How can you safely dispose of medicines?
Professional Further Education in Clinical Pharmacy and Public Health (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Pharmaceutical companies have grown exponentially, which means there must be more medicine floating around out there. Chances are, not all of it gets used before it expires – either because your problem was solved before you used them all or – maybe, maybe, maybe – you forgot where you put the meds, so you had to buy more, therefore you have extras hiding in strange places.
Whatever the case, the worst thing you could do to get rid of the medicine is flush it down the toilet or rinse it down the garbage disposal. Both of these methods end up dumping your medicine in the water system. Instead, consider one of these other choices:
Find an Environmentally-Friendly Pharmacy
You can check with your “regular” pharmacy to see if they offer a disposal program. If they don’t, search DisposeMyMeds.org to find a participating pharmacy near you.
MacGyver the Meds
If you have to dispose of medications on your own, you have two goals:
- Keep them out of the water system
- Avoid digestion by others
If you have pills, mix them with something inedible like kitty litter or coffee grounds in a container or bag that will be difficult to open. Dilute bottles of liquid with water, and tape the caps shut. Deposit the containers in the trash.
Let the DEA Do the Dirty Work
The DEA offers two collection days per year, usually the last Saturdays in April and October. To find a participating drop-off location, check their website. This particular page on their website times out, so you just need to click on “Start Over” and type in your zip code. The next collection is April 28, 2012.
Apps and programs for operating in THE CLOUD
THE CLOUD. That term just cracks me up. Who came up with that term to explain where the Internet is? What will it be called in a couple of years? Alas, I digress. I attended a workshop presented by Caroline Green and Ivan Drucker at NAPO Conference in Baltimore. For those of you figuring out your way through the clouds, here are the apps they discussed:
Documents
1. Google Docs: Free, share documents with others, can work on document “live”
2. Dropbox: Free for up to 2GB, allows sharing
3. Document signing: EchoSign, free to demo then $15/month, and DocuSign, free to demo then $15/month
Filing
1. Dropbox – see above
2. Evernote: free; like a file cabinet/bulletin board combo
3. Neat: they have software with OCR that helps their scanner “talk” to your printer; they’re coming out with cloud storage soon for a fee
Finances
1. QuickBooks Online: monthly fee
2. Mint: Free, with some reports
To Dos
1. Remember the Milk: free; works with iPhone, Droid
2. Todo: $5; works with iPhone, Droid
Project Management
1. Basecamp, starts at $50/month – calendar, to do lists, files
2. Zoho, starts at $20/month – calendar, to do’s, assign tasks, files, chat (but website not as nice as Basecamp according to the presenters)
CRM (Client Relationship Management)
1. Highrise, starts at $24/month
2. Salesforce, #1 CRM provider according to the presenters; starts at $15/month
Media
1. Bookmarks: Xmarks, works with Firefox, Chrome, IE, Safari; free for basic plan, $12/year for sync with iPhone, iPad, Droid, BlackBerry. iCloud, for Safari and Internet Explorer bookmarks, syncs with iPhone and iPad, free. Firefox, built-in bookmark sync, with Firefox on other computers only, free.
2. Music: iTunes Match in iCloud, syncs with iPhone and iPad, $25/year. Google Play, syncs with Droid. Amazon CloudDrive, free for 5GB, paid plans start at $20/year for 20GB.
3: Photos: Flickr, Shutterfly, iCloud Photo Stream
Password Management
1. 1Password which can sync using Dropbox
2. Passpack for multiple people sharing passwords
Backup for Computers
1. Crashplan, enterprise, secure; starts at $5/month
2. Carbonite, from $59/year
3. Mozy $6/month per computer.
For other reports from Conference, see my posts about office supplies and online calendars.
A Handbook for the Organized Family
I met Megan and Kirsten in the Expo Hall at NAPO Conference in Baltimore. Megan told me about the challenges she and Kirsten faced as busy moms and how they couldn’t find an organizing system that met their needs. So, they “hatched” the idea of HATCHEDit. I figured if they could do all of that, they could definitely offer folks some tips on how they keep their families organized!
A Handbook for the Organized Family
By
Megan Brown and Kirsten Bischoff
Co-Founders of HATCHEDit.com
There are the lucky few who have always had that innate ability to be organized. And then there is everybody else. For most of us being organized is a characteristic built on developing good habits and instilling that discipline in everyday life.
Teaching organization skills is a major part of responsibility and not only will it help your children as they mature and grow but it will also help you run a smooth operation in your household.
Here are 5 of our top tips for the organized family:
- Turn off the TV
Television time is ok but it should be designated. It is too easy to get sucked in and waste hours in front of the tube. - Schedules
Calendars, organizers and schedules are your friend! - Cleaning
A place for everything and everything in its place. Don’t let the cleaning work pile up; disperse chores through the week so that you aren’t overwhelmed. - Sleep
You may not realize it but getting rest and a regular sleep schedule will help you get more organized. Both kids and parents should have a bedtime. - Communication
Coordinating is never going to work without communication. Talking it out is also important in any busy family.
Don’t over stress being organized as much as you should concentrate on just being a happy family. Support and love one another and being organized will naturally follow, especially if you are following these tips!
To read more of their tips, please visit their HATCHEDit blog.
About the dynamic duo:
Kirsten Bischoff is Founding Partner of HATCHEDit.com. A graduate of NYU Tisch School of the Arts, she has spent most of her career entrenched in the highly entertaining world of…finance. Kirsten lives in Springfield, NJ and when she is not working on HATCHEDit.com she can usually be found playing chauffer to her over-scheduled twelve-year-old daughter Sophie.
Megan Brown is Founding Partner of HATCHEDit.com. A graduate of University of Cincinnati she has over a decade’s worth of Wall Street experience spanning both sales trading and asset management marketing. Megan lives in Westfield, NJ with her husband Josh and their daughter Madeleine.
HATCHEDit offers many digital resources for getting organized with free membership. Visit their website.
Online calendar systems showcased at NAPO 2012
Every year the National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO) hosts its annual organizing conference in a different city. This year it was in Baltimore. Can you imagine 800+ organizing and productivity professionals in one spot?! It’s a great time to gain valuable information from workshops as well as examine both “old stand-bys” and new products that are showcased in the Expo Hall.
Here are some of the online calendar systems I learned about:
Google Calendar – www.calendar.google.com
This calendar is free and syncs with your phone via a Google app. You can share the calendar, invite people to events, schedule reminders for events and color code activities. A lot of business folks use Google Calendar, but it’s hit and miss with families, depending on what their needs are. One of these days I’ll write about the quirks I’ve had to get used to with this system.
MeadCal – www.MeadCal.com
This calendar is free and is more robust than Google calendar. It is powered by Cozi, which is another online calendar. You can track your family schedule as well as organize shopping and to-do lists. You can even keep a family journal with text and photos. Like Google, the program is cloud based, so you can reach your info from any computer or smartphone.
Image via CrunchBase
AboutOne – www.AboutOne.com
The basic plan is free. The upgraded plans cost $40-$80 per year. It appears to be very robust, with calendaring, contacts, lists, filing cabinets, etc. The newest version will launch this spring, so I haven’t test-driven this one yet.
Hatchedit – www.HatchedIt.com
This program is free and seemed very user friendly to me. I met the developers and had a chance to pick their brains about their program while going through a demo with them. They are busy moms who couldn’t find an “all in one” system that worked for them, so they created their own. It’s part Facebook, part calendar, part Evite, part contacts…all rolled into one. It is cloud-based as well.
If you missed the post about showcased office supplies, read it here.
Next week: Apps and digital options for your office
Is San Antonio unproductive?
Fiesta San Antonio (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
San Antonio has been partying like it’s 1999 since 1891, when a group of citizens decided to celebrate the heroes of the Battle of San Jacinto and the Alamo.
Fiesta has been occurring every April in San Antonio for over one hundred years. There are multiple events each day, as well as several parades over a ten-day period. Most of these events are fundraisers for various non-profits and scholarship programs around town. If you think about it, massive amounts of food and beverages are consumed all in the name of charity. San Antonio didn’t hold the title of America’s Fattest City for several years running for nothin’, and we do it for good causes! Virtually the entire city shuts down for 10 days to attend events around town.
You read that correctly. We pretty much shut down around here. The last Friday of Fiesta is a school and city holiday called Battle of Flowers. Many people use vacation days to set up for the events for which they’re volunteering. Many more people either call in sick to work or show up with hangovers and/or indigestion. Those who do arrive to work in satisfactory condition take longer breaks to discuss the events of the previous evening and plan for future adventures. It’s hard work partaking in these celebrations!
It’s a most unproductive time in this city.
Or, is it?
How many other cities can have an absentee workforce for 10 days and still bounce back to normal? AND raise tens of thousands of dollars for charity at the same time? San Antonio was even named the Nation’s Best Performing City by the Milken Institute in 2011. You might say that if we can slow or shut down nearly all operations while the rest of the world waits on us, we are pretty darn productive after all.
