Thursday afternoon, my laptop for work started acting funny. I didn’t find it amusing. Friday, on a deadline, I was dismayed as it turned off, without warning, in the middle of my work. I got it to reboot long enough to do two things that absolutely had to happen. Then, I got the Blue Screen of Death. A call to IT walked me through more reboots and a dire pronouncement, “Ma’am, this is a very serious problem.”

I didn’t know that Blue Screen of Death was an official IT term. Now I know.

Geek Squad ran a $59 diagnostic. I dropped off the laptop about 5 p.m. on Friday and they called with the diagnosis by 10 a.m. the next morning. Now THAT’S good service! Unfortunately, the news was bad, as in, bad hard drive. Kaput. Kaplooie.

I’ve joined the hundreds of thousands of fellow bloggers and laptop-dependent folks who have had computer failure and gone through withdrawals as my laptop is on its merry way to the IT hospital. I’m lucky, I have a backup laptop on which to work this week but it’s not the same.

I know many of you will say, “Get a Mac!” but that’s unfortunately not an option. What’s the best laptop (lightweight yet durable) out there?

First and foremost, you need a three day weekend. Preferably one when it’s not necessarily nice outside and you’re not tempted to go do other fun things.

Here’s the schedule:

A few days in advance: look at 1,000 paint chips. Decide on a color or, if you’re feeling adventurous, two colors. Go to the store and buy your paint and if needed, primer. Buy all of your supplies if you don’t already have them. Supply list appears far below.

Friday night: Enlist a couple of skinny burly teenagers to move your office furniture out or to the center of the room. Remove everything else from the room and take everything off the walls. Patch any holes. Tape. Tape everything; edges of windows, doors, the baseboard, where the walls meet the ceiling, etc. Then call it a night. Tomorrow’s a big day.

Saturday: Prime. Not Rib. Paint the entire room with primer. My office was badly painted and possibly only painted once by the previous owners, who did not appear to use the room regularly. Drywall was exposed in places, so primer was needed. I spent the whole morning priming, then knocked off the afternoon to go to the girl’s basketball game and then to dinner with friends. It’s important to have breaks in your painting weekend so you don’t feel like you spent the whole weekend painting. My husband helped me out by doing the grocery shopping and making lunch. The girl kept the laundry moving. Thanks, guys!

Sunday: Now it’s time to launch the color. I decided to do two colors, a light antique shade of pink and a chocolate milk shade of brown. I did them on connecting walls, to make my life a little easier. It took most of the day. Fortunately the room has a wall with giant sliding doors, a wall with sliding glass doors to the porch outside, a wall with a door and a wall with a window. This reduces the “big wall” space, but not the time it takes to paint. I knocked off by 4pm to relax and recover. Thankfully my husband made dinner. Yay — jambalaya!

Monday: This is why it takes a three day weekend. On Monday, I did the two-color edges and all the touch-ups. Some areas needed a third coat. The third day also gave me time to remove all the tape and clean everything up. This day requires the most time, especially if you’re fussy like me. Cleanup alone took an hour so plan to start early so you can salvage some of the day to relax. You do NOT want to be messing with touchups and cleanup at 10pm if you have to go back to work the next day.

Supplies:

1. I like to use a combination of big rollers, small rollers, corner painters, edgers and a regular paintbrush. I like the Shur-Gard brand.
2. Painters’ tape. One roll oughta do it.
3. You’ll need a few dropcloths. Oh, you think you don’t, but you do. I prefer the cheap plastic type.
4. If you’re doing two colors, use two different paint trays. Just don’t get confused and dip into the wrong one.
5. Paint clothes. I have a pair of old jeans and a red hoodie I’ve worn for several winter painting projects. They have a bit of color from each on them. I have an old tee shirt and some cotton shorts I wear to paint in the summer. I’d rather die than be seen in these in public, although I have been known to run to Lowe’s in said attire. It seems somehow acceptable there. Also, no one stares when I have paint in my hair.
6. Tunes. I used my iPod Shuffle full of favorite tunes by which to paint. The best that came up was some Marvin Gaye and Cake. Good painting music.
7. Overturned milk crate. This is my preferred stand-on item. I don’t care if it gets paint on it, it’s stable, and just high enough so I can reach the ceiling. I’ve painted many a room standing on a milk crate. One tip: you must wear shoes.
8. Q-tips. These are great for those little bitty touch ups when the tape ends up removing some of the paint along with it.
9. Post-it Notes. This is my secret weapon. Stick these to the edge of a window or door when doing last minute touch ups and they work great as a guide and protector.

