“You poor stupid guy, you never can tell what some people will buy.” –The Lorax

Having read The Lorax twice a day for the last few weeks, I can recite it with my eyes closed. Now, no matter where I am, sections just pop out of my mouth. Luckily, the people on the receiving end are friends or family and not during a work presentation. Although it’s the story my two-year old falls asleep to, it actually DOES contain valuable life lessons. This one’s lesson?

Buyer beware.

Actually, it’s a book review article, but I do want to stress that you read book reviews before you go getting reference materials to learn a new skill. I’m currently in the middle of reading a stack of books that hundreds of Amazon readers have recommended to see if they’re really that good.

The first is actually an entire series of books call The Missing Manuals published by O’Reilly. I’m not sure where I first learned about this set of books, I think it was some random blog. But then I was trying to learn CSS, and it just wouldn’t click. Writing CSS was an arduous task that I just couldn’t seem to wrap my brain around it. Then my husband’s cousin recommended CSS: The Missing Manual, which he was using in class. The book was recommended to him by his professor. After reading the first chapter and a half, suddenly I got it. Now I can sit and write code without thinking until the cows come home! I have since collected a couple of other Missing Manuals which have greatly improved my coding skills.

What makes the books so great? They don’t make your eyes glaze over when you read them. They are actually written the way I think and talk on a regular basis. I read the first couple of paragraphs and kept saying to my husband, “I GET it. This guy writes like I think,” and, “No, honey, I mean I FINALLY. GET. IT.” Previously, my favorite software and coding books were The Bible series which is dry, boring, and usually made me nod off a little. But I liked those because almost everything was there. But they don’t hold a candle to the Missing Manuals. When I’m in the bookstore and I see strangers looking for certain kinds of books, I impose myself upon them and insist that they HAVE to try the Missing Manuals. None of you realize this, but for me to randomly start talking to complete strangers willingly is a huge deal. That’s how good I think these books are.

Also, O’Reilly usually does a buy 2 get 1 free deal if you order through their website.

The other book I’ll be reviewing for you today is one that was recommended to me by a friend and coworker. Using this book, she has gone from selling her homemade product to a few people on Etsy to selling in retail shops, hiring her own employees and has been featured in InStyle magazine, among others. The book I speak of is called Craft, Inc.: Turn Your Creative Hobby Into a Business by Meg Mateo Ilasco. Because my friend Emily is doing so insanely well, I bought it, and now I’m recommending it to you. While I haven’t quite gotten to the heights she has, I’m slowly on my way. It’s an informative, easy to read book that explains the essentials: from the legal paperwork, to forcing yourself to clear time in your schedule, to making sure you’re not underselling yourself.

Perhaps the most important lesson I’ve taken from this book is that I am not charging enough for my product. I love how well written it is. Though it’s not a Pulitzer prize candidate, it has definitely given me the motivation I need. All I have to do is read one page and I’m itching to whip out my blow torch and lose myself in the land of fire and molten silver. (Sadly enough, I always read it right before naptime is over. Blow torch + 2-year old = BAD. IDEA.) If you’re passionate about something you do, teach, or make, this book will help you become as successful as my friend Emily.

I’ll stop at two books today. I’m in the middle of reading some other books that you may or may not have heard of around the office. I’ll let you know what I think of them. Also, don’t forget about your local library. You can borrow as many books as you want—for FREE! And if you don’t like them, you just send them back!

I learned a valuable lesson fairly early in life. I was faced with this choice in high school when I was choosing colleges. Do I get my degree in art, something I’ve loved doing since I was little? You would think the answer would be, “of course!” Everyone in my family knew that I was going to go to art school and be a college art professor. That was always the plan. Imagine their surprise when I decided to go to school to become a chemist! Yep, you read right. Why would I do that?

When I was growing up, all I wanted to be was an artist.  When I got to high school and could choose what classes to take, I took every art class that was available. Painting, drawing, photography, you name it—I took the class. I was researching art schools early. I had it all planned out.

Then I took a chemistry class.

I LOVED it. It was fun! I loved the math, the nerdy science jokes, making cool things in lab. And I was good at it. Then I got to thinking. Wouldn’t I make more money if I went into the sciences instead of being a starving artist? Think of all the pretty things I could buy! The nice house! All of the geekery! Yes, my pupils turned into dollar signs. I’m not proud of it, but I admit it.

So I scrapped the art school applications and went to college for chemistry. The dumbest part of it all was that I didn’t even take art classes for fun. I bottled up that part of myself and packed it away—the thing I was most passionate about.

When I graduated from college with my chemistry degree, the doubts about my plan hit hard. College was fun; I loved every minute of it. I didn’t regret one second of what I did, but I had wished that I did more. Even so, I promptly packed off to Washington D.C. to start in a Ph.D. program in (you guessed it) chemistry! Graduate school was okay to start with, but after the first year, I was completely depressed. I hated the program. It was dry and boring. It was beyond dry and boring. I hated going into the lab every day, descending into the windowless basement and spending my days in front of a dry box.  But I didn’t know what to do about it.

Then one day a new dean of graduate studies came in and kicked out anyone who didn’t have a B average. That included me. And I got out. It was wonderful! Sort of. I spent the next month moping over my failure, unsure what to do next. I spent a lot of it playing video games. Finally, I went to a temp agency to get a job. Something—anything—that would pay money.

I landed a job stuffing envelopes at a non-profit. It was a three-week assignment at most. One day they needed some graphic design and I volunteered. This was the major turning point in my career. Over the next few months, they gave me more and more design work. What began as a temporary post turned into a permanent job.

Lady luck was on my side. From stuffing envelopes to redesigning magazines and building websites! The company paid for me to take classes at the local college where I was able to expand my art repertoire even further. I was very fortunate to have things work out after all. I was finally doing what I love to do and I was making money doing it.

I’d like to say it’s been happily ever after since then, and it mostly has, but there have been many mountains to climb. I know I haven’t gotten as many job interviews because my degree is in chemistry, not in design. Never mind that I’ve been running art departments for most of my career – or that I’ve won awards for my design. There are companies that are emphatic that any graphic designer they hire MUST have a design degree. Here’s a tip: recently, I’ve taken my college major off of my resume and only have my degree listed. I feel like I’ve gotten my foot in the door a lot easier lately.

So it’s been difficult at times, but take it from me, it is FAR more important that you are happy and get to do what you are passionate about every day and get paid less for it than to dread getting up in the morning because you dislike what you do.

This may sound a little over the top, but a CareerBuilder.com survey found that 45 percent of employers use social networking sites to research job candidates (more than double from the year before). Industries that specialize in technology and sensitive information are most likely to screen job candidates via social networking sites or online search engines. If you’re indiscreet on Facebook, who’s to say you can hold your tongue about Top-Secret government programs?

The survey also reported the top reasons why an employer did NOT choose to hire certain job applicants:

Posted inappropriate photographs or information – 53%

Posted content about them drinking or using drugs – 44%

Bad-mouthed previous employer, co-workers or clients – 35%

Showed poor communication skills – 29%

Made discriminatory comments – 26%

Lied about qualifications – 24%

Shared confidential info from previous employer – 20%

Even your emoticon usage could be detrimental as 14 percent of employers rejected candidates for using them!

This does not bode well for me. (I would like to go on record, however, by saying that I have never used one in a cover letter or email to potential employer.)

Fortunately, most stumbling blocks can be avoided by making most things on your profile only visible to friends. One thing you DO have to worry about is what other people write on your wall. Don’t be afraid to delete your friend’s funny comment about that drunken night out if you’re currently applying for jobs. You both had a good laugh, but get rid of it afterwards. Look at everything through the eyes of an extremely conservative CEO.

I have also gone through my list of followers on Twitter to make sure that certain people can’t read what I write. And when I do vent about clients or work, I never name names and I always remain vague. Your close friends will get it, so you don’t have to be detailed. Better yet, avoid Internet venting altogether.

Another tip: when sending out your resume or using a job search site, use an email address unlike the one you use for social networking. That way, when prospective employers search Facebook using the email address from your resume, nothing will come up.

Not only have I decided to do all of the aforementioned things, but I’m also in the middle of redesigning my website. It will have a conservative public section and will have a section will all of my “life” items and social media links that I don’t necessarily want potential employers to see. That half will be only be accessible by a short list of people I deem cool enough. I’ll let you know how that goes. J Oh no! I just emoted.

I’m doomed.

If you have any really great gadgets, tell us about it. I know I wouldn’t mind making my list a little longer.

1. USB Warm Mouse

OH MY GOD. Someone was reading my mind. Literally. I had this idea a year or two ago and had even drawn up a mock-up before I realized that I was too lazy to actually build a prototype. Guys, I suffer from ice-harpy hands. Since my job requires me to sit on my ass at a computer all day AND I have semi-poor circulation, my mouse hand turns into a block of ice. I currently have a pair of fingerless gloves to keep my fingers from freezing off, but THIS will someday be my new. Best. Friend.

ValueRays® USB Warm Mouse is an ergonomic USB infrared heated computer mouse designed using a carbon fiber infrared heating element to generate deep healing infrared heat to relax the hand muscles, soothe painful joints, reduce stress and tension of the hand, reduce hand pain and numbness, and create a warm mouse hand. The value pack includes the warm mouse, heated pouch, and heated mouse pad. And it would make a GREAT birthday present.

$70, Warm Mouse

2. 3 Pod Charging Station

This clever little box is actually a charging station that blends into the woodwork, so to speak. I hate seeing wires all over the place and the second I saw this, I had the “I NEED that” reaction. The 3 Pod Charging Station has three built-in slots to hold your cell phone, PDA, mp3 player or camera.  The sliding front door allows you to conceal a 10″ power strip and all the devices’ charging cords in one area.  You can put it on your desk or hang it on the wall. It also comes in white and black for those of you who don’t care for wood.

$45, Kangaroom

3. Mini Desk Construction Site

This would be fun to have around—not necessarily for my own desk. I would totally set it up on a coworker’s desk before they arrived in the morning. The Mini Desk Construction Site kit has everything you need to warn your co-workers about the dangers of your personal workspace. Use the “Do Not Cross” tape to protect your things that are off limits to others, like your office toys. Place the three magnets in plain sight to label your space. The six mini traffic cones and the two mini saw horses make perfect barriers for those large piles of papers that may fall over at any moment.

$6.50, Office Playground

4. Four Function Ruler Pen

Not only is this pen four-things-in-one, but it also has a RULER on it. Why didn’t I think of that? Do you have any idea how many times I’ve been drawing something out and have needed a ruler, but there wasn’t one nearby? This little gadget features an orange highlighter, a black ballpoint pen, a pencil and a PDA stylus all in one. To change the options, hold the pen horizontally and rotate it until the icon for the desired function faces up, then press a button. Ruler features centimeters and inches and there is an eraser under the button. This is definitely going to be on my desk at my next job.

$35, Uncommon Goods

5. FAIL/WIN Stamps

If you’re a devoted Failblog.org fan, you need to have these at work. Just don’t use them on anyone above you who doesn’t have a sense of humor. Never let another FAIL or WIN go by unannounced. These stamps come in a nice little pair, so should someone actually have an earth shattering WIN, by all means…. The FAIL stamp is in bright red, WIN stamp is in black, and both print in solid, all-caps Impact font. Both stamps are commercial, office-grade that require no ink pad and are good for hundreds of stampings (go wild!). Makes a satisfactory “ka-ching” noise when stamped.

$20, LOLMart

6. Borrow My Pen?

Do you hate lending out your pens, only to have them disappear forever? Next time, reach for one of these silly pens. No one will want to be caught with them in their possession.  Set of 8 pens with the following imprinted on them: “Springfield Sexual Addiction Center,” “Shecky the Clown-Bar Mitzvahs, Weddings, Interventions,” “Dr. Lance Hughes, Proctology,” “Electrolysis Is Us,” “Van Nuys Center for Cosmetic Surgery,” “Verdant Fields Nudist Camp,” “Stuffed with Love Taxidermy,” and ”Howie’s House of Hair.” Totally worth the $7. I’ll take 3 or 4 packs, please.

$7, Patina Store

7. Livescribe

This one is expensive, but incredibly useful. It’s a computer in a pen that helps you to never miss a word. Pulse™ records everything you hear, say and write, and links your audio recordings to your notes. Find the most important information from your meetings or lectures just by tapping on what you wrote. I mean, how COOL is that? 4GB of memory can hold over 400 hours of audio.

$170, Livescribe

8. App Magnets

There’s an app for everything.  But what if you want to hang a photo on the fridge?  Or leave a note on the microwave?  Or save that Chinese take-out menu in a place where you can’t lose it?  Well, good news, everyone… Now there’s an app for that, too. Yeah. I love home and office geekery. If I didn’t think my 2-year old would lose these in thirty seconds flat, they would be on my fridge.

$13, Jailbreak Toys

9. USB Foam Fan

If you want a safe but cool alternative to an under desk fan, grab the USB Foam Fan and have it right on your desk. Finger-safe foam blades spin and generate a cool breeze keeping you relaxed at your desk at work. This one got some of the best customer reviews on Amazon (which I always go buy when buying almost anything).

$10, Amazon

10. Mr. Bento Stainless Lunch Jar

The Zojirushi brand consistently gets great product ratings. I’m a huge fan of Japanese food and am looking to invest in the perfect lunchbox for work. The Mr. Bento Stainless Lunch Jar is unique and functional. It’s made from stainless steel with four microwaveable inner bowls and washable container. It’s great for bringing small portions of several foodstuffs, which is how I love to eat.

$50, Amazon

11. Ergoroller

I’ve seen lots of wrist rests on the market and I’ve even used a couple. This one has a bunch of steel balls that roll around and massage your wrists the whole time you use it. The Ergoroller would be a great addition to the aforementioned warming mouse. Now if only a masseuse could stand behind me and rub my shoulders all day long…

$25, Ergoroller

Let’s start with a block of information. I just copy and pasted a list of Agatha Christie novels from Wikipedia. (I’m currently on a Christie streak, so forgive me.) When pasted into Word, it looks pretty much like this:

Year Title Story Based On Other Notes
1928 “The Passing Of Mr. Quin” The Coming of Mr. Quin First Christie film adaptation.
1929 “Die Abenteurer G.m.b.H.” The Secret Adversary First Christie foreign film adaptation. German adaptation of The Secret Adversary
1931 “Alibi” The stage play Alibi and the novel The Murder of Roger Ackroyd First Christie film adaptation to feature Hercule Poirot.
1931 “Black Coffee” Black Coffee None.
1932 “Le Coffret de Laque” Black Coffee French adaptation of Black Coffee.
1934 “Lord Edgware Dies” Lord Edgware Dies None.
1937 “Love from a Stranger” The stage play Love from a Stranger and the short story Philomel Cottage Released in the US as A Night of Terror.
1945 “And Then There Were None” The stage play And Then There Were None and the novel And Then There Were None First Christie film adaptation of And Then There Were None.
1947 “Love from a Stranger” The stage play Love from a Stranger and the short story Philomel Cottage Released in the UK as A Stranger Walked In.  …

The first thing to do is throw in some tabs. Wherever you want a new column to start, put in one tab. Nothing needs to line up, just use one tab, or the whole table will be thrown off. Also, if this goes to a designer for layout, it makes their job that much easier if you only use one tab. New rows will happen wherever a return is entered.

Now it’s time to Convert Text to Table. I’m using Word 2007 (don’t ask me how I feel about that), so you can find this command under Insert>Table>Convert Text to Table. Leave everything as is except change the AutoFit Behavior to AutoFit to Contents. You will now have something that looks like Figure 1:

Dreadfully boring. If you want, you have several pre-designed table styles to choose from. Feel free to play around with them. Personally, I like to have the most control over how it will look in the end, so I’m going to continue on manually.

The first thing I do is decide how I want the borders to look. In this particular table, I want a solid line around the whole table and some dotted lines to divide the columns.

1. Select the whole table
2. Right-click on the table and choose Borders and Shading
3. Click once on the middle horizontal and middle vertical border buttons as shown in Figure 2
4. Change the width to 2 points, change the color to something more interesting, then click twice on the other four border buttons.
5. Click OK.

Figure 2:

To get the dotted lines between the columns, select all rows except for the header row. Right click your selection and choose Borders and Shading once more. Change the line style to a dotted or dashed style, change the color to a lighter version of the one used for the table’s outside border, make the thickness one point or less, and then click the middle vertical border button. Click OK. You now have something that looks like Figure 3:

Let’s space out the rows so the text isn’t quite so close together. Select the whole table once more.

1. Choose Table Properties
2. Click on the Options button in the lower right corner
3. Set the top and bottom cell margins to 0.08” and click OK

For high volumes of data, it’s a good idea to alternate row shading colors to make it easier to read. Depending on the size of your text, you can shade every other row, or shade two or three consecutive rows leaving the same number after unshaded, etc. Play around and see what you prefer. My preferred method of doing this is:

1. Select the second row and shade it the lightest shade of your selected color scheme.
2. Select every other row after that, each time press CTRL+Y to repeat your previous action.

Now let’s format your header row. Select the first row of your table. Make the background color the same as your outside table border and change the text color to white. Format your text however you want. I went with bold and all caps. There, now you have a pretty table.

Should your table span more than one page as mine does, I recommend repeating your header row and to not allow your last row of information to be split across two pages. Here’s how to do it automatically.

To avoid splitting row contents, select your whole table, right click, and choose Table Properties. Uncheck the box that  says “allow row to break across pages” and click OK.

To make Word repeat your header row automatically, select your header row, right click on it, and choose Table Properties again. (It’s important to do this in a separate step, because if you have the whole table selected for this part, Word will think every row is a header row and things will get ugly.) Click on the Row tab and check the box that says “repeat as header row at the top of each page.”

Now you have a lovely looking table:

1. I hate confrontation and will avoid it at all costs. It’s how I’m made. Bernice taught me to grow a set, be bold, and how to stand up for my own ideas. But most importantly, she taught me how to do it with class.
2. From Greg I learned that I absolutely hate okra stew and that I LOVE Indian food. He was the person who would always volunteer to go to out-of-the way places to try new food and encourage everyone else to eat it.
3. From a person who shall remain nameless, I learned that even though a person might be super nice to you, they wouldn’t hesitate to pull the wool over your eyes. She broke through my naïveté and made me a little wiser. It needed to be done.
4. Jill showed me the wonders of the Fractured Prune. If you live on the east coast of the U.S., you may know what I’m talking about. They’re the best donuts. EVER.
5. A long time ago, Tami educated me on the following grammatical rule: there is only ONE space after a period. Now it’s the first thing I do in any text that is sent my way for design. I like to save my editors a little time.
6. Between Steve and Jocelyn, I learned how to make the PERFECT cup of coffee. I will pass it on to you: get a coffee grinder and a French press. Grind your own beans and brew them for exactly 4 minutes. Trust me, it’ll make your morning go SO smoothly.
7. Donna taught me how to handle the stickiest of office politics. She didn’t directly teach, but she was gracious enough to let people in on the inner workings of our non-profit. We knew the personalities of all of the board members, knew what went on at the board meetings, and exactly how she handled them at their worst. She prepared me for the next company I worked for.
8. Once upon a time, I learned by example that you should always tie your hair back when working with the Blizzard machine or you’ll get your hair caught in the mechanism and have to be rushed to the hospital. Don’t worry, you have never eaten at that Dairy Queen.
9. From a triad of management in a very small company, I learned that nepotism, racism, and sexism are very much alive today, thus making me slightly more of a cynic. I also learned how to deal with it when there is no HR department to turn to.
10. Perhaps the most important thing I’ve taken away from my colleagues is how strong a bond can be forged when you all go through hell together. Any petty squabbles we normally had paled in comparison. So if you’re in a bad situation with other people, don’t hesitate to lean on them and learn from them.

There are many other things, but these are the most memorable. My palette has been broadened, my faith in humanity has been shattered and rebuilt, and I’ve become a wiser and (I like to think) better person because of the people I’ve had the luck to work with. I hope that you, too, have the same kinds of people sitting around you.

I just had a job interview last week. It was the first one in over two years and to be honest, I was a complete and utter wreck. I got a call on Saturday for an interview on Monday. There was very little time to pull myself together into a fully professional package. First, the easy items: conservative dress, printed directions, and reading up on the company.

Then I had to go over my resume once again. I am a graphic designer, so I had to make sure I was satisfied with the look of my resume. I also printed out a two-page printed portfolio along the same theme. While it’s important to have an online portfolio, don’t neglect having a printed version. If your prospective employer isn’t near a computer, it’s nice to have printed samples on hand to remember you by. I even took it a step further and packaged it all into some matching presentation folders I found at Office Depot. (If I had more time, I would have hand-made some folders.)

Here is what the final product looked like:

Once all of that was done, I went through my online portfolio only to find it was lacking in a few areas. Since I am not currently working on any projects that would fill them, I made them up. I built an entire website for an existing company and I did it in less than a day. It wasn’t finished before I had to go in for my interview, but it was close enough in that it had a little bit of everything that the employer was looking for.

I busted my butt for a job that I might not even get, but know that all of the effort will eventually pay off. It turns out that while I got a second interview, the company chose someone else. However, even though I’m bummed that I didn’t get that job, at least I have everything prepared for the next interview. My resumes are built and packaged; my online portfolio is much further along. I don’t know if I ever would have gotten that website finished if I hadn’t needed it for this interview.

During the interview, I was a mess, verbally speaking. I was so nervous that I think every other word out of my mouth was, “um.” As my luck runs, they asked me my least favorite interview question, “What are your strengths and weaknesses?” It always turns out that I have already mentioned my weaknesses at this point, so coming up with something on the spot without repeating myself is torturous. And then, once that part was over, there was a technical quiz. I should have known it was coming because when I do interviews, I sit you down at a computer and make you do a project in front of me. Overall, it went well. Even though I didn’t get the job, I’ve had a chance to brush up on my interviewing skills. So if you’re about to go on one, just take a deep breath. It’ll go quickly and won’t hurt a bit.

Anyone else have interviews coming up?

Sit with the copier. The tendency is to close your eyes and walk right past the copier if it’s jammed or out of paper. You hope someone else will sit on the floor in their work clothes. I’ve been there. I hate doing it too. But when you know how to clean out a 20-sheet jam when copies are needed for a meeting in-progress, you’ll be remembered. The point is not to be the Office Copier Bitch, but to be known as someone who goes the extra mile to make the corporate machine run smoothly.

Learn how to obliterate computer viruses. You don’t have to be a techie to be able to follow directions. My ex-boss was one of the most technologically challenged people I know. She would somehow manage to get over 800 viruses on her computer—even with two firewalls and antivirus software. Instead of making the company pay the computer man to come in and spend hours sitting at her computer, I found a few tools that I could run while I went back to my desk to work:

1. SpyBot Search and Destroy. Even if you have great antivirus software, this free program adds a little extra punch. It’s found some things that Kaspersky didn’t catch.
2. HouseCall, by TrendMicro. If you feel like your computer and your antivirus program has been compromised, go here. It’s safe and has helped me out on my aforementioned ex-boss’s computer more than once.
3. Ad-Aware is another free antivirus program that will remove adware and malware from your computer. I use it in conjunction with SpyBot.

Volunteer for a project even if it’s not your strong suite. It’s a little scary to do, I know. I’ve volunteered to take on web projects when I didn’t quite know how to do CSS or Flash, but I learned. I taught myself. Google is your friend. Everyone everywhere is writing tutorials on how to do almost anything you can think of. Just be sure to build in a little fluff time to accommodate your learning curve. A friend of mine once told me that she really admired how I looked up how to do anything and everything. Personally, I thought that’s what everyone did, so I was a little surprised and more than a little pleased with myself. So I’m telling the rest of you here, don’t be afraid. Don’t know how to use PowerPoint? Look it up. Why, if memory serves me right, a fellow author on this blog has written several articles on the subject.

Understand the politics. Get to know the personalities in the office and how they interact with each other. When I worked at the Company from Hell, I survived by knowing how to play people off of each other. There was the advertising department manager who was always fake happy and had to have her way, even if it meant she was breaking every rule in the book. I was usually fake nice right back at her and told her in syrupy sweet tones that, no, I couldn’t give her reserved ad space for ads she hasn’t yet sold. When she persisted, I went to The Boss. The Boss was a whole kingdom unto himself. I could write a novel on how I had to handle him, but I won’t. The point is, you have your friends at work and then there are The Others. Learn the office politics. Be adaptable.

Don’t take things personally. It’s business, not personal. It might be the fines piece of writing you ever wrote before the editor went at it. She cut your article in half, but it was only because there was limited space in the newspaper. Still, it can hurt. Just keep a copy of your original article along with the published version for your portfolio.

Excel in an area your boss is weak in. Need I say more?

Utilize Lynda.com. This website is FANTASTIC. They have in-depth tutorials on every software I can think of plus a whole bunch that I’ve never heard of. It’s relatively cheap and, if you’re lucky, your company will pay for it as an inexpensive way to keep staff trained. On slow days, I always spend my time learning new things or brushing up on old ones.

Always have a positive attitude, even when you’re not in the mood. There are days when it seems like management is out to get you, when you’ve made a mistake on a project, or the server is down again. Suck it up and put on a half smile. If you remain calm and laidback in the midst of chaos, you’ll be noticed.

Sure, job security is a bit shaky right now. But if you become someone your managers and coworkers can rely on, you’ll be on more stable ground.

How did you make yourself indispensable?

I’m working in Word 2007. Older versions are similar in instruction.

White and Black v. Black and White

The first thing I do in Word is invert my screen. Staring at a white screen gives me a horrible tension headache. By changing the page color to black, you’ll automatically write in white. Not only does it save on painkillers, it conserves energy use as well.

To invert colors:

1. Go to the Page Layout tab.
2. In the Page Background column (3rd from right), choose Page Color.
3. Click on black (or whatever color is easy on your eyes).

There, now that’s better. The only problem is that this isn’t a permanent change unlike in older version of Word where you can change this option in the program preferences. Shame on Microsoft for removing this feature in the most recent version.

Hidden Characters

The next thing I do is to always show spaces and tabs. You can always choose Show All in the Paragraph menu, but I don’t care about returns or optional hyphens. As a graphic designer, all I want to know is whether or not I have more than one space or tab in a row.

Let’s go to the Word Options menu. We’ll be there for the rest of the article. To get there, first click on the Office Button on the top, left. Then, on the bottom of the menu click on Word Options.

To show only the hidden characters you care about:

1. Click on Display on the left.
2. Under “Always show these formatting marks on the screen,” choose only those marks you care about.

Keyboard Shortcuts

Keyboard shortcuts are your best friend. They save time and are less distracting than using your mouse to scroll through menus. Not everything in Word has a shortcut right out of the box. Wouldn’t it be nice if you could change paragraph styles just by pressing CTRL+j (or Apple+j for you Mac users)?

You can change or invent any shortcut you can think of. The key to doing this quickly is to know which tab your commands are found under. For instance, if I want to convert text to a table, I would have to click on the Insert tab, then the Table button, and then choose Convert Text to Table. Or, I would hit the Alt key, then type N, T, V, in that order. That’s too much clicking or typing or whatever. When you have no more than 20 minutes to get a draft done and off to the next department for editing, every second counts. So I made a shortcut.

1. Go back to the Word Options menu as shown above.
2. Click on Customize on the left
3. Click the Customize button on the bottom next to Keyboard Shortcuts.
4. Specify your command. For Convert Text to Table, my category would be the Insert Tab and the command would be TextToTable.
5. If there is already a shortcut assigned, it will appear in the Current Keys box. Otherwise, click once in the Press New Shortcut Key box and push the buttons on the keyboard you would like to use. I pressed Ctrl+Shift+T.
6. Click Close and then OK. Voila!

Some commands are hard to find because they aren’t labeled the same in the tabs as they are in the list of commands in the customize menu, so you may have to do some searching.

There you have it, some simple techniques for making Microsoft Word truly your own. If you have your own customizing tips of questions, let us know. Until next time!

It’s like a Where’s Waldo puzzle, isn’t it? Can you find the keys, the Halloween pumpkin, the oven mitt and the cell phone? Riiiiiight.

I work from home. There was a dedicated home office in this house once upon a time. Then we had a kid whose taken over and I get to work on the dining room table.

Forget the mess, even, and look at where my light source is—directly behind my chair, glaring on the computer screen. Is it any wonder I couldn’t write a single thing?

Working from home has its own challenges. Here are some tips on keeping your desk from becoming a disaster like mine.

1. Remove the Clutter

I found actual homes for the pumpkin (outside) and the oven mitts (on top of the fridge). Clutter is the mind killer. I will face my clutter and find it a home. I was also missing a lot of things I normally need for work, so I gathered up a new pile of clutter and set it aside to organize.

2. Light Source

There’s nothing more distracting than not being able to read anything on your screen because the sun is reflecting right into your eyes. Sunglasses are not the solution (although I’ve actually tried). After I got rid of the clutter, I rotated the table 90° to the window. Now there isn’t a glare at all AND I can turn my head and look out the window and daydream if I want to.

3. Sanitize

Underneath that mess was a dusty, fingerprinted and germy mess. Even if everything was organized, I wouldn’t be able to stop obsessing over the thin film of grime, so out came the dust cloth. Now my desk is nice and shiny. And it smells good. Mmmmm. I can feel the zen already.

4. Wires, wires, wires

Do you see where the power cord for the laptop is in the messy photo? Yeah. I kept tripping over it when I got out of my chair. Now that I’ve rotated the desk, the cords go away from me behind the laptop. I can also finally hook up my backup hard drive because it sits in an unobtrusive spot on a small bookshelf where both the USB and power cords can reach where they need to. I have a printer, but I thought ahead on that one—it’s wireless and sits on top of the pantry.

5. Bringing everything else back

Now you can organize all of the other things you need to work: reference books, printer paper, pens, pencils, notebooks, CD, etc. I have a nice little wooden organizer sitting on top of a place mat so as not to scratch the nice dining table. Everything besides my computer is in it, so if I’m having people over and actually want to use my table, I just move two things and *presto* dinner time.

See my lovely new working space. It didn’t cost me a dime!

And now I can finish an article. Oh yeah.