By Naomi Cook

As a self-employed business owner, aside from working with clients in their homes, I spend a lot of time in my home office. It's wonderful to get out of the office and network with new people who can help you and your business grow. However, while a lot of networking can help both you and your business grow, it can also create a dust covered growth on the corner of your desk...yes, stacks and stacks of business cards!

Have you ever heard of burnout? It’s a term used to describe a mental state, similar to depression, which comes from excess stress over a long period of time.

By Joshua Zerkel  

Set up a system that syncs with the lifecycle of paper.

With the start of school, suddenly we have to dig out required docu

By Joshua Zerkel 

Virtually every client I have – and every person I talk to – is fed up with dealing with paper. And it’s no surprise, since, like email, we have a constant influx of it that we’re simply forced to deal with. The worst part is that even though we all have paper in our lives, we’re never really taught what to do with it or how to manage it. It’s no wonder that people are practically in tears by the time they call me asking for help. 

By Joshua Zerkel 

Being a Certified Professional Organizer, I actually enjoy working with paper – I know, I’m strange! Even so, I don’t want to spend too much time on it; like you, I have many other tasks on my to-do list. One of my big goals for 2012 is to reduce the amount of paper that I have to process. Here are a few ways to do it:

During tax season most of us will spend some time digging through our filing cabinets. Most likely, there will be all sorts of documents from past tax years – medical bills, W2s, interest statements, and, frankly, some things that we’re not sure why we’re keeping. This tax season, go through your old documents and throw out expired statements. Most documents can be shredded after three years, or six years if you run your own business. Check with your tax professional.

UPDATE: The giveaway is now closed. Winners announced below!

Thanks to everyone who participated and guessed an item in our Girl of All Work Giveaway Grab-bag. Don't you just love the Girl of All Work office accessories? They make me smile!

by Joshua Zerkel

The final days of the year are here, and for many of us, it's a time of wrapping things up before the new year rolls around. This year, as part of your year-end wrap-up, consider taking a few moments to revisit the systems that serve you every day, and see if you can improve them: