Tim Ferriss - Web 2.0 Keynote

147 Tiny Tips to Live Healthier, Happier, Greener and Better

"The following 147 tips, broken down into ways you can improve your life through your job, around the house, in financial matters, in your goals and beliefs, in romance, in your social life, and through your health and diet, will lead you to a healthier, happier, greener, and better lifestyle."

Frugalist » The Frugality Cheat Sheet: 147 Tiny Tips to Live Healthier, Happier, Greener and Better

How to organize your cluttered desktop

Setup: Five folders for everything

These folders will contain all of your documents. Once you’ve implemented the system, nothing should touch your desktop again. Create them in your “Documents” folder on the Mac, or your “My Documents” folder on a PC. They’re numbered so that when you arrange the folders by name, they remain in order:

• “0. Inbox”
  Put unprocessed items that don’t have a place yet in here. This may be items like software installers you’ve downloaded, files sent to you from colleagues, and random text clippings. I numbered this “0” to reinforce the idea of it being a temporary folder. This folder must be emptied everyday, at the end of the day.

• “1. Actions”
  Put items requiring an action that takes more than 2 minutes in here. This may be items such as forms to fill out, large applications to install and setup, and files to upload.

• “2. Incubate”
  Put items you aren’t yet ready to do or complete in here. These may be articles you’re thinking of reading, sketches for potential projects, and information about classes you’re thinking about taking.

• “3. Current Projects”
  Put files related to active projects in here. This folder contains files you’re currently working on as well as reference files for a project. Each project gets it’s own unique folder. For client projects, I organized each project folder with subfolders that map to phases shown on the project schedule. Once the entire project is complete, move it into “4. Archive”

• “4. Archive”
  Put completed projects, general reference items, and anything else you might want to look at again in here. I have aliases of Mac OS X’s “Music”, “Pictures”, and “Movies” folders in here. I also have an “Archived Projects” folder in here to hold completed projects.

After you’ve created the five folders above, make aliases or shortcuts to them on your desktop. On my Mac, I’ve applied a green Finder label to each folder so they stand out from mounted volumes such as DVDs and hard drives.

How to organize your cluttered desktop and regain your sanity [via LifeHacker]

Stain Fighting A to Z

Some really good tips from Simply Thrifty.

“I’m often asked what to use for various stains. Rather than answer the same questions over and over, I decided to make up a little stain-fighting primer. Before we go down the list, there are a few important details to remember:

• Blot, don’t rub
• Don’t ever expose a stain to heat
• Always use chemicals as a last resort

By popular demand…”

Stain Fighting A to Z

Adhesive - WD-40 will remove the gooey adhesive residue left behind by tape, glue, or almost anything sticky. Dabbing nail polish remover also works.

Anti Perspirant - If it’s the type of stain caused by a white deodorant stick, first try wiping the stain with a baby wipe or dryer sheet. In many cases, either of these will remove the stain. If not, pretreat with with a mild dish or laundry detergent or laundry spot remover and launder as usual.

Alluminium Pots and Pans - Cover the stain with baking soda. Place one layer of lemon slices over the baking soda. Just cover lemons and bring to a slow boil. Quickly lower the heat and let simmer. Remove from heat once stain is lifted.

Ballpoint Pen - Saturate stain with alcohol-based hairspray. Let sit for thirty minutes and blot with damp sponge. Repeat if necessary.

Beer - Blot with vinegar or mild dish detergent until the stain is lifted. Blot again with a damp sponge.

Blood - Immediately blot with cold water. If the blood stain is on a garment or other item that can be easily removed, soak in cold water until as much of the stain as possible is lifted. Blot the stain with vinegar, club soda, hydrogen peroxide or dish detergent until it’s removed. Blot again with a damp sponge. If the stain persists, launder as usual but don’t dry in the dryer until it’s completely removed.

Butter - Cover the spot with corn starch, talcum powder or baking soda and leave for an hour or so to absorb the grease. When time is up, wipe away the powder and dab with a mild dish detergent, preferably one touted for fighting grease When the stain is removed, blot again with a damp sponge.

Candle or Crayon Wax - Cover the stain with a paper towel. Use a very low iron to iron the paper towel. Eventually, you should be able to slowly peel back the towel and the stain will be transferred to the paper. If any discolaration remains behind, blot with a mild dish detergent and launder as usual.

Chocolate - First remove any solid material from stain. Then blot with a solution of one part ammonia to three parts water, half vinegar and half water, or one part dish detergent and two parts water. Launder as usual.

Coffee - Immediately blot with cold water. Blot again with vinegar or dish detergent until stain is lifted. Blot one more time with a damp sponge. Launder as usual.

