Do you often come home from a long day at work, with your mind still buzzing from the days activities? Do you find that even though you are at home, some of the office stress has snuck in with you? Maybe a long daily commute home leaves you tired, wired and a bit frazzled?

After a recent career move, resulting in a greater responsibility, I found myself coming home every day still feeling stressed and under pressure - not good for me, not good for my girlfriend. I figured there had to be some simple ways to trigger a more relaxed state of mind when I came home.

5 simple steps to minimizing work-related stress when you arrive home:

1.  Stay organized at work - Track your priorities, manage your tasks, write down your To-dos… The topic of managing yourself at work is far too long to get into here, but by doing so, you are clearing your mind of all the distractions from work, making it easier to disconnect when you get home.
2. Enjoy your commute - Whether you are travelling by car, train or bike - use the time to relax a bit; get some fresh air, listen to some music, enjoy the scenery (if you can) and use your commute home to rid yourself of some of that stress.
3. Look forward to getting home - If you’re dreading getting home then you will just be exacerbating your stress levels; if you know that your home is going to be neat, tidy and organized; that your evening will be pleasant and relaxing and that you can forget about work for a while, you will be re-focussing your energy on a more positive experience, and reducing work-related stress.
4. Disconnect - A difficult thing to do in the days of BlackBerries, remote email and corporate mobile phones is to simply disconnect yourself from your work communications - switch them all off and enjoy a bit of peace. The likelihood of you being needed for something that can’t wait till tomorrow is realistically quite small, so give yourself and your family a break!
5. Use an Anti-stress Basket - The main tip I implemented was to put a simple basket on my shoe rack, just inside my front door. On this basket I put an “Anti-Stress Basket” label, and in it I keep a small tear-off pad and a pen. Every day when I come in, I see this basket (a strong visual reminder) and remember not to be stressed; If there is anything that is particularly bothering me, I’ll write it on a bit of paper and chuck it in the basket; lastly, I’ll take a few deep breaths and continue indoors. Bonus Tip: It’s very enjoyable to empty the basket into the bin once a week and throw out your stress for good!

Being a confirmed geek, technophile and all round lover of gadgets, I have a LOT of chargers - iPod, Phone, BlackBerry, Camera and laptop used daily, with a dozen others (including electric toothbrush, shaver) which are charged weekly. Consequently, I have a lot of cable clutter which is very frequently spread from place to place, as I spend several nights a week at my girlfriends and travel home regularly.

I wanted to come up with a simple solution to this problem, which had to fulfill several criteria:

• Simple, cheap and easy to use
• Avoid having multiple chargers plugged in at once, or leaving chargers plugged in
• Be portable, so I could take relevant chargers to work or my girlfriends flat
• Be organized, so that my charger use was simple and controlled
• Be understandable, so others could charge stuff easily using my kit

My charging solution

The solution I came up with is one I have been using for several years, and has worked perfectly for me - combining all the factors above, and probably costing me only a few pounds to set-up.

1. Store your Chargers - Get a shoe box, basket or other open container that you can keep all your chargers in - dig them all out of their various hiding places and stick them in the box.
2. Bag your Chargers - This is the clincher, and takes this solution from simple to sorted. Grab a bunch of Ziploc bags (or resealable sandwich bags) and put each charger into its own bag, with it’s own mess of cable. No more spaghetti junction.
3. Label your Chargers - Label each charger so you know what it goes with, either by sticking half and index card in the bag with the device details on, or by printing or writing a sticky label and affixing to the charger itself - It really does help to know what goes with what, and it helps others to use your charging kit.

This system is very easy to use, very easy to implement and can help you keep your charger chaos under control!

[Update 05/06/07: Those of you who found this article interesting, but who are looking for a more high-tech solution might like this post on Unclutterer, about finding the perfect charging station.]

I came across this article earlier on Unclutterer.com, about having totally organized socks (and hence an organized sock drawer). It advocates having all your socks in exactly the same size and style to simplify laundry time. By having 12 pairs of identical socks, it is considerably easier to manage laundry day and having to pair up your socks every time. I agree with the recommendation that they made but don’t believe you have to take it to those extremes (unless you really want to).