Things I learned while painting my home office:

Any home improvement project takes a minimum of three trips to Lowe’s. I always think I have everything, then decide I need more. In this case, I went back for more small rollers once, and again for an edger.

Painting a room makes you realize how much the people who were involved in the actual construction of your house really didn’t give a crap about the work they did. Nothing like painting a room to see how poorly mudded your walls were, or how corners were cut, shoddy materials used, and attention to detail ignored. It’s frustrating and makes me look forward to building a house again one day. I will be on those guys like a wet blanket.

I can’t seem to do a painting project without some minor injury. I broke two nails and jammed something up under my thumbnail. As I watched the blood bubble up under the nail I was less concerned about the pain than my memory of a previous similar injury. About seven years ago I bent to pick up a hard plastic Barbie brush of the girl’s and one of the bristles went up under my thumbnail. Days later the thumb throbbed and got hot. I ended up going to one of those urgent care joints for antibiotics and a tetanus shot (I believe it was a holiday). Anyway, I remembered that well with this injury, particularly when I then got paint under the nail. Ick.

Get done before you have to go back to work. Pay attention to how much time everything takes and amp up the schedule if needed. Your arms may feel like noodles and your shoulders may be prayin’ for mercy but get it done. Don’t leave any of the work hanging over your head when you have to return to your “real job.”

And now . . . the big reveal:

In this shot you can see the two-color connecting walls. When I told my sister “brown and pink” she said, “Like Baskin-Robbins!” Good thing we don’t have a B-R in Charlottesville or I’d want ice cream all the time.

This is another connecting corner. I chose these colors because I thought they’d change with the light in the room, the time of day, etc. They do!

This shot shows more of the brown, which looks sort of mauve in this light. The colors work pretty well together — not too different but different enough to give the room dimension.

As you know, I really like working from home — most of the time. This week, though there have been some very specific challenges:

• Looooong conference calls where I dare not skip to the loo (even with the blessed MUTE button) because I’m afraid I’ll be called on to participate.
• In said looooong conference calls, everyone talks at once. Excruciating. Particularly with the 52 hour headache I enjoyed this week.
• Also in said conference calls (and I love this one) people sitting nearest the conference call device decide to have a whispery side conversation TOTALLY distracting from the person whose turn it is to be addressing the room. Oy.
• Once again — in conference calls. Wrappers. Or paper shuffling. Or oragami. What are you DOING with the PAPERS?
• I was sick this week (see 52 hour headache) and seriously, how do you take a sick day when you work at home? I have done it before — not very well I might add, since I’m addicted to the Internet and all — but anytime I’m sick I just work anyway. Maybe I’m not dressed nicely and don’t have makeup on, maybe I’m not at my desk, rather snuggled with my laptop on the couch, but I work. I have five sick days remaining, untaken, for the year.
• It was my turn to share on the conference call and I GOT CUT OFF. For the third time during the call. Buzzkill.
• I am pretty excited about a new tool I developed and it was time to share it with the rest of the staff. I couldn’t see their faces and it was at the end of a very looooong meeting so the reaction, on my end of the phone sounded like, “Meh.” That was a big ego booster. (Thankfully I received two VERY encouraging e-mails from colleagues afterwards which lifted my spirits immensely.)
• Faxes. I freaking hate faxes. My office line and my fax line are one so I have to be present to receive a fax. As a result, several days (over some vacation time and a weekend) went by before an “urgent” fax could be sent and when it arrived? Crap. Utter crap. Photos in the content that were giant black squares. Terrible quality newsprint that didn’t transmit well and was illegible. And what did the cover note say? “Let me know if you would prefer the URLs for these stories.” OMG — are you kidding me?

Sorry. Had to rant. Feel much better now. It’s been a rough week. Onward!

1. Empty a dishwasher in the two minutes that it takes to heat a cup of water for tea in the microwave
2. Stuff and address 40 envelopes during a board meeting and pay attention to what’s being said
3. Hold a meeting on the phone on the way to another meeting (grabbing a cup of coffee in-between for lunch)
4. Fax 25 pages of non-electronic content while helping my son fill out college applications
5. Drive from a meeting to pick up the girl from school, deposit her at a Girl Scout event, sit in a parking lot and return phone calls and book a media appearance, retrieve the girl, pick up the boy from school, drop him off to get an allergy shot and scoot over to the library to work for 30 minutes while the girl chooses and reads a book that satisfies her homework requirement
6. Chat with a colleague while making dinner, shoot off three e-mails while the dinner rolls bake, read a report while stirring the pot
7. Read Newsweek cover to cover while making time on my new Schwinn exercise bike
8. Fold three loads of laundry while watching a 30 minute TV show in 22 minutes (thank you, TiVo)

Multi-tasking moms — what can you do?

When I was 16, I had a job writing movie reviews for the local Catholic newspaper. I was limited to anything rated PG or G, naturally. The first review I wrote was for that box office hit, Harry and The Hendersons. (Don’t bother; it was stupid.)

I’m reminded of that on a regular basis. Why? Because a couple named the Hendersons had my office phone number before I did. I’ve had the number now for close to two years and STILL GET CALLS FOR THEM.

Today, someone really wanted to get ahold of old Robert and Loretta. Someone who wanted to place a COLLECT call. They tried four times. Enough for me to call my phone service and find out how to block them. The first question from the customer service person? “Are they in jail?”

Who knows! Hey Hendersons! Someone’s trying to reach you and PLEASE update your phone number in the dozens of files you have all over town.

I learned that it costs $2 a month to block all collect calls to your phone. Just in case this ever happens to you.

I learned something last week from a friend of mine. I’m always learning from my friends — in fact I firmly believe in surrounding myself with smart people so some of their brains will rub off on me (ew).

She introduced me to the Four Point Day. I don’t know if this is really what it’s called, or whose idea it was in the first place. If you know, tell me because I’d like to learn more. It works like this: you try to have a four point day every day.

Here’s the scoring system:

4 points if you close a deal (and this means signed contract in hand or, in my opinion, it doesn’t count)
3 points if you meet with a decision maker
2 points if you make an appointment with a decision maker (if the C-level person has a team of gatekeepers, this could be a tough one)
1 point for meeting someone or making that first contact (Online interaction counts!)

I have been pretty excited about this concept from the get-go. So far, it’s been pretty life changing, like when I discovered the FlyLady, or started using Bloglines, or — oh my, when we got DSL for the first time. You may laugh, but these were huge moments that have made my life easier and more successful.

I’ve cross-posted a less gushing, more professional version of this over at www.standingprblog.com in case you want to share it with your boss, your sales staff, or a friend. If they’re a good friend, you could probably just share this version.  

Several of you have asked to see my home office, so here is a peek into the place where I spend most of my waking hours. Here is the desk with the laptop and on the far right, on top of the credenza, the printer/fax/copier/scanner/toaster/coffee maker.

Here is the window through which I can see the UPS, FedEx and U.S. Mail trucks on the street before or after they drop boxes full of online purchases important business-related packages at my door.

There are several special items in this shot. One is the artwork on the wall, given to me by my friend Amanda as a going away gift. The “fan” of paper in the stand are my Standing Ovations — lovely notes of cheer and accomplishment from my colleagues at Standing Partnership. Next to that is a photo of my BIGGEST accomplishment, the time I broke the Guinness Book World’s Record for Largest Bouquet of Flowers. That’s 27,801 stems you’re looking at in that photo. Oh, and me, at age 27.

Here’s a view of my desk accessories. They’re boring, I know. But I like my Van Gogh mousepad, and the desk calendar of the mountains in Switzerland, a gift from a client with operations there.

This is the guest desk in my office. Some people have a guest chair but I’m full service and have the whole desk and chair. It’s ready for Susan when she wants to come visit and work a bit. The door? It leads nowhere.