San Antonio can do this because we have systems in place, and we set expectations for this time period with all of our customers and clients. This is how we roll.
And so, too, can you roll with your own business. If a city can shut down for 10 days to party, you can take some much needed time off and go on vacation – even if it’s for only a quick weekend getaway.
Systems. Expectations. You can do it.
Viva Fiesta!
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Nifty office supplies showcased at NAPO Conference 2012
Every year the National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO) hosts its annual organizing conference in a different city. This year it was in Baltimore. Can you imagine 800+ organizing and productivity professionals from around the world in one spot?! It’s a great time to gain valuable information from workshops as well as examine both “old stand-bys” and new products that are showcased in the Expo Hall.
Here are some of the noteworthy office supplies I took for a test drive:
Post-It Filing Tabs – If you lose track (what?!?) of the file tabs that are supposed to go into the folder slots, you can use these tabs as a substitute and even move them around.
Post-It Storage Container Label Pads – Have you ever changed your mind about where you wanted a label placed? These labels can stick to plastic or canvas, and they are easy to remove without leaving adhesive behind.
Pendaflex: I consistently recommend their products because of their durability. For my green friends out there, they have a 100% recycled line called Earthwise. I also want to publicly thank Pendaflex’s parent company, Esselte, for supporting the volunteer efforts of NAPO’s Quantum Leap program!
arc – This system isn’t brand new, but it hasn’t quite developed a rabid following yet. It’s totally customizable, so you can create the calendar/to-do list/note-taking system that works for you. It’s available only at Staples. As with all calendar/task list systems, it only works if you use it. (Mmhmm, that’s right!)
Coming next week: digital calendaring systems
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What is the Forgotten Communication Tool? (Part 2)
One of the skills I try to teach clients in their quest for organization and productivity is to listen not only to those around them but also to themselves. Sometimes the advice we get in working with others needs to be applied to ourselves when we’re on our own. My friend Mike O’Krent is an expert in listening and communication and has worked on projects for Steven Spielberg, so I asked him to share some advice.
Listening – Uncovering the Forgotten Communication Tool –
Part II: Handling the “What Ifs” (Emotion)
By
Mike O’Krent, Founder and President
LifeStories Alive, LLC
The subject of communication is as vast as an ocean. I’ll try to teach the tools I’ve learned one drink at a time, so we can swallow and enjoy each one. Let’s begin exploring the “what ifs” that inevitably come up in conversation. As we learn together the tools used to become a better listener, one of the most fearful situations that people are forced to handle is emotion.
“What if they start crying?” “What if I start to cry?” “What do I do?” In the work I do at LifeStories Alive, I have, as you can imagine, encountered tears in many forms and for many reasons. Here are some rules of thumb that I use when emotion comes up. Please realize that my comments are taken with my role at LifeStories Alive in mind, as an interviewer there to record their LifeStories…not as a parent, loving spouse, or best friend.
What if they start to cry?
- Don’t interrupt the emotion or say anything! This one is tough for me to do. I was raised that it’s proper to comfort a person who gets emotional. What I have found, however, is that if I let them get the emotion out…completely out…they will feel better when they are finished. Another benefit is that some of the most valuable pearls of wisdom and heart have come at the end of uninterrupted emotion. Here’s an example: http://tinyurl.com/6n3cge8. What would I have missed if I interrupted that emotion?
- Be compassionate with your body language but never say, “I understand” (because you don’t) or “It’s okay” (because it might not be). It’s better to acknowledge the emotion, but don’t try to make it go away.
- Don’t invade their personal space. I’m a hugger. I want to gently touch them when the emotion happens. I have learned that invading their personal space will interrupt the emotion, and that’s the last thing I want to happen.
- How will I know when they are finished with the emotion? They will always let you know by making eye contact with you. Even after they make that eye contact, take a good, long pause to be sure that they are finished.
What if I start to cry?
With the work I do at LifeStories Alive, I get emotional during an interview. Here are some helpful tools I keep in mind:
- Take a deep breath. I try to do this as quietly as possible. I don’t want the audio of a deep breath on my part to be heard (although my editor can remove it in post-production editing).
- Keep a tissue or handkerchief near. The audible sound of sniffles is distracting to the speaker/interviewee.
- After their emotion is finished, it might be appropriate to explain why what they said touched you…but do this only after you are sure they are finished.
Emotion is a natural part of life. Handling emotion in a respectful way will help make you better listener and, thus, a better communicator.
If you missed part one of Mike’s tips, you can read them here.
About Mike O’Krent:
Mike O’Krent, founder of LifeStories Alive, LLC, specializes in making personal history videos for families that value their heritage. They create family heirlooms in video – digitally mastered records of life stories with personal accounts, photos and mementos of family history.
Born and raised in San Antonio, Texas and graduating from Southern Methodist University with a BBA in Marketing and Management, he entered his family’s retail floor covering business as the 4th generation in that business.
Between 1996 and 2000 Mike interviewed Holocaust survivors for Steven Spielberg’s Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation. During that incredible experience, he discovered the process and the importance of recording the life stories of our loved ones.
Mike moved to Austin in 1998 when he bought and managed a local floor covering business; then sold it in 2004. He finally found his passion in business when he started LifeStories Alive.
Learn more about Mike:
Twitter Facebook YouTube Blog LifeStories Alive, LLC
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What support do teachers need to stick it out in a tough job?
How can you improve teacher productivity, which in turn will increase test scores?
How can you raise teacher morale and increase the retention rate?
How can you help ease “the overwhelm” for teachers?
It’s quite simple:
1) Make sure they have a copy of my book Less Stress for Teachers: More Time & An Organized Classroom (www.LessStressForTeachers.com)
and/or
2) Arrange for my Less Stress for Teachers: The T.E.A.C.H. Approach™ workshop which will give teachers the tools they need to gain control over the five key areas of every school day.
That’s right. I just plugged my book and workshop in a blog post. But there’s a really good reason for that: I’m on a mission to lower the teacher drop-out rate.
Teachers need more than appreciation gifts of trinkets to stick it out in a tough job. In honor of National Teacher Appreciation Week (May 7-11, 2012), I’m offering these gifts to the education community:
Bulk Book Orders: Receive 50% off the retail price plus free shipping. Orders and payments must be received by April 30, 2012, in order for you to receive the book shipment by May 10, 2012.
VIP Member Benefit: Receive a special code for your members or staff to make individual purchases of the book at 30% off the retail price.
Book Bonus Program: Be one of the first ten school districts to purchase 500 books for your district at retail price, and get one full-day workshop included. Orders and payments must be received by April 26, 2012, in order to receive your book shipment by May 10, 2012.
Still don’t understand why this is a better gift than apples or knickknacks? Keep reading…
National Teacher Appreciation Week is traditionally a time when teachers receive little baubles in their mailboxes each day of the week or a free taco breakfast on Friday morning. I’d like to suggest that schools and organizations which support teachers give a different kind of gift this year.
Some educators – and most especially the general public – may not be aware of these sobering statistics:
- Teacher job satisfaction is at a twenty-two year low. – 29th Annual Met Life Survey of the American Teacher
- One important trait of teachers labeled as high quality is that they’ve spent more than five years in the classroom. – National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future (NCTAF)
- One-third of teachers leave the profession within the first three years, and half leave within the first five. – National Center for Education Statistics
-
Teacher attrition costs U.S. districts $2.2 billion per year. – Alliance for Excellent Education
If high quality teachers need five years to become just that, and half leave before then, the teacher drop-out rate suddenly becomes just as important as the student drop-out rate. After all, teachers spend more waking hours with our children than parents do and can determine how much – or how little – information will be shared with students.
Not surprisingly, those exiting teachers who were surveyed did mention low pay as a determining factor for leaving, as well as poor student behavior. But, the number one reason teachers gave for leaving the classroom was the lack of a supportive school environment. Disorganization and the absence of time management support are major causes of “overwhelm” for many teachers.
Contrary to popular belief, teaching ain’t a 9 to 3 job. For a peek into what a typical school day is like for many teachers, download a free Sample Excerpt here.
Are you ready to help provide that support that teachers so desperately need?
To request a press kit, get details about the offers, request a code, book a workshop, or place an order, please call Tracey Lammert at 210-892-4990 x73 or 1-888-5-ORDER-5 x73, or email her at saoffice at livingordersa.com. (The email address is unlinked in order to prevent spam.)
If you know of a school that could benefit from stress relief, please forward this post to the principal or curriculum director. If you can’t purchase any books for teachers or don’t know who to share this with, but you want to show your support, I ask you to do just one little thing: Find a former teacher of yours who made a difference in your life and say thank you. That will make a teacher’s day!
What is the Forgotten Communication Tool?
One of the skills I try to teach clients in their quest for organization and productivity is to listen not only to those around them but also to themselves. My friend Mike O’Krent is an expert in listening and communication and has worked on projects for Steven Spielberg, so I asked him to share some advice.
Listening – Uncovering the Forgotten Communication Tool –
Part I: The Basics
By
Mike O’Krent, Founder and President
LifeStories Alive, LLC
Most of us have heard the importance of communication in school, business and life, in general. Some of us have been taught some skills and tools to use in order to improve our use of communication. But very few, if any, have been taught the most important of all the communication skills: listening.
I have been fortunate to be trained in listening skills and, thankfully, am able to apply those skills in the work I do at LifeStories Alive. It is my pleasure to share some of the skills I have been taught and the lessons I have learned through practical application of those skills. Whether you are a businessperson, classroom teacher, or a parent working at improving communication with your loved ones, I hope you enjoy and put to use these valuable tools I share with you.
Let’s start with the basics. While these points may seem obvious, most of us need to be reminded of them so we can practice them more often.
Stop talking
That’s right. I believe it is impossible to intently listen if you are bumping your gums (a slang for talking). While some people argue that they can listen and talk at the same time, I have seen the disastrous consequences of messing this one up. You will see soon that in order to apply some of the skills of a good listener listed below, you must first shut up!
Listen with your whole body
When I first heard this concept, I thought I knew what it meant. With further study, and listening to this TED Talk by Evelyn Glennie, I have a much better idea. This concept includes important practices like maintaining eye contact, leaning forward, intently watching their body language, and listening without judging. To better imagine what this basic tool is all about, in the next conversation you have today, imagine you are severely hearing impaired. Then realize during that conversation how important it is to “listen” to everything that is happening, not just what is being said.
Don’t interrupt!
This is the hardest thing for many people to learn. I know how hard it was, and still is for me. Here are a couple of tools I have learned that help with this subject:
- The next sentence you say has to include at least one word from the last sentence they say. This will force you to not only listen, but to pause after they’re finished talking…because you don’t know if they are really finished talking.
- Practice using pauses of different lengths after they are finished. This is especially important when dealing with different emotions. When sadness and tears are involved, people tend to pause longer between thoughts expressed. Let those long pauses happen before you say anything!
I hope these basics help you to become a better listener. Remember, it takes practice to improve, but improving your listening skills can make a huge difference in your life.
Be sure to check back here next week for Part II.
About Mike O’Krent:
Mike O’Krent, founder of LifeStories Alive, LLC, specializes in making personal history videos for families that value their heritage. They create family heirlooms in video – digitally mastered records of life stories with personal accounts, photos and mementos of family history.
Born and raised in San Antonio, Texas and graduating from Southern Methodist University with a BBA in Marketing and Management, he entered his family’s retail floor covering business as the 4th generation in that business.
Between 1996 and 2000 Mike interviewed Holocaust survivors for Steven Spielberg’s Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation. During that incredible experience, he discovered the process and the importance of recording the life stories of our loved ones.
Mike moved to Austin in 1998 when he bought and managed a local floor covering business; then sold it in 2004. He finally found his passion in business when he started LifeStories Alive.
Learn more about Mike:
Twitter Facebook YouTube Blog LifeStories Alive, LLC
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Procrastination Kills. Seriously.
Procrastination (Photo credit: Emilie Ogez)
National Procrastination Week was the second week of March. I put off writing about it.
Heh heh. That’s just a little organizer humor there.
On a serious note, procrastination can make life miserable. If we put off projects, phone calls, emails, or whatever the task may be, we end up working at break-neck pace in order to complete it at the eleventh hour. It’s unnecessary stress that we bring upon ourselves.
What’s that, you say? You like the added pressure of waiting until the last minute to get things done? Let’s take a look at that philosophy.
At the 2012 National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO) Conference last week in Baltimore, I had the opportunity to attend a workshop presented by Sandy Wright of WrightEdge Solutions. She peppered her presentation with various quotes, but my favorite one was:
“Procrastination is the art of keeping up with yesterday.” – Don Marquis
Shouldn’t our goal be to get ahead for today or tomorrow, instead of living in a frazzled state from constantly playing catch up? Or does that shot of adrenaline that you feel when you’re hurrying to finish a project feel good to you?
Sandy discussed that when we get into a heightened state while cramming at the last minute to finish a task, our brains are releasing chemicals that make us feel like we’re empowered and energized and getting a “high.” What we’re really doing is wearing down our bodies. When these chemicals are released on a regular basis, it can lead to kidney failure. We’re programmed to use the chemicals to help us survive in life or death situations – not as a way to live life every day.
There are a multitude of causes of procrastination, as there are many ways to combat the problem. But one of the top reasons why you shouldn’t procrastinate is concern for your health. The next time you think about putting something off until the last minute, ask yourself how much longer you’d like your kidneys to function.