Cola - Immediately blot with cold water. Blot again with club soda, vinegar or dish detergent. Launder as usual.

Crayon - To remove crayon from the wall, carpet or clothing, first wipe with WD-40. In many cases, especially the walls, this should remove the stain completely. If you have no WD-40 on hand, cover the stain with a paper towel and run a warm iron over the paper covered stain. The stain should transfer to the paper. Clean any residue with vinegar or a mild dish detergent.

Dirt - Shake off the garment, or vacuum excess dirt. Launder as usual.

Egg - Blot with a solution of half water and half laundry detergent. Let sit for thirty minutes and launder as usual.

Fruit (or vegetable) Juice - Blot with cold water immediately or place item in cold water to soak. Blot stain with dishwashing liquid or vinegar. Launder as usual.

Gasoline - Blot stain with dry cleaning solvent.

Glue - Blot with water or mild dishwashing liquid.

Grass - Blot with ammonia, vinegar or dishwashing liquid. For a stubborn grass stain, try dry cleaning solvent. Launder as usual.

Gravy - Scrape away or blot up excess gravy. Blot again with cold water until most of the stain is lifted. Blot with vinegar or a mild dishwashing detergent and launder as usual.

Grease - Cover stain with talcum powder, corn starch or baking soda to absorb the grease. Blot with a mild dishwashing detergent that specializes in removing grease. Launder as usual.

Gum - Massage the stain thoroughly with peanut butter for easy remover. Also try covering the gum with ice until it hardens. You should then be able to crack it and lift it off. WD-40 will also remove gum. Clean any residue or spots left behind with dish detergent or launder as usual. Also try a solvent used to soften candle wax.

Hair Dye - Stop what you’re doing and immediately blot off any excess before it has a chance to set in. Try cleaning the spot with ammonia or laundry detergent. If this doesn’t remove the stain, you may have to call in a professional dry cleaner or carpet cleaner.

Hair Spray - Blot with a clarifying shampoo. Blot again with water.

Ice Cream - Blot immediately with cold water. Blot again with dish detergent.

Ink - Saturate stain with ammonia based hair spray or ammonia itself. Let sit until stain is loosened enough to remove. Clean remaining ink and sticky hairspray residue with dish detergent and blot again with a cold damp sponge. If stain is just about lifted, launder as usual.

Jelly or Jam -Gently scrape away any solid matter left behind. Blot with clean water until most of the stain is removed. A mild detergent diluted in some water should clean the rest of this stain just fine. Diluted vinegar or ammonia will also work.

Ketchup - Blot the stain with cold water using a damp sponge or cloth. Blot again using vinegar.

Lipstick - Use a makeup remover to remove lipstick from clothes or carpeting. If none is handy, try nail polish remover.

Mustard - It’s important to get to mustard, especially bright yellow mustard, quickly. The dye in mustard will quickly penetrate the fibers of just about any fabric. Blot as soon as possible with cold water and again with laundry detergent. Repeat applications as often as necessary until the stain is removed. Launder as usual.

Rust - Try using a paste made of salt plus vinegar.

Soda - Blot with water first. If that doesn’t remove the soda stain, vinegar or club soda will.

Tea - First blot with water. Blot again with vinegar.

Tomato Sauce or other tomato based products - First scrape of excess solid matter. Blot with clean water to remove as much of the stain as possible. To clean what remains, try a mild dish or laundry detergent, vinegar, club soda or lemon juice.

Urine - Blot with cold water first, than try ammonia diluted with three parts water. Vinegar also does well to clean urine stains.

Vomit - Gently remove as much vomit as possible with a cloth. Blot with water to remove as much of the stain as possbile. Blot again with laundry or dish detergent diluted with half water. Blotting with vinegar after wards will remove the smell and blotting with water will rinse.

Wine - If red wine is spilled on the carpet, neturalize by chasing it with a glass of white wine! White wine will cause the red wine stain to immediately disappear. If none is available, try first blotting with cold water, then vinegar. White wine is easily removed with cold water or vinegar.

Stain Fighting A to Z

Pack Efficiently

Here are some tips on how to pack lightly and tightly so that you can avoid checking bags altogether.

Pack Efficiently - Seeking Alpha

7 Secrets of the Super Organized

Here are some really good organization tips.

“So what's the secret? In truth, there aren't any secrets. There are simple habits that you can develop over time that will get you to where you want to be. These are habits that you can apply to your work, your home, your kids, your hobbies, your life. Instead of giving you specifics for how to organize something specific, like your desk or your closet, I provide principles that you can use over and over in every situation.”

7 Secrets of the Super Organized - Dumb Little Man

Get your package to the nearest mailbox on time with Mailbox Map

Mailbox Maps is Google Maps mashup that shows you the closest set of mailboxes and the pickup times at each so that you can be sure to get your package out on time.All you have to do is enter your address. Mailbox Map quickly shows you the nearest mailboxes, and clicking on the mailbox icon shows you the pickup information.

Mashup: Get your package to the nearest mailbox on time with Mailbox Map - Lifehacker

3 Ways To Invest In Time

They say time is money, but really, time is more important than money. Time can make you money, and well invested time can get you a whole lot more.

PickTheBrain.com looks at three ways that make investment in time work. It probably comes down to common sense, but how many of us actually do this stuff? Remember the last time you actually wasted time?

3 Ways To Invest In Time [via lifehack.org]

Tips: How To Unshrink Wool - Consumerist

Good tip to try-out on those shrunken sweaters.

It's actually very easy to unshrink a wool garment you shrunk in the wash.

1. Place the wool item in a sink full of warm water.
2. Soak for 10 minutes.
3. Remove the item and squeeze out excess water.
4. Let dry on a towel.
5. Carefully stretch and pull the item back to its original shape. Voila!

Tips: How To Unshrink Wool - Consumerist

How to Nap at Work - or Anyplace You Need a Rest

Do You Ever Rest Your Eyes At Work?

Try this for one minute. Sit back in your chair, relax your arms away from your desk, and close your eyes, taking a few nice slow deep breathes. After a minute, open your eyes. How do you feel? Better, right? You probably want a little more of that. And you should get more of that!

See, when most people when they are tired at work, what do they do? They Power Through. And, of course, this works to a certain extent, but not as good as if you take a “Meditation Nap.” So what is this Meditation Nap?

How to Nap at Work - or Anyplace You Need a Rest

How To Design The Perfect Nap

Most people enjoy a good nap now and then, but are you really utilizing their full power? [Read on for some good tips.]

How To Design The Perfect Nap - lifehack.org

106 Tips to Become a Master Connector » Life Optimizer

To succeed, who you know is just as important as what you know. In fact, relationships should be your top priority. The book Never Eat Alone talks about how to apply the timeless principles of relationships in the 21st century. It contains a lot of practical tips on how you could thrive in today’s world through your relationships...

Here's a summarized list of 106 tips from the book.

106 Tips to Become a Master Connector » Life Optimizer

20 Tips for More Efficient Google Searches

For millions of people, Google is an indispensable search tool that they use every day, in all facets of their lives. From work or school, research, to looking up movies and celebrities to news and gossip, Google is the go-to search engine.

But instead of just typing in a phrase and wading through page after page of results, there are a number of ways to make your searches more efficient. [Read on...]

20 Tips for More Efficient Google Searches - Dumb Little Man

Increasing your Credibility in 30 days: How to Brag without Bragging

At its simplest, building credibility in the public realm involves creating credible content and spreading it around. The process of building a public profile is not an extremely difficult one but it does take a sustained, considered effort. Taking several well paced and relatively small steps over a 30 day period can yield handsome dividends.

1. Print out or ‘screen capture’ the first three pages of Google hits.
The internet and its search engines have become so ubiquitous that a reputation is becoming defined by what the first 3 pages of Yahoo! or Google search hits turns up. Forget about personal and professional references for making a first impression because the internet search gets done before that. Work on improving the hit list.

2. Review your scrapbook.
This involves going through the various past accomplishments, brochures, awards, correspondence, etc. and any sources of what could be considered public or quasi-public content and creating a pool to draw from for building the foundation.

3. Write an article that captures the essence of what you are doing that makes you great.
An easy type of article to write is one that incorporates a ten point list, targeting the key area or areas. Circulate the article or drafts while soliciting feedback from select friends, clients and partners.

4. Submit one article to a general online publication.
Why an online publication? Simply, to become friendly to the internet search engines. Online publications are easier to get articles into, faster to get published, stick around a long time, are easily searched and provide valuable direct links to the company – all while improving the Google three page search hits profile.

5. Submit one article to a trade specific publication.
This is remarkably easy to do by simply reshaping the original article with relatively little effort and getting it into an online or print media format where there is no competition with paid writers. Many associations actively seek interesting contributions from their members, and also from non-members.

6. Submit one article to an offline publication.
Generally, this involves a need to call the editor and pitch the piece by way of sending a summary or sending a previous online one as a sample.

