(www.myorganizedbiz.com) - I’m thrilled to be featuring Leif Hansen this week from SparkNW. He’s had quite a lot of press and camera time lately around his work with SoulTech, including a recent feature on the Today Show.

Jen: Welcome, Leif! Now, you’ve got your businesses, Spark Northwest & Spark Social Media, and recently the ‘Soul Tech’ workshop – that’s a lot! How are you spending most of your time?

Leif: I divide it a few ways, but the main focus for me lately is doing consulting and development around new social media. People are more and more interested in things like podcasting, social networking, microblogging, social bookmarking, etc. It’s richer media, more interactive, and its the way things are heading. It’s fun and a little scary because it can suck up so much of one’s time and life (that’s where the ‘Soul Tech’ workshop comes in.)

Jen: Before we dig in to all of it, can you tell us what compels you to focus on social networking?

Leif: Well, underneath everything I do, whether face-to-face or through technology, is a common thread: connecting people, facilitating an enjoyable/exciting process, and motivating people to action (hopefully to transformation). The new social media, particularly social networking, is really setup to facilitate all three of those steps (though each step, being virtual, has its pitfalls.)

I have to say that I’m also skeptical of social media’s limitations (I use the term ’skeptech’ when blogging about my tech concerns). Because I value real face-to-face time, I’m constantly struggling with balancing the real world versus the virtual world. You’ve got to have both – too much time in front of the screen, your connections are not as deep.

Jen: Agreed – they’re both powerful formats, but balance is key. So, what would you say are the benefits of using social media in one’s small business?

Leif: Good and hard question. Off the top of my head I’d say social media does 4 or 5 things for the small business:

1. It can help improve your product or service based on real time feedback – a power which I think is just barely being tapped by companies.

2. It helps increase retention and loyalty of current customers by deepening the relationship – keeping in touch and giving people a place to share themselves, like a nest for them to settle back into. This ‘customer community’ mentality can also help keep your business genuinely service-oriented, which will always be good for business.

3. It offers you the ability to promote a product/service almost instantaneously through new channels and to new markets. In addition, by offering social bookmarking links (like Digg, Del.icio.us, Stumble Upon, etc) and by making it easy for your readers, listeners or viewers to share your content with others, your business can ‘go viral’.

4. Social media puts you in the hot zone. When you’re using the most innovative tools, it implies relevance and that your business is ‘hot’.

5. Some businesses may even be able to do real-time business through new social media: video conferencing options, paid-subscription based content, SkypeCasting ( a group conference call – for example, combine this with a pay per call online class.)

Jen: There are so many possibilities in this media that a small business owner could get overwhelmed. What advice would you give to someone considering incorporating social media into their business?

Leif:

• Ask yourself what your end goal is – what’s the destination? Think about why you’re doing this.
• Do some thinking about the possible outcomes and decide what your priorities are. for example, do you want this to get feedback? To develop web presence more? To connect clients with each other? Be strategic about it.
• Decide how much time and resources money you want to invest in it. Be realistic.
• Take stock of your own technical skills. If you’re someone who is high-tech and can learn this stuff easily, then you can DIY. If you’re not or you’re busy, it’s probably better to hire someone else to do it for you.
• Come up with a timeline and a plan. The temptation is to do it all tomorrow, but you’ll get better results if you lay out a plan and the steps to develop based on your goals.

Jen: And someone can contact you for this kind of support, right?

Leif: Yes!

Jen: This is great information. So tell me, what’s some of the coolest stuff you’ve seen or tried lately that’s helping you organize in your business?

Leif: Well, there are so many I’d want to suggest, but here are a few geeky cool tools that come to mind.

Have you heard of jott.com?You call their toll-free number and it takes your message, then translates it into text (with about 95% accuracy) – and then it can add that to a to-do list like twitter, etc. How about GrandCentral, recently acquired by Google. This currently free service gives you a ‘lifetime’ phone number that can then ring all your other numbers depending on who is calling, when, etc. Tons of features you’ll need to check out.

I’d suggest people checking out ‘Talkshoe.com’ –a service that allows you to easily set up your own live talk show and podcast, and that will even pay you based on the number of live listeners and downloads you receive. Even crazier, checkout Ustream.TV – with this service anyone can have their own TV station for free. In about a half hour, you log in, set up account, and anyone you give the link to can see it – BOOM! you have your own TV station. Crazy, huh?

