When someone breaks our wings…

We simply continue to fly… on a broomstick…

We’re flexible like that…

Is your Outlook a nightmare – mine was until I discovered how to get it back into control. This handy little tip will help you organize that inbox and help you prioritize your email.

I didn’t realize but there are several ways to colour code emails in Outlook. One method is automatic colourization using Outlooks Organize feature.

Go to Tools then select Organize. Now click the Using Colour link in the middle of the list. To colour code high priority mail click on the Turn Off button to change the settings. Open the Colour drop down list and then select the colour you wish to use.
Now create categories for High Priority, Medium Priority and Low Priority emails.

Click Automatic Formatting at the top of the window, now click Add, type in Medium Priority in the name field to name this rule. In Here you can click on the Font and this is where you can use different Fonts and Colours.

Now go ahead and click OK to save your changes.

To set the rule for your Priority emails click on Condition. Now click on the Where I am check-box and open the drop down list.

Select the on the To line with other people and then click OK this set the Medium Priority Rule. You can go through and set the Low Priority email Rule following the same steps except you choose on the CC line with other people rule. High priority is when the email is to you specifically in the To Line. Click OK to save the rule.

Now in your email box, your messages will be changed, your High Priority email with have a different Font colour, your Medium Priority another Font colour and your Low Priority another.

How cool is that.

Sounds like something from AA, but honestly, being a VA is like an addiction. One that I’m very passionate about.

My next greatest joy is software and learning new skills, this too is  like an addiction to me. I enjoy expanding my knowledge and accumulating new productivity tools.

I have been in Administration for more about 30 years and I love it. I can’t imagine doing anything else.

My main objective in this Blog is to try and pass along some information that I find helpful to my business and hopefully you will find useful in yours as well.

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This is a wonderful opportunity to get a fabulous book and over $2,000 in bonus gifts from spakers and authors and all for a good cause Feed Hungry Children.
Please check it out.

There has been a flurry of activity on the CVAC board with others who have either had similar things happen to them or friends and family who have.

GPS
A couple of weeks ago a friend told me that someone she knew had their car
broken into while they were at a football game. Their car was parked on the
green which was adjacent to the football stadium and specially allotted to
football fans. Things stolen from the car included a garage door remote
control, some money and a GPS which had been prominently mounted on the
dashboard.

When the victims got home, they found that their house had been ransacked
and just about everything worth anything had been stolen.

The thieves had used the GPS to guide them to the house. They then used the
garage remote control to open the garage door and gain entry to the house.
The thieves knew the owners were at the football game, they knew what time
the game was scheduled to finish and so they knew how much time they had to
clean out the house. It would appear that they had brought a truck to empty
the house of its contents.

Something to consider if you have a GPS – don’t put your home address in it.
Put a nearby address (like a store or gas station) so you can still find
your way home if you need to, but no one else would know where you live if
your GPS were stolen.

MOBILE PHONES
I never thought of this…….
This lady has now changed her habit of how she lists her names on her mobile
phone after her handbag was stolen. Her handbag, which contained her cell
phone, credit card, wallet… Etc…was stolen.

20 minutes later when she called her hubby, from a pay phone telling him
what had happened, hubby says ‘I received your text asking about our Pin
number and I’ve replied a little while ago.’

When they rushed down to the bank, the bank staff told them all the money
was already withdrawn. The thief had actually used the stolen cell phone to
text ‘hubby’ in the contact list and got hold of the pin number. Within 20
minutes he had withdrawn all the money from their bank account.
Moral of the lesson:

Do not disclose the relationship between you and the people in your contact
list.

Avoid using names like Home, Honey, Hubby, Sweetheart, Dad, Mom, etc….
And very importantly, when sensitive info is being asked through texts,
CONFIRM by calling back.

Also, when receive a  text from friends or family to meet them somewhere, be
sure to call back to confirm that the message came from them.

It came across my desk again this morning and it was such a welcomed addition to my email. Sometimes we all need a refresher.

I loved this and think it is so valuable so thought I would share:

Big Rocks

By: Unknown Author

One day an expert in time management was speaking to a group of business students and to drive home a point, used an illustration those students will never forget.

As he stood in front of the group of high-powered overachievers he said, "Okay, it’s time for a quiz," and he pulled out a one-gallon wide-mouth Mason jar and set it on the table in front of him. He also produced about a dozen fist-sized rocks and carefully placed them, one at a time, into the jar. When the jar was filled to the top and no more rocks would fit inside, he asked, "Is this jar full?"

Everyone in the class yelled, "Yes." The time-management expert replied, "Really?" He reached under the table and pulled out a bucket of gravel. He dumped some of the gravel in and shook the jar, causing the pieces of gravel to work themselves down into the spaces between the big rocks. He then asked the class once more if the jar was full.

By this time, the class was on to him and said, "Probably not."

"Good," he replied. He reached under the table and brought out a bucket of sand and started dumping it into the jar.

The sand went into all of the spaces left between the rocks and the gravel. Once more he asked if the jar was full.

"No!" the class shouted. Once again he said, "Good." He grabbed a pitcher of water and began to pour it into the jar until the jar was filled to the brim.

Then he looked around the room and asked, "What is the point of this illustration?"

One eager beaver raised his hand and said, "The point is that no matter how full your schedule is, if you try really hard, you can always fit some more in."

"No," the speaker replied, "that’s not the point. The truth is that this illustration teaches us that if we don’t put the ‘big rocks’ in first, we’ll never get them in at all."

What are the ‘big rocks’ in your life? Time with your loved ones, your faith, your education, your dreams, a worthy cause, teaching or mentoring others? Remember to put these ‘big rocks’ in first, or you’ll never get them in at all.

Tonight or in the morning when you are reflecting on this short story, ask yourself this question: "What are the BIG ROCKS in my life?" Put those in your jar first today.

This person emailed back and stated, that she had found my information on the BWNA (Business Women’s Networking Association) directory.

I immediately, emailed back and very politely asked if she could please remove me from her list – simple request.

This person wrote back, quite upset that I had opted out of her emails and stated that was the reason people’s names were on the directory so that they could be contacted and to promote business. She then went on in a little tirade that she was quitting the group because of this.

I’ve actually asked quite a few people to stop sending me email that I didn’t sign up for (another two today) without this sort of response.

Now, I ask you, is it me or is this just plain rude to harvest names from a directory and start sending email, newsletters, beg for business, etc. especially when you have never met the person?

I had to post this video of the Hoyt’s, Dick and Rick. I hope it inspires you as much as it did me.

I found this neat little tool http://www.printgreener.com/ that lets you edit a document before you print it and best of all it is a free download.

GreenPrint scans print jobs and removes pages that it determines are a waste, like web pages with just one line of text, advertisements and unwanted graphics.

It resides in your printers folder so that you can use this with any program that you have on your computer.

You can preview your print job and remove pages or specific text and even print to PDFs.

Another neat feature is that it will track how much paper, money and greenhouse gases you have saved.

To learn more about GreenPrint, click here. or watch a demo of GreenPrint.