Here is my take on this idea, with some extra sock organizing tips:

1. Stick to the same style, for the same type of socks - I myself have standard black wool socks which I wear90% of the time, and yes they are all the same style. I also have trainer and workout socks, and separate running socks; again also in the same style. It helps if even one of you in a couple does this, as you simplify laundry that bit extra. I always know that any brightly coloured socks, especially those related to shopping, chocolate or being sleepy belong to my girlfriend :).
2. Keep different types of socks in different places - I keep all my main socks in the usual places (as well as having a pair stashed at work, in the car and at my girlfriends), but keep my exercise and running socks separately. It may sound silly, but avoids me ever having to wear white socks to a meeting (yes this happened once) or wearing smart dress socks whilst out running (yes, this happened once as well).
3. Keep sock laundry separate - This is a handy one, especially if your keen on nicely optimized laundry… Keep a mesh bag, or possibly a pillowcase handy near your washbasket, and whenever there are socks to be washed put them in there instead of in the main laundry. This may sound sound super-anal, especially coming from a boy, but really does save time when you’re organizing your laundry. It also helps solve “wandering sock syndrome” whereby socks end up in all sorts of random places whilst going through the laundry cycle.
4. Keep Emergency Socks - Keep emergency socks around, in various locations, for whenever they might be appropriate. Very handy for when you get caught in the rain, have an emergency meeting (or date) or just need a change.
5. Have a Sock Pick-me-up - This is a tip I learned from a professional butler, a man used to spending a lot of time on his feet. If you’re stuck at work, out and about or have otherwise been spending a lot of time on your feet, take a little time for a sock break… Sit down and relax, and take off your shoes and socks to let the air circulate. Wash your feet and dry them well, then put on a pair of emergency socks (see above)… I guarantee you’ll feel like a new person.

Please post a comment, or contact us and let us know how you get on sorting out your socks.

I am a big list-maker - I get it from my Mum, who always had lists for everything. I write lists for my shopping, lists of where I’d like to go, lists of peoples birthdays and occasionally lists of lists.

I have always used Daily To-Do Lists, even before I got involved with personal development in my early twenties, but one of the best lists I ever wrote was my Not To-Do List.

It’s a simple concept - Have a think and write down all the things that you frequently do when you aught to be doing something else… Those things that you like to do, the things you pretend are productive or important, or the things that you know are just plan wasting time. Any activity that gets in the way of you doing something productive, or any activity which tends to drag on too long.

I find that having a list like this, which I keep on a 3″ x 5″ index card, gives me a gentle nudge whenever I am starting to drift off on a project.

Here are some suggestions for your Not To-Do List:

• Do not check your email more than twice a day
• Do not stop for a “meditation break” unless you actually meditate
• Do not try to beat your score on Wii Tennis
• Do not channel hop the TV indiscriminately
• Do not check your phone for text messages (that’s what the beep is for)
• Do not tidy your desk in the middle of the day
• Do not eat the cakes your colleague brought in
• Do not keep checking your eBay auctions
• Do not browse the Digg recent list
• Do not play with your mobile ringtones
• Do not tidy your DVD collection
• Do not straighten the cushions on your sofa
• Do not browse eBay for bargains
• Do not tweeze your eyebrows
• Do not eat all the biscuits (or pies)
• Do not forward joke emails
• Do not send irrelevent text messages
• Do not flick through your cookery books looking for things you won’t cook
• Do not check your portfolio with a little smile
• Do not index your comic collection
• Do not open a bottle of wine (alone)
• Do not go to the shops for chocolate (always have a stash)
• Do not browse the trailers on the Apple website
• Do not pick up your phone every time it rings
• Do not write long blog posts when you should be working
• Do not throw your pants at your partner (business or domestic)
• Do not plan your next Toastmasters speech
• Do not ponder whether you can hack it
• Do not tell your boyfriend he’s going grey
• Do not check for grey hairs
• Do not watch Big Brother
• Do not re-write your To-Do Lists
• Do not wonder if the guy in the tank-top is gay
• Do not start decluttering your Inbox (Ctrl + A, then Delete)
• Do not check your Google AdSense, Analystics or PageRank
• Do not play games on your BlackBerry
• Do not look in a mirror to see if your underwear shows
• Do not reshuffle your Hipster PDA
• Do not water your plants
• Do not start learning to juggle

I wonder if anyone can guess how many of those were on my list?

There are loads of things that could be added, and each one of us knows the things they should and shouldn’t be doing. Don’t drop a meaningful project to write a Not To-Do List, but next time you’re putting off something you know you should start, think about what would be on there…

Continuing the theme for this week of organizing your personal environment, the next topic to tackle is your keys and keyrings - one of those combined items that everyone, regardless of gender, has to carry in modern life.

After optimizing my wallet, my key bundle was the next thing that I decided to sort out many years ago. At the time, I realised that I was carrying 7 or 8 different keys, with several keyrings and other paraphernalia all in one “convenient” bundle. I’d never considered this a bad thing before, and at one point had even considered myself “cool” and “grown-up” because I had a multitude of places that I had access to. It wasn’t until I sat down, took out the prodigious collection of metal that I had accumulated and looked at it that I realized I had an opportunity to optimize!

How to Unclutter your Keys

1. Check out your bundle - This step is simple… Get out your keys, whether they are in one or several bundles, and have a good long look. You might be instantly surprised at how much you are carrying.
2. Identify what keys you are carrying - Take a good long look at your keyring, and make sure you identify each key on there. If you are carrying keys you can’t identify, it’s probably a safe bet that you don’t need them, at least daily. Put the keys you can’t identify in a one pile, the ones you can in another.
3. Identify what else you are carrying - This is keyrings, karabiners, tools, torches etc. If these items outnumber your keys then you are on the right page. Take time to think about why you are carrying them - Are they useful? Are they keepsakes? Sort them into essential and non-essential piles.
4. Reassemble intelligently - Beginning with the keys you know you use daily, start putting things back together. Keep related keys together on the same ring. Keep car keys seperate from house keys. Attach only those keyrings that serve a useful purpose (see below for info on sentimental keyrings).
5. Consider mutiple keyrings - If you have several logical sets of keys (e.g. daily, car, garden and garage, windows etc.) then I’d recommend keeping them on seperate organized keyrings. I don’t have enough keys to warrant one at present, but I am a big fan of those boards you can get with the little hooks on - a great way to intelligently store all your sets of keys in one sensible place. Tip: Put the key board somewhere central, but out of the sight of windows (So intruders won’t spot them).
6. Dealing with sentimental items - Most people will probably have some sentimental items, or keepsakes, on their keyring. Great. Nothing wrong with that. But think… Is hiding that item in the bottom of your handbag or pocket the best place to keep something you treasure? Can you enjoy it there? Is it being cared for? When I first did this, I took my sentimental keyrings (there were two), and hung them both from my rear view mirror in my car. Result: Lighter pockets, and I could see my treasured items more frequently.

Further Points

• If the array of keys you carry daily could be used to club someone unconscious, then it might be time to pare it down a bit.
• Too many bills from your chiropractor? Wondering why you get backache a lot? Why not stick your entire bundle of keys on a set of scales and weigh them…
• If you run or bike outside, and need keys to get back in, get a copy made of the main door(s) that you need access to and keep them seperate - only take the keys you will absolutely need.

Many people believe that things like the way you speak, your reading speed, IQ, intellect and other factors about you remain the way they were when you were born, and don’t really change as things move on. As a keen personal development student, I like to debunk this myth as often as I can.

Your voice, which you use many times a day without thinking, is one of the easiest things to improve - though it helps to have a bit of guidance in doing so. The benefits of improving your voice can be considerable, from improved communication with others, increased confidence at work and in social situations, eloquence and possible a viable political career (pursue at your own risk).

How to improve your voice and speech via Digg.

Following up on my post yesterday about sorting out your pockets, I thought that this tip from the boys at Lifeclever would be of use to anyone who is currently trying to cut down on pocket clutter.

How to organize all your rewards cards from Lifeclever.

When embarking on a quest to become more organized, there are hundreds of different places you can start… Places where you know there are improvements to be made, where things are not quite as tidy as they could be or places that are just driving you round the bend. Almost every book, website and resource on getting organized will have their favourite recommendations on where to start your quest for personal organization nirvana.

My personal journey began many moons ago, with what I was carrying around with me on a day to day basis… The stuff I had strapped to me, or around me and what I was carrying in that stuff. This involved (as I was and still am a bloke) removing my watch, emptying my pockets and any frequently-carried bags and having a good look at the contents.

This made sense to me, as it was all stuff that I physically lugged from place to place, even if those places were desk and coffee machine. I was surprised at all the stuff I had on me, most of which was not really through conscious choice. The experience was (en)lightening to say the least.

Rather than re-iterate all the steps I went through to optimize and organize my own pockets and personal effects, I recommend you read the blog post Zen Pockets by a guy called Robert, who has taken this concept to a level way beyond what I aspired to.

The article does have strong links to the personal organization system GTD, or Getting Things Done. For those who’d like to find out more, follow the links in the article, or check back soon for my take on the GTD system.