GeekSugar

5 Calendar Apps and Tools to Keep You on Time in 2011

Kristy Korcz — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 15:11:21 PST

You may have already made your list of New Year's resolutions, but one thing we can try to work on all year long is being timely and organized. These calendar apps and notification tools will fit in nicely with your life as it is now, since they can live on the Internet or your phone. Small steps.

Website of the Day: Deadline

GeekSugar — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 11:00:02 PST

I'm not as obsessive about my online calendars all the time as I wish I were - I would never forget about the occasional appointment or date I made on the fly. Even though I use calendars, sometimes you just need really straightforward reminders - which is what Deadline is great for.

For instance, I have a doctor appointment on my calendar, but what I really need is an alert a half hour before I need to leave for that appointment. I just need to add a deadline from the home screen, set the time and date, and make sure I set when I want to be notified by email so that I can get to my appointment on time (I set it to go off a half hour before). No more sheepish calls about why I'm not where I was supposed to be!

Buzz News Roundup, 6/6

BuzzSugar — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 13:45:20 PDT

Hayden Panettiere has signed a deal with Candie's in which the fashion brand will help promote the Heroes star's first single "Wake Up Call", Billboard reports.
According to Hollywood Reporter, Adam Sandler's production company Happy Madison will produce a thriller called Shortcut under the name Scary Madison.
The Associated Press has a report about this weekend's academic conference studying Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Variety has the news that Tucker Max's bestselling book I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell will be adapted for the big screen.
Zap2it has Fox's updated Fall premiere dates, with shows now starting in September, not August.
Brittany Murphy and Thora Birch will star in an indie psychological thriller titled Deadline, ComingSoon reports.
Variety writes that F. Gary Gray will direct a biopic of Marvin Gaye called Marvin.
Van Halen brought in more than $93 million touring with David Lee Roth, Reuters reports.

Source

6 Tax Season Don'ts

SavvySugar — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 05:00:42 PST

A fifth season exists, and it's one that isn't defined by the weather. Tax season has arrived, and will hang around until April 17, the (somewhat extended) deadline for filing your 2011 income tax return. It doesn't have to be complicated. Keep these six don'ts in mind as you prepare and file your taxes to make this season as seamless as possible.

11 Rules to Dramatically Increase Your Productivity

Wise Bread — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 15:35:04 PST

We're thrilled to present this smart Wise Bread story here on Savvy!

There's a problem with a lot of productivity advice out there, and it's this - your "rules" for personal productivity are often going to be different than mine. Sure, sometimes there's overlap. Sure, you can always learn from others.

But if you want to see a dramatic increase in your productivity, spend less time reading and memorizing other people's rules, and more time figuring out what your own rules are. You'll be more productive and in a way that works with who you are.

So I'm sharing a few of my personal productivity rules. Maybe some of them will work for you or inspire you to think of your own.

1. Small Daily Movements Become Big Accomplishments

I tend to think that I must have big blocks of time in order to get any forward movement. So I hesitate and procrastinate, waiting for that "open time" when I can really push and get a lot done on whatever the current project is.

Turns out, that's a waste of time. Small daily movements add up. It's just that the movements or steps themselves are so small, I think they don't count. They do.

I have to constantly remind myself that I don't need a whole day or a whole week to devote to some project. I just need to take the 10 or 20 minutes I have here and there and use them. I need to achieve a little bit of forward movement every day. That adds up, and it builds momentum, and pretty soon there's been quite a lot accomplished.

For more rules, read after the jump.

4 Questions to Ask Yourself Before Eating

Jenny Sugar — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 12:44:03 PST

Between meetings, appointments, work deadlines, errands, family obligations, and trips to the gym, our lives can be so busy that we fill our bellies with the quickest, easiest bites we can get our hands on. Whether your goal is to drop unwanted pounds or eat healthier, it's in your best interest to pause before you take your first bite and ask yourself these four important questions.

Am I hungry? Seems like a silly question, because you're eating, so you must be hungry, right? Many times we reach for food out of boredom, convenience (the bag of chips was open), depression (chocolate to drown your breakup sorrows), happiness (to celebrate a promotion), or desire (who could pass up the amazing brownies your co-worker brought in?). But if we recently ate, then we're not even hungry. Make sure you're due for a snack or meal before sitting down to eat one.

Is this food filling holes in my diet? We eat to live and that means the food we gobble down should offer our bodies the vitamins and nutrients it needs to function properly. Aside from being healthy, our daily diet should also be balanced. If you ate a high-protein breakfast of eggs and Greek yogurt topped with nuts, then for a morning snack, you probably want to eat something that offers your body something besides protein, such as fiber, potassium, or vitamin A. Think of each snack and meal as a piece of your daily diet puzzle; an opportunity to take in what your body is lacking.

Keep reading to find out the other two questions you should ask yourself before eating.

6 Tips to Start Your New Job Right

Kiplinger — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 16:08:12 PST

We're thrilled to present this smart Kiplinger story here on Savvy!

I learned some valuable lessons about how to succeed in the "real world" while starting out at my first full-time job, and you can, too.

I never expected my social circle, at age 22, to use the phrase "I feel so old" so much. We know we still have our whole lives ahead of us, but making the transition from college to career can really make you feel like you've aged 20 years. For example, unlike in my college years, convincing myself to go out on a Friday night these days takes almost as much work as getting out of bed on a Monday morning. And I never thought I would be spending my beloved lazy Sundays running whatever errands I didn't get done during the week. Even four internships, including one with my current full-time employer, the Kiplinger Washington Editors, hadn't fully prepared me for this whole professional-life thing.

