I’m always looking for tools and ideas that help save time and allow me to be more productive (thus 3LUXE). One of the biggest time drains in our (my) life today is email. I’m continuously checking my inbox for urgent matters and on nights and weekends I’m constantly looking for updates via my blackberry. It’s crazy and I know I’m not alone.

Tim Ferris author of The 4-Hour Workweek recently posted How to Stop Checking E-mail on the Evenings and Weekends that has some great time saving techniques.

1. “Batch” email at set times. Have an email-checking schedule and do not deviate.
2. Send and read email at different times. Go offline and respond to all email from a local program such as Outlook or Mail.
3. Don’t scan email if you can’t immediately fix problems encountered.
4. Don’t BIF (before I forget) people during off-hours.
5. Don’t use the inbox for reminders or as a to-do list.
6. Set rules for email-to-phone escalation.
7. Before writing an email, ask yourself: “what problem am I trying to solve?” or “what is my ideal outcome?”
8. Learn to make suggestions instead of asking questions.

Check out Tim’s blog Experiments In Lifestyle Design for additional details and more time saving tips.

Time to get back to my inbox.

All the best,
Bill

The start of the Year is one of the best times to take stock of your life and perform some variation on the “out with the old, in with the new” routine. Whether it’s starting a workout routine, kicking a bad habit, or simply eliminating clutter so you can enjoy your favorite luxuries, now is the time to refresh, revamp, and start anew.

January is the National Association of Professional Organizers’ (who knew there were professional organizers?) “Get Organized Month”, so why not start the Year with a clean slate? According to NAPO’s president Standolyn Robertson, “getting organized is one of the top five New Year’s resolutions that people make” and keeping a cleaner, more organized house is one of the easiest resolutions to fulfill. It virtually guarantees you’ll feel calmer and more relaxed, and besides, your home should be your sanctuary from chaos and disorder, not part of the problem.

Websites like Unclutterer and Organized With Style can be very helpful when getting started. It’s typically best to take inventory of everything in your storage spaces and then get ruthless in your editing – if you haven’t worn or used something in over a year, do you really need to keep it? Perhaps it’s taking up space that could be used for something much more useful, fabulous, or enjoyable.

Once you determine what to keep, toss, recycle, and donate, you’ll need an organizing system to keep it all in order. Fortunately, 3LUXE has just what you’re looking for in our reviews of Best of Closet Organizers and Best Of Home Office Cabinets. After all, once you make the effort to get everything organized, you’ll want to keep it that way, and an orderly system is necessary to make a lasting change.

Now depending on how seriously you take your re-organization project, you may find yourself with more room than you know what to do with, so be sure to check out 3LUXE’s home section to find luxurious reviews on everything from plush mattresses and high thread count sheets (a good night’s sleep is a true luxury in any case) to billiards tables (you may find space you never knew you had).

No matter what you decide to do, make sure that 2008 is the year your home becomes your palace.

All the best,
Bill