I recently learned that I was nominated by my peers for AssistU VA of the Year, an award which will be presented in Las Vegas at the AssistU Community Awards event. To say that I was choked up is an understatement. What can be more flattering than to be recognized by my colleagues? I’m awed and am so grateful to those who submitted my name and think I’m worthy of such an award.

AssistU VAs are professionals who have completed a rigorous 20-week training program (the VTP) and uphold a stringent Code of Ethics, providing business support services in a global, virtual environment. What sets us apart from other Virtual Assistants is our focus on partnerships with our clients. We stand for our clients by upholding our own business standards (working only with clients who “fit” those standards, doing work we love); we’re vested in our clients’ successes, and we are constantly seeking and sharing new technologies and skills to better serve those clients.

To be nominated by those professionals is an honor, and I do not take it lightly. I’m humbled, privileged, and so appreciative to be listed among five other very deserving VAs for this award.

The focus of the 4 days was to fully learn and experience the connection between one’s thoughts, emotions and body and the manifestation of the abundance that is available to everyone when all three are aligned and in harmony. Did I experience “my truth?” You bet! I was challenged, and my awareness was increased 1000 fold; the process was both depleting and exhilarating. I’m riding high today, and plan to ride the wave from here on.

Why would I subject myself to this emotional rollercoaster? My business is going along just fine. I love my clients and the work I do, so why? I guess it’s because I know there’s more, and I want to experience it now – not next year or five years from now. Others who have attended this conference have said it was life-changing. They didn’t explain how or why, just that it was the catalyst that moved them to new heights in their personal and business lives. Why wouldn’t I want that too?

What’s the key to abundance? It’s giving, forgiveness, gratitude and love, security and self-esteem all mixed together through the source of your power (mine is God). The result is freedom from the bondage of the past and the realization of the Light in the present and future. Don’t you want this too? If so, be sure to explore DavidNeagle.com. “Experience the Reality of Success” (ERS) is coming again in February of 2009. Will I see you there?

In an article by Dave Paradi, he points out that Outlook was designed as a Personal Information Tool (PIM), and Jay Lee defines it this way.

Outlook Express is a free program that comes with Internet Explorer and is a part of Microsoft Windows; it is not a part of the Microsoft Office suite of software. It supports email and has a very limited capacity for contact management. It does not replace Outlook, nor is it a tool for business. It may be fine for the home computer user.

Outlook is much more than an email (client) program; it’s a contact manager, calendar and scheduling manager, and a task manager just for *starters*. Outlook synchronizes easily with other databases such as ACT and is also linked to handheld PCs, which run on the Windows platform. If you want an all-in-one program for task, time and email management, and you want to stay with a Microsoft-based program, Outlook is the answer. Can you tell that I’m an avid Outlook user?

Here are a couple of tips for organizing and moving email from your Inbox:

Organizing Email Messages in Outlook

Email messages initially arrive to your Inbox, but what do you do with them as they accumulate? If you want to save your incoming email messages, organize them much like you’d organize your office – put them in alphabetical folders by subject in a file cabinet. In this case, the file cabinet is your Inbox, and the file folders will be created preferably by subject.

To create a folder within your Inbox:

• Right click on the Inbox icon or name.
• From the drop-down menu, select New Folder.
• In the Create New Folder dialog box, type the name of the folder and highlight the Inbox folder (where to place the folder). Outlook will place the new folder in the Inbox.
• Click OK. The New Folder will appear in alphabetical order under the Inbox.

Move Messages to the appropriate folder:

There are several ways to move messages from the Inbox to a different folder.

• Drag: You can left click and hold, then drag the message to the appropriate folder.
• Move: Open the message. Slowly move your mouse over the icons on the Toolbar and left-click on the Move to Folder icon. On the drop-down menu, select Move to Folder. The Move Item To dialog box appears. Select the appropriate folder and click OK or click on New to create a new folder within the Inbox (which is another way to create a new folder).

Future Tips will address the Outlook Task List, Creating and Scheduling Tasks by dragging messages to the Calendar and Task List, Managing the Outlook Calendar, and utilizing Contacts to record data and contact information.

My computer had been running very slowly.  I only had 512mb of RAM (Resident Access Memory) and always had several programs running in the background (time tracking program, anti-spam and security software, Groove, RoboForm, Carbonite, Outlook and others).  A simple Word document took far too long to load, and getting my Internet browser to open provided enough time to run to the grocery store. Well. . . almost.  I knew I needed to increase the RAM, but this was the first time I had heard about “hidden files.”

Anti-Virus Protection
So Emil made his first visit within a few days and immediately installed some free programs which replaced my anti-virus program and Microsoft Windows defrag program.  My computer is now protected by  AVG Free Anti Virus.  The program hums along in the background, scanning documents, emails, and links, and the updates to the program are automatic.

Defragmentation
All of us Windows users have a system defrag program installed (Programs/Accessories/System Tools/Disk Cleanup).  I assumed (you know what that word means) that if the program was from Microsoft and Microsoft is so very concerned about security, that if I utilized this option on a regular basis, my machine would be clean and fast.  Well, Emil showed me the way.

First he installed CCleaner,  a free program (donations encouraged), which cleans all temp files, history, cookies, etc.  The first time you use it, it may take 15 to 30 minutes to clean your hard drive. You need to do this before you defrag.

Here are the instructions for setting up CCleaner:

1. Once you’ve installed CCleaner, Under “Cleaner” check all the boxes in Internet Explorer except Auto Complete.
2. Under Advanced, check only “Old Prefetch data.”
3. Then click Run Cleaner (lower right corner).

Emil wasn’t done.  Next he installed O&O Defrag.  This program does what the Windows program does but far more thoroughly.  The first time you use it, it may take hours.  My suggestion is to set it up to run during the night the first time.

Here are the instructions for setting up O&O Defrag:

1. Go get the free download of O&O Defrag
2. Once it’s installed, open it and  specify the drive you want to defrag.
3. Then click on the green arrow/triangle in the O&O toolbar.

It will begin analyzing the drive; you should see bunches of red in the colored area. When the analysis is complete, it will automatically begin defragging.  This could take several hours the first time, so do it overnight.

Then be ready to speed your way through your computer the next morning!

To maintain your speedy computer, be sure to use cCleaner and O&O Defrag at least once a month, depending on how much you’re using the computer, downloading files, etc.

And let me know how your computer does after you’ve done all of this.

This is my opportunity (and yours) to share our business and life journeys, and I hope you will join me.

Some areas I’ll expore are technology - how/what to use in your business, small business issues - the ups and downs of being a business owner (and the joys), the fine art of balancing your business and personal life, how to’s for simplifying your business and life, and of course, Virtual Assistance - when you can’t do it all. And from time to time, I’ll share some of my own personal joys (my husband, my new home, my cat, and my grandchildren).

I’d certainly like to hear from all of you too, so join in my venture!