Hasta La Ideas

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pTo me, the concept of a paperless office is like the concept of a soulmate–I think you have to be slightly out of touch with reality to believe these things can exist./p

pThat doesn’t stop many of us from trying, of course. I bought my own iPad in an effort to cut down on the physical magazines littering my apartment, and it’s helped, a little. I’ve also read a half-dozen books on it that I didn’t have to make shelf space for. But when it comes to editing copious amounts of text, as with the freelance book and magazine projects I occasionally pick up, I still can’t get it to replace the mountains of highlighter-ink soaked paper these projects accumulate./p

pIt seems the iPad is best at replacing paper in situations where whatever’s printed on the paper doesn’t have to be edited much. Early on we heard about newsrooms using iPads to replace the news scripts their desk anchors read from, and the annual projected cost savings was in the tens of thousands. A HREF=”http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/jul2010/tc2010076_434355.htm” A IBusinessweek/I article/A reports on other instances where this works well, like in warehouses where inventory-seekers need to walk aisles and reconcile stacks of boxes with printed lists. /p

pTwo questionable instances are also mentioned–a hotel using iPads to replace menus, and a hair salon using it to replace magazines–as well as a furniture business that will reportedly save six figures by integrating iPads into its physical delivery systems. Give it a read A HREF=”http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/jul2010/tc2010076_434355.htm” here/A.br /
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In our home, there are responsibilities that have to be completed multiple times each week — and some, each day — to keep clutter from spinning out of control. Laundry and dishes are two of these responsibilities that apply to most homes. We also have to sweep under my son’s high chair, feed pets, prepare meals, clear out the car, water plants, recycle the newspaper, a general pickup around the house, scrub the toilet, and numerous other activities just to maintain our base level of order.

These recurring responsibilities are best handled by setting up routines, and I recommend creating and following a chart of when to complete these responsibilities until these activities become habit. To create a chart:

1. Make a list of every chore you need to complete and how often. For example: Launder bathroom towels–1x/week. Feed cats–2x/day. Launder bedroom sheets–1x/week. Make lunch–1x/day.
2. Group any activities together that would be more efficiently done at the same time. For example: Laundering bathroom towels and sheets in the same load. Filling the car with gas and grocery shopping on the same errand run.
3. On your chart, start by filling in those activities that are time sensitive. For example: Loading the dishwasher or washing dishes will need to be done after dinner.
4. Once the time-sensitive activities are on the chart, fill in the other activities based on when you have the most time and energy. If you’re exhausted after dinner and just want to relax, you might benefit from putting some of your responsibilities on your chart before you leave for work in the mornings, when you’re more likely to finish the chore.
5. Keep in mind your social calendar when creating your routine chart. If you tend to spend Friday nights out with friends, don’t schedule activities for Friday nights.
6. Be realistic. You are not superhuman. Only put on your chart those responsibilities that must be completed to keep your home running smoothly. After a few months of working on and mastering your current list, you then might consider adding more lofty routines to your chart.
7. Create an incentive structure to reward yourself for following the chart. Have fun and use stickers to track your progress. After 10 days of following the chart, have a nice dinner or take yourself to the movies. Identify the reward on your chart so that you have a reminder of your prize.

If more than one person lives in your house, be sure to assign specific actions to each person. Divide the responsibilities equally. Good luck creating your responsibility chart and getting work done around the house!

Like this site? Buy Erin Rooney Doland’s Unclutter Your Life in One Week from Amazon.com today.

Speaking of the UK and America/July 4th, as we were in those last couple of posts, the Guardian‘s art critic Jonathan Jones took a somewhat bizarre turn yesterday with his short piece, “Why Middlebrow Americana Will Always Beat ‘Good’ British Art.” He uses a visit to see an exhibition of paintings by the Wyeth family (including those by its most famous member, Andrew), which Jones finds as “populist hokum that appeals to boardroom philistines” as a launching point to say that no matter how bland he might find all this sort of work to be, it still trumps most of what the British have done. It’s a strange read and as several of the comments point out, Jones might be suffering from a particularly virulent strain of the “grass is always greener” syndrome. Still, after a long Independence weekend filled with fireworks and repeated listens to Lee Greenwood for most of that time, we’re still pumped and this now gives us a chance to keep wearing our giant “America is #1” foam hand. Here’s Jones’ big closer:

What it comes down to is, I like America. It amazes me, and its visual culture is endlessly creative. In fact it’s not merely that bad American art is more fun than bad British art; it is also better than a lot of “good” British art. There’s a drabness to a lot of respectable British culture that American artists just are not capable of. Their landscape, natural and synthetic, is too extraordinary ever to disappoint.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

