So, stop thinking about technology, tools and gadgets as the “extras” and start thinking of them the way students do…must haves.

Pay Attention

You can find Duckworth Design listed among award recipients at The Communicator Awards website.  

Some call this a breach of our rights, while others believe it’s a protective measure.  I, in a somewhat joking sense, make light of it on the show by quoting Jim Carrey from the movie Liar Liar….”stop breaking the law…!”  I was somewhat serious because I would venture to say, if you don’t entertain situations or company that would put you in a greater risk of being arrested for a felony, this conversation or topic would be a mute point.

Regardless of your belief about DNA samples being kept on file, the bigger question could be how much information is too readily available about all of us?

I’m constantly bombarded with folks contacting me on Facebook or my website in general, so I understand that putting to much information in the public space can be risky.  For those who don’t understand how much information can be gleened from a basic profile in the public space are even more at risk.  Unfortunately, this means our children are at risk.

Now, before you go off and buy the newest spam filter or parent control for your web browser, please know that I’m a believer in teaching online responsibility, not sheltering or even hiding people from online confrontations. Yes, that teaching includes teaching our children.  Helping them explore responsibly and to better take in information in order to make a decision as to whether or not it’s valuable or worth interacting with….that is the key.

The question of how much is too much isn’t that big of a question for me.  BECAUSE I’m moderately educated when it comes to technology.  I don’t ever take the position that I know everything about technology, because I don’t.  And, anyone who tells you they are, is lying.  Technology changes far too quickly for any one person to know everything there is to know about technology.  Okay, with that chip off of my shoulder….

The question you need to ask yourself is how educated are you about technology?  About information sharing?  How much do you follow what’s going on with technology and how will that continue to affect you and generations to come?

The movie Minority Report is a fictional look at year 2054.  But with technologies like the one below emerging, how soon will fiction become reality?  And, if this is reality how much information is too much?

http://c21l.org/ 

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Staring me directly in the face was my very own disheveled Desktop.

The ironic part of this is the fact that I speak to many folks about the importance of keeping a tidy Desktop and computer in general in order to find information quickly and easily.

I think my Desktop was starting to reflect how busy I’d become. Even more ironic is the fact that when we become busy, we should be more mindful of keeping things in order, as out of order items make our work more tedious, more time consuming. Clearly a factor that goes against supporting our efforts of getting more done.

So, it was time to clear the technology clutter and get back into the groove.

Organizing files on our computer is just as straightforward an organizing information in your physical workspace. Important documents (files) go in labeled folders, folders go in cabinets.

Note: For those of you who have a filing system of “piles” in your physical workspace, the clean up may take some time. But the basic tips that I provide below will actually help you in both areas of your organizational life — virtual, as well as physical.

Looking at everything at once, the entire pile of information or the numerous files randomly spread throughout your Desktop and other areas on your computer, and wondering where to begin, can be overwhelming. So, don’t do that. Take small steps. Bite off what you can handle and move forward. In order to that, I’ve listed some basic tips to help jump start your effort of becoming a virtual neat freak.

1. Regardless of what space your dealing with, whether it be the Desktop, My Documents or any other folder that has become the “junk closet” of your computer, start by creating two New Folders and titling one To File (for files that you need to keep, but don’t need to refer to at the moment for any work related effort) and the other Action (files associated with something that you have to do within the next few days).
2. To start the clean up, sort all files and folders into one of the three areas (To File (folder), Action (folder), or Trash Bin).
3. For those of you who are hoarders and afraid to actually delete files or folders by putting them in the Trash Bin, ask yourself the following to assist you in this effort:
   

   • Is this a file that I need to keep for future reference? (if you can only answer, “well, I might need it someday” but can’t identify a real reason why, then that isn’t really answering Yes to this question)
   • Does the file contain information that I cannot find somewhere else?
   • Is information in this file used as a reference document or resource for creating other documents?

   
   If you can’t immediately say “Yes” to any of the following questions, then it’s time to get rid of the file or folder in question.

ScribeFire

I’m one that likes to share ideas, but have been hampered by the time and steps it takes to put great information on my blog. His suggestion…start using ScribeFire to log your comments to information you find online. The program connects you to your blog and posts instantly within a few button clicks.

Watch out, I may just be blogging daily now.