Organizing Help and How-Tos: Choosing the Approach That Suits Your Style And Your Goals

Yuck-free Sponge Storage and Sanitization

If You Do One Thing Before Starting Your Resolution, Do This

Fighting the All-or-Nothing Approach
I once had a co-worker tell me that, while not suicidal, she couldn't wait to die.  "I just think it will be a really interesting experience," she explained, while I groped for a suitable reply.  It was one of those conversations that you know, while you're having it, your brain is running through a quantity of cells in order to burn the moment in your long-term memory. When I'm 90, I may not remember what I had for breakfast, but by golly, I'll still be trying to figure out if the aforementioned colleague was a nitwit or really was a genius after all. More recently, I had a conversation with a different co-worker, this one an unambiguous

Avoiding Binder System Failure
 Above: a volume of materials can quickly accumulate and get out of control. Sometime about a month or two into the school year/new job/new project, something happens and the binder that was such a joy to set up and organize degenerates into a bloated, unholy mess.  Right when you need to be organized the most--say, a week before midterms or before a big presentation at work--your system completely br

How To: Create The Perfect Binder
Compared to taking notes, setting up a binder is pretty straightforward.  And yet: look around any classroom--or boardroom--and what do you see?  Spiral notebooks.  Pads.  Composition books.  All of which are fine if you're eight years-old and need something to doodle on.  Once you move on to middle school, folks, it's time for an upgrade.  In very little time you can create a binder for work or for school that will go the distance in keeping you prepared, on track, up-to-date, and organized--all for less than ten bucks.  Sure, you can find fancy materials--and I admit, I love fancy materials--but it still com