The Office Gal

Regardless of how you work - corporate, home office, or freelancer - the following items will be positive tools to add to your arsenal of productivity weapons.  I use each item on the list and together they perform to give me a solid foundation to handle projects and clients.

1. A must for a home office or freelancer - PC and Internet. I use a laptop and wireless cable. This gives me the most flexibility, so that I am able to move about in my home, as well as the advantage of taking my laptop on the go so that I can blog while I travel.

2. The loud thinker is what I call this tool, you know it as a whiteboard. Have you ever seen House? Well, Dr. House thinks out loud - he uses the whiteboard to write out thoughts and then creates a sort of flow chart with them. I use the same concept.

3. With the amount of blogs I work on, I have to keep a calendar of my schedule, what is being written, and deadlines. You can call it a planning calendar, many call it an editorial calendar, regardless of the name you want to use, the purpose is to keep track of every project going on.

4. Laugh all you want, but a simple notepad and pen is an awesome tool. When I am on the go, I usually have an idea, see something, or have people throw information at me, so I take out the notepad and jot it down. 

5. Another tool that I should use more than what I do is a timer. Timing is priority when you have deadlines to meet. Morning planning, reviewing e-mails, making telephone calls, reading sites and blogs, these are all things that need to be timed and monitored so that most of your time goes to producing quality projects for your clients or company.

Now of course these are my top 5, but a top 5 that many others may be using. What is your top 5?

Popularity: 14% [?]

The blogging world has tremendous amounts of options sprouting daily for bloggers of all levels to showcase their talent and reap the rewards with social networking. You post on mine, if I post on yours. Basically, that is exactly how it works, from new additions like Sk-rt, Mom Blog Network, and Cre8buzz, these communities allow you to read an article or blog and then give you the opportunity to vote for those you like - post, blog, or both.

Want to know another great way for bloggers to network? A blog party! That is exactly what 5 Minutes for Mom is offering to other bloggers, a blog party that could potentially lead thousands of readers to your blog, flourishing you with comments and feedback. Then all you need to do is return the favor.

The concept behind the blog party is for bloggers to create a post on their blog showcasing the person they truly are. Add poems, pictures, funny stories, jokes - well, you get the idea - spruce up your place. Then for one week, bloggers will travel the list of those bloggers that have joined, reviewing their blog, reading their posts, and making comments. Then the following week, you post on your blog about your experience and share some of your favorite blogs, linking back to them. Viola!

This opportunity is a fun approach to meeting others in the blogging world. Not only might you find some loyal readers of your blog, but you could make life-long friends as well. Stop by 5 Minutes for Mom and review the instructions for the 2008 Ultimate Blog party. This party is just not for moms, but it is only for women - sorry guys.

Take a peek at other ways to network.

Popularity: 17% [?]

Time is everything when you work independently from a corporate office or as a freelancer. Home offices can be scrutinized tremendously for being lax, having more free time, and just not being under the same regiment that a corporate office is. Entrepreneurs may also find it difficult to keep documentation on hours worked for a client by logging manually.

What is the best way to squash the rumors? Track the time to better serve your company, or for entrepreneurs, serve yourself. Tracking is as simple as downloading software onto your computer that will automatically log your work and associated time. In turn, logged information will benefit personnel for payroll and attendance; for freelancers, it will help with billing clients correct hours spent on projects.

There are several companies that offer tracking software. Two that I found are TimeClock Plus and Time Sprite. Both are very easy to install and use, and will offer a great reporting system for attendance, payroll, project time, taxes; just a variety of tasks that will keep both the corporate office or freelancer on track and on time.

The following screenshots will give you an idea of what each application will look like during use.

TimeClock Plus

Time Sprite

Other suggestions to stay organized and on track - The BusyBodyBook®

Popularity: 9% [?]

Networking is an important tool regardless of the position that you hold. Not only will networking increase the resources at your disposal, but you can also gain a partnership with many of the people you meet. That is the true meaning of networking “establishing a beneficial relationship for all parties.” Becoming an effective tool for each other.

Those Seeking Networking

Corporate professionals seek networking to establish clients, create business resources to get answers to difficult questions, or many use their networking pool to get up the ladder. Asking for a reference or recommendation is not uncommon within a close network of associates.

Working at home may be your dream come true, but although you still have the tools to keep you in the loop, like e-mail, instant messaging, and the phone, you might miss the contact of having someone physically in the office with you. Now, although not alone, you could feel lonely. Your network could give you today’s lunch partner.

Have you chosen to stay at home? You still work, maybe not out in the corporate world or for a company within your home, but you still manage a household and family, your networking is most important. Reaching out for comradery is a strong emotion in us all. It helps to have friends to either have play dates with, lunch, or to just vent.

The Networks

There are a ton of places popping up on the Internet that offer social and business networking. Many sites ask you to sign up, create a profile, and then you have the World Wide Web at your fingertips. Here are a few suggestions of on-line networking spots to take a look at.

Linked In: For both the corporate and work-at-home professional, LinkedIn is a complete networking community with millions of potential clients, partners, and friends. You can add people to your network that are current or past colleagues, those you have offered a service to, and even find people within the same company or position/title that you hold in other companies. Growth for your network is phenomenal. There is even an option to ask those in your network for a recommendation.

Cafe Mom: The perfect place for stay-at-home-moms to create a profile and meet other moms, both around the world and locally right in your backyard. Make play date appointments, meet just for lunch, join interest groups, you name it! This is a great social networking site. Sorry dads - for moms only.

Dad Daily: Dads, you have a site just for you! This is a new social networking site for you to create a profile page and meet other dads to talk and discuss life. Create a group or just discuss the latest about what your little one is doing - al up to you! Finally a place where no moms are allowed.

Popularity: 16% [?]