7. Find third party research and material that supports your views.
There is nothing wrong with promoting or citing other people’s materials where they reinforce your main message. In fact the opposite is usually true. A great way to enhance credibility is through association with others who are already perceived as credible with the audience you are trying to reach.

8. Add any credible logos to your website or documents.
Logos from client companies, trade associations, major media that provided coverage, not-for-profit organizations and any other relevant ones should be included to enhance your public profile.

9. Post your profile on various social networking sites.
Many of these websites and networking systems have very high placements with google and other search engines. Include company and professional profiles, limiting jargon, in such a way that a wide audience can understand the information which should be well written and appear professional.

10. Get listed in media and professional directories.
Media people have a constant need to call on experts in various areas to get a quote they can use for whatever they are working on. You should become known as a person to go to for expertise in an area.

11. Send testimonials to credible people who will post it on their website.
These testimonials must be consistent with the core article and key messaging. They should go to people who would be good to associate with to add value and credibility.

12. Nominate companies or people for awards.
Receiving an award or public acknowledgment is a great way to enhance credibility for the recipient. It also reflects well on whoever makes the nomination.
Nominating a company or individual for an award does not mean they should be automatically expecting to win. Fortunately, most know the difference between being nominated and winning so won’t start ordering champagne ahead of time.
Be prepared to show up at the event if your nominee wins!

13. Position yourself as an expert in your area.
Which area is not as important as being able to hold oneself out as a credible expert. To do so involves preparing a focused bio and creating an expert statement with some supporting materials. Media people habitually seek quotes from experts on whatever subject they are reporting on.

14. Ask for testimonials from credible people and companies.
Testimonial quotes must be consistent with the core article to reinforce the main message. To gain maximum impact, however, it is important to become involved with the best wherever possible. Incorporate written, audio or video testimonials and quotes into website, brochure, audio and video content.

15. Create framed thank you letters and send them to opinion leaders or admired companies.
Fan mail is usually appreciated by whomever receives it. Even when they are very busy while at the top of their game, they will often have time to read and respond to it. Companies often prominently place such letters in their front offices and hallways where they can remain for several years. What they rarely receive is a fan letter than comes in a frame and is ready for public display. You can call on these people later to ask them for favors.

16. Post comments on trade-specific websites.
Much like in the case of testimonials, quality counts more than quantity. A couple key comments on a couple good sites will again boost search engine results. Use a real name to avoid it being one of the myriad anonymous bits that fill cyberspace.

A well-executed process for a person or small business intent on increasing credibility through an enhanced public profile will yield a sound profile in days rather than months or years. Initially, the process focuses on setting the foundation. Once a good foundation has been set, then it becomes time to engage the media. At the end of the process, one will have the respect that has been earned and not come across as boorish while bragging.

Increasing your Credibility in 30 days: How to Brag without Bragging [via Lifehack.org]

20 Ways to Use Gmail Filters

One of the coolest things about Gmail is its filters — set up properly, filters can add loads of functionality to your already-powerful Gmail account. Save time and space, rid your inbox of unwanted emails, and turn your Gmail into a multi-functional tool with simple filters...

20 Ways to Use Gmail Filters - lifehack.org

25 Uses for Ziploc Bags

"For those who are looking to get a bit more use out of their Ziploc bags, here are 25 additional ways to use them while traveling, camping, shopping and more."

25 Uses for Ziploc Bags « Personal Growth & Personal Development

Top 10 Ways to Use del.icio.us - lifehack.org

Del.icio.us is an excellent system for archiving your favorite information from across the Net, tracking hot topics, and discovering new and useful sites. The power of del.icio.us comes in the form of it’s “collective intelligence”, which is constantly adding, reviewing, and filtering new information.

The community of del.icio.us allows you to find some of the best resources on the Internet without having to trudge through all of the junk.

It also gives you a centralized management system for organizing information from around the Net. However, many people are unaware of it’s complete list of features and valuable add-ons.

Here are 10 ways that you can use del.icio.us to its full potential.

Top 10 Ways to Use del.icio.us - lifehack.org

Google Maps Aliases

Sometimes you need to find the same address on Google Maps again and again. Google saves your addresses, so you can just type the first characters and use the autocomplete feature. But wouldn't be nice to assign friendlier name to these long and boring addresses?

It's easy to do that: enter the addresses, followed by the friendly name inside the brackets, like in the screenshot below.

Then when you need to find the same address on the map, type your alias and select the address from the list of suggestions. You can manage the aliases in the 'saved locations' section.

GoogleGoogle Maps Aliases [via Lifehacker]

The Tip Sheet

This blog is a place to collect ideas and tips for getting things done.