Here’s the bookcase with lots of good reads, like The New Rules of Marketing and PR, The Experience Economy and A Whole New Mind. Also, some photos and such. These are just my business and writing books; the rest of our books are kept elsewhere.

Finally, this is the view out the sliding glass door that is to my right when I sit at my desk. I swivel in my chair and this is what I can see. Obviously it looks different with the seasons, but it is an extra perk in the home office.

Hope you’ve enjoyed your tour of the best home office, ever. You wish you were me. Admit it.

I live at work.

I work at home.

Sometimes one overtakes the other. Working at home is usually great, but since it’s my home, I share it with other people, namely my family.

I would not bring my family to work. No offense, guys. I’ve also made an effort not to bring work home with me, (ironic, huh?) not letting it take over time meant for my family.

Most of the time, when I’m working, my family members are gone, at school, at work, at camp — you know, where they belong. It’s when one of them is here, that I become acutely aware that I live where I work. I don’t like it when they’re home, on a day off when I’m working. It throws everything out of balance.

I need my office space. I do have a dedicated home office. No one is allowed to cross the threshold without my express permission. Nothing but my work takes place in my office. It is the one way I can keep the two separate. I do not, however, have a kitchen or a restroom in my home office. I must venture into other areas of the house a few times a day, and that’s when I encounter those non-colleagues hanging out in what I’ve come to think of as my workplace (the whole house, during work hours) while I’m trying to work.

How dare they be having fun, loafing around, not working?

If you work at home, how do you get through those days when the others are around?

I’ve been spouting this theory all over town; to clients, friends and colleagues. I’m convinced that anyone who says there “just isn’t enough time” to do any of a list of things they’ve been meaning to get to, has it, they just don’t know where it is.

There are a couple factors, of course. The people who claim they don’t have time may, in fact, not want to spend time doing what they say they have no time for. That’s fine, and another issue entirely. Finding time is for those who have something they really want to do — but can’t manage to fit in.

I keep saying that everyone has fifteen minutes . . . that everyone can find fifteen minutes a day to do something they want to do. If that means getting up fifteen minutes earlier, so be it, but before you take that drastic measure, account for the way you’re spending the 24 you get right off the bat.

Take three random sample days; a weekend day, a midweek day and whichever weekday is usually your busiest (Mondays are favorites for this.) Track the time you spend these days. That’s right; write it down. Here’s what a day might look like:

• Sleeping–8 hours
• Meals –2 hours
• Working – 9.5 hours
• Housekeeping (including cooking, cleaning, laundry) – 1.5 hours
• Exercise — .5 hours
• Leisure time (reading, family, movies) — 2.5

When I look at this sample day, I can easily see where I can save time. I need my eight hours of sleep so that’s non-negotiable, but I’m sure I can get my work day down to nine, if not eight hours. Maybe 8.5 is a good goal to shoot for. An hour and a half of housekeeping is a lot in one day, if that’s every day. I could probably delegate some of that to save time.

When you’ve tracked your time for three days, evaluate how you’re spending it — what percentage of the time is spent engaged in rewarding activity? What part is sheer drudgery? How do you find better balance? Start to think of ways to reduce the high count time alotments and identifying where you might be able to ask for — and receive — some help.

Remember, sleep is non-negotiable. You might not need eight hours like I do, but don’t subtract from the time you need to stay healthy and well rested.

There are little tactics I’m employing to get time back in the “how I want to spend it” category. Recently, I started bypassing reception on the phone system at the office. While I enjoy talking to admin staff, over the course of a day those chats add up — to maybe 10 minutes or more. I want that time for other things (sorry G. and J., nothing personal).

I’m streamlining other tasks, too but more importantly, I’m jealously guarding the short amount of time I get with family and friends. There are times when it’s entirely appropriate to give up sleep (or certainly the dreaded housekeeping!) to spend time with people you love.

Where will you find your fifteen minutes?

Scott Young has 20 Ways to Stay Productive While Working at Home.

When people find out my office is in my house, they often say they couldn’t work at home, that they’d get too distracted.

I think if it’s your lifestyle, and working at home is a permanent situation, you make adjustments. You adapt. Distractions are avoided. It does take discipline, though and as I’ve said before, it’s really not for everyone.