Jen: Awesome!

Leif: There’s even a service called Qik, that gives you your own station using a cell phone! You turn it on and it’s a live video channel. Of course, with this kind of power there is potential for great good (think of social justice issues brought to attention) and great abuse (think big brother.)

Jen: Depending on how it’s used, right?

Leif: Exactly. One other geeky thing to check out is eyejott.com. You just use the camera on your computer (or you can buy one) and then leave a short video message on your blog or website – then other people can reply with video, or with voice (if they don’t have video.)

Jen: Thanks for giving us a rundown of the benefits of social media in small business and the most organized ways of incorporating it into our marketing plan.

And readers – are your eyes glazed over? Have you used any of these tools? Chime and and share what you think below…

If your life seems more off-kilter than usual, you might be “crazy busy” – a term used by Dr. Edward Hallowell to describe ADD-like symptoms in everyday people that come from the accelerated pace of life.

I subscribe to Hallowell’s CrazyBusy tips feed and was notified of a free conference call – happening today! – featuring Dr. Hallowell and others, including Joe Polish of Piranha Marketing.

Here is the email text in its entirety:

What I want to share with you are the secrets to keeping your life simple and keeping your business profitable. And, you can find them here –> www.SuccessWith Sanity.com

Joe Polish of Piranha Marketing, is hosting a teleseminar on Thursday, this week, March 27th. The experts on this call are great fun to listen to but this call is really an incredible gift because these guys are going to deliver over 90 minutes of valuable strategies you can use right now to get control – “CrazyBusy No More!” – quit “working” when you’re out of your office or on vacation, or when you’re trying to spend quality time with your family.

Please – join us on the call this Thursday – just listening can change (and maybe even save) your life. Here are the call in details:

Date: Thursday, March 27th, 2008
Time: 3pm Pacific / 6pm Eastern
Phone: 1-507-726-3343
Passcode: 32708#

(For those of you who really are insanely busy there’s a replay at 6pm Pacific / 9pm Eastern – same phone number and passcode.)

Not sure? Check out LifeHacker’s eval of Dr. Hallowell’s book: CrazyBusy: Overstretched, overbooked, and about to snap.

(www.myorganizedbiz.com) – Casey’s son is away at college – and his sort-of former bedroom is one of her two offices. Her other office (not pictured) is in her basement art studio where she spends more of her time.

Because of the dual location set-up, Casey’s having trouble with not finding or having things where they’re needed… because they’re at the other desk.

Here’s how she describes it:

The computer is located upstairs but there is paperwork going on in both locations. Right now the computer must stay upstairs so one of the main problems is that I’m filing papers (or letting them pile up) in more than one location. Add to that the household papers in a third location and it is not surprising that I feel fragmented.

In a perfect world, here’s how Casey wants to feel while she’s working:

I want to feel organized, calm, and collected. I want to have systems and places where things are all in a central location. I feel distracted, rushed, and inefficient in the office space and on writing this I see how it is just wearing down my energy.

Agreed. It’s my fundamental belief that it’s your office’s job to support you and your work. Having to think hard about where you left something drains precious attention and energy, when it could be used on the work you love.

So, I want to thank you for sharing your dilemma, Casey. The following suggestions will give you a place to start – and feel free to follow up with questions or thoughts!

3 suggestions for Casey:

1. Take stock of the emotional aspects of your son’s room.

Casey said, “I’ve been…not changing anything too dramatically for fear of pushing him out.”

I want to say that this is really common for a lot of home-based business owners who have kids who are aaaalmost out of the nest, but not quite.

The bed in particular is a powerful symbol for welcome from parents to their kids. Removing it can be construed as a lack of welcome or a slap in the face. It’s the “you might as well change the locks” kind of thing. So notice what feels true for you about this room and that his bed has remained here so far.

Ask yourself: what’s the primary function of this room? Then begin to redefine it accordingly. Begin to think of it as your office that your son sometimes sleeps in, rather than your son’s room that you use a lot. Emotions may come up as you process this, but remember it’s not an affront to him and that your work is valuable and needs spaciousness to thrive.

2. Have everything in one place

If we were doing consulting work together, I would examine the reasons why the computer must be in this room… and help you navigate transitioning your work into one single place.

Casey mentioned in her “desired setup” description that she wants to have everything in one place. I say go for it.

I’m reading a great book from Alyson Stanfield called I’d Rather Be in the Studio!. Alyson coaches artists all over the world – and she makes a point about how important it is to have your office in your studio.

So give this some thought and begin to make plans that will transition you out of two (almost 3) separate workspaces, so that they can be joined into a cohesive whole. Think about how much time and energy you’ll gain when freed from running up and down stairs to find what you need.

In addition, having one office will prevent the awkward negotations around using your office when your son is actually home and sleeping until noon.

3. Get a temporary bed.

If consolidating the offices isn’t in the plans right away, create more space for yourself in the upstairs room.

Here’s a Coleman bed that’s almost standard height that you can inflate when he’s home – and put away when he’s gone.

If you have cats or think the air mattress might pop for some other reason, look at other bed options that have a smaller footprint than the current one. This will give you found space and still provide him somewhere to sleep when he visits.

Are you ready for a mini-makeover in your office? Here’s how!

Do you have multiple workspaces or share an office with another activity/person? What’s working for you and what are you struggling with?

(www.myorganizedbiz.com) – If you’ve ever struggled with a. having too much stuff on your computer that you never use or b. you can’t find the info you need when you need to use it, check out the latest from Adam Kayce of Viverati (formerly Monk at Work).

His 2 philosophies of storing files on your computer are simple and logical:

Arrange your files according to how you think, not how someone else thinks for you.
Arrange them with a usage mindset, not a storage mindset.

Read the whole article on Adam’s blog and get the info you need to handle your files – you’ll be glad you did!

At the risk of sounding like a curmudgeon, sometimes I miss the good old days. A simpler, kinder time when life wasn’t dictated by the sounds of gadgets or lit by the glow of a monitor screen.

Ahh… but life keeps moving and speed isn’t always a bad thing. So, the b5 business channel bloggers put their heads together and wrote about how to live simply and work in a technological age.

The concepts are diverse, but there’s a common theme: simplicity. Is slow the new fast? Read on to find out.

Simplicity can be a powerful thing. Eric Eggertson points to a very basic, very engaging series of how-to videos.

At Home Biz Notes, Yvonne Russell shares a low tech tip to create better connections with clients.

Miki over at Leadership Turn believes that the most simple and elegant everyday solution to the speed trap is communications that are clear, concise and, especially, sticky.

In these times investing seems complicated and risky. But if you use dollar cost averaging, Miranda Marquit at Yielding Wealth shows how you can simplify the investment process AND make money.

Jean Murray over at Small Business Boomers says that the KISS Principle (Keep it short and simple) is best for small businesses.

Celine Roque at Pimp Your Work warns us against over-information, with tips on how to cut back so you can focus on what’s essential.

Tom at The 501(c) Files advises stepping away from your keyboard and using old-fashioned communications to reach your key constituencies in a more personal way.

Bob Turek from ProjectManagement411 shares the simplest sales approach to expand a project.

Darlene at Interview Chatter discusses Shameless Marketing: understanding that you are the product and your ability to sell yourself differentiates you from the competition.

Anne at the Golden Pencil, a blog for writers, shares how simple life choices can decrease stress.

Liz at Business and Blogging talks about marketing strategies that build connections between people and clear, specific ebook templates on how to write a short book out of blog entries.

I wrote a post here at My Organized Biz about how to take a whole day off (in honor of my birthday).

In the skeptics corner:

Susan from Brandcurve questions whether a simple commercial concept for Louis Vuitton will work.

“Sometimes a business idea is so simple, elegant and obvious that it’s thought to be a stupid idea.” Says Sean Kelly at FranchisePick.Com, “Other times it truly is a really stupid idea.”

And, lastly, in the Worst Case Scenario Department:

Ren Garcia at Accounting Solver takes a unique look at accounting for the future with the Doomsday Vault.

Rico Mossesgeld at ContractWorker talks about how revealing the simple details of our lives can bring us big trouble.

Contribute your thoughts to the conversation! Share with us how you incorporate simplicity into your own life and business – or how you wish you did.