To help you make the adjustment and overcome common obstacles you might face when you're just starting out, here are some lessons I learned in the first few months of my first job. I hope these tips will help you feel as young as you are. SEE ALSO: Our Quiz on Navigating the First Weeks at Your New Job

Read on for tips.

Fresh Start Resolution: Master Time Management

SavvySugar — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 05:53:00 PST

It's a New Year and a new you! We're detailing 12 helpful tips to start off the year right, whether it be to advance your career or increase your financial cushion. We've already given you advice on kicking your daily deal habit, quitting your caffeine addiction, and reassessing your savings account; here's another way to start afresh in 2012.

Managing your time not only allows you to be more productive but also frees up precious minutes for you to spend however you'd like. To make 2012 your most organized, exciting year yet, adopt these five helpful habits.

Consider your to-do list a schedule. A simple checklist is a great start, but it's important to gauge the time frame for each item, too. Mark each of your tasks with an estimated start and finish time, taking into account any variables that may slow you down. Next, think of ways to make your schedule more exciting. Drawn to color? Use highlighters to create categories. Need some incentives? Brainstorm a mini reward for each task completed, like a phone date with your best friend or a new song download.
Plan ahead and be thorough. It's smart to lay out your exercise gear the night before a morning workout, but take it one step further by filling your water bottle, charging your iPod, packing your purse, and leaving your gym shoes by the door. Other ideas: fill out forms online before appointments and use your phone to snap screenshots of maps or directions. Small steps like these will have a huge payoff, adding several minutes for you to fill as you please.

Read on for more time management tips .

Avoid this Guy! 14 Reasons To Dump Him

YourTango — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 04:00:21 PST

We're happy to present this excerpt from one of our favorite sites, YourTango.

A guy who's not relationship material always lets you know; you just have to know what to look for.

When I look back at all the relationships that didn’t work out (that I so wanted to at the time), I realize that in every case, there were early warning signs that each guy gave me that could have given me some idea of the heartbreak I was about to experience if I had only been aware of what to look for. To spare you from what happened to me, to give you the inside scoop on what you can be on the lookout for, here’s my list of the warning signs that clearly let you know that this is a guy to avoid if it's a real relationship you're looking for.

He doesn’t call you when he says he’s going to.
Granted, I know that sometimes life can get it the way, and if he’s working late on that big project with the looming deadline it’s possible that time might get away from him once in a while. But if this happens more than once or twice, it’s a sure sign that you’re just not a priority for him right now. If a guy is really interested in starting (or continuing) a real relationship with you, you will be on his mind, and he won’t forget to call.
He’s often late and doesn’t call to let you know.
I know there are lots of reasons people can run late that are beyond their control (traffic jam, car problems, being stuck at the office), but a quick call from his cell phone will put your mind at ease, and let you know that you have a few more minutes to try on that one other outfit you were still considering. The point here is about being respectful of your time – we can forgive lateness, even chronic lateness (some people just aren’t good at judging how much time something will take), but not calling to let you know he’ll be a little late? That’s inexcusable and a sure sign that he’s not too concerned about you.
He doesn’t show up at all (and doesn’t call) when you have plans to see him.
OK ladies, unless he was (verifiably) unconscious in a hospital somewhere, getting stood up is a “one strike and you’re out” offense. There is absolutely no good reason for this (except the one above), and if you stay with him after a maneuver like that, you’ll be in for a very bumpy emotional ride that’s almost guaranteed to end badly. Cell phone reception is excellent these days (unless he’s a lumberjack working in the great North Woods), so this one is unforgivable.
He has rules about how often he can see you.
It’s one thing to have the boys’ “Wednesday Poker Night”, or something along those lines, but if he’s only willing to get together say, every other weekend (with the exception being a child custody situation), then that’s a sure sign he’s keeping his options open and still scouring the market for something better (at least in his mind – he just doesn’t realize that you’re the best thing going!).

Read the 10 additional reason on YourTango: Foreplay, Sexual and Otherwise

Written by Jane Garapick for YourTango.

25 Easy Organizing Changes You Can Make Today

Wise Bread — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 00:15:00 PST

We're thrilled to present this smart Wise Bread story here on Savvy!

I have a bad tendency to let things - paperwork, tasks, laundry - pile up. That's why I'm often not as organized as I should be. By the time I go to put things away, I feel like I'm dealing with clutter so powerful it could defeat Godzilla (I've already started on the screenplay for Godzilla vs. That Pile of Stuff I Still Haven't Put Away Since Moving).

Thus, I am a huge proponent of making little steps towards organization. Below are 25 ways to organize your home, your finances, and your life that are quick and easy enough to attempt today. Seriously, start making a dent in your disorganization before it turns into a movie-worthy monster.

Organize Your Stuff

From the fridge to the filing cabinet, here are some ideas for organizing your things.

1. Identify What You Want to Organize

Yes, I am telling you to organize your organizing. Make a specific list of what you want to organize - the bookshelf? Your closet? Your drawers? If you have time, start to formulate a plan. Now, when you have a couple of hours over the weekend, you're ready to attack.

2. Buy Masking Tape and a Marker

Masking tape is a great way to create temporary labels for everything from storage containers in the basement to Tupperware in the freezer. Buy a roll of masking tape and a Sharpie, and always keep them in the same place.

3. Buy Containers and Dividers

If you're planning an organizing project, buy any containers or other organizing tools you need now. Just as with making the list, you're now totally ready to tackle the project when you have a moment.

Read on for more organizing tips.