From the Desk of Janet Barclay

Today marks the end of Home-Based Business Week for this year. Since it falls on the tails of our Canadian Thanksgiving, it seems an appropriate moment to reflect on why I am thankful that I own and operate a home-based business.

1. No set schedule - for me, this doesn’t mean taking time off whenever I don’t feel like working, but starting work as soon as I jump out of bed if I feel like it. I’m truly a morning person, so spending the first couple of hours of the day rushing around to go out and then driving to a job does very little for my mood or my productivity.
2. No dress code - I’ve never really seen getting dressed up as being conducive to doing good work. Sure, it’s important to look your best when you’re meeting with clients or other external contacts, but for working at my desk, jeans are just fine for me.
3. Few interruptions - I rarely see clients in my home office, and when I do, it’s for a scheduled appointment, so if I sit down to work on something, I know I will not be interrupted by drop-ins or co-workers. Sure, the phone rings occasionally, but if I’m really involved in a project - that’s what voice mail is for!
4. No commuting time/expense - when I finish this entry, I will shut down my computer and go and make soup, and I know I won’t have to face any traffic or bad weather on my way to the kitchen.

I’m very excited because OnlineOrganizing.com Blog Central was launched this week, and my first entry, Taking Back Your Life, was posted today. Because I’m now blogging in several different places, I will try to let you know here when I’ve posted somewhere else, so you don’t have to remember to check everywhere on a regular basis.

I also posted this week at the Introvert Retreat blog, about Self-Promotion for Introverts. 

Other noteworthy blogs this week:

In his Someday Syndrome blog, Alex Fayle posted a delightfully concise Writer’s Business Plan, and Savvy Entrepreneur Cristina Favreau has declared October to be Anti-Procrastination Month. If you struggle with procrastination - and who doesn’t? - go and read some of Cristina’s helpful tips! No, not tomorrow - do it NOW!!!

I’ve learned about a blog that’s dedicated exclusively to "Tips, Tricks and Tutorials for Microsoft Office 2007." Written by Paul Woods, a former Microsoft employee from Brisbane, Australia, The New Paperclip has lots of great information about the latest versions of not just Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Publisher, Access, and Outlook, but also the programs that aren’t as widely known, including Visio, Project, One Note, and Groove. Here’s a sample of the types of tips you can expect to find there:

Have you ever seen those spreadsheets or charts where the text isn’t normal?  You know the ones where the text is diagonal, or vertical, or on its side?  It is a pretty nifty trick you can use to display more information in less space.  And in Excel 2007 it is really easy to do. [Keep Reading]

For your convenience (and let’s be honest here, for mine as well) I have added The New Paperclip to my blogroll.

I arrived home at 8:30 last night and was in my office bright and early this morning. At least the sun was bright, I am still a little slow, after two long days on the road. In the future I will need to remember to book one more day off at the end of a trip.

I decided to take my laptop, and was glad I did. One of my current projects is the redesign of a website for my favourite client, who happens to also be my sister, with whom I was vacationing. Having the computer allowed us to spend a morning going over and trying out some of our ideas in a way that would have been more complicated via email, telephone, or instant messenger. I’m happy to say this is the only work I did and I didn’t check my email, even on the two occasions when I was in a place with Internet access. However, bringing my laptop along also allowed me to download my digital photos from my camera every day or two and share them with my family members, and to keep a personal journal throughout the week.

While I was away, I was quoted in The Globe and Mail in an article entitled Too busy organizing to be productive.

This should be an interesting week, as I catch up on emails and work and prepare for a busy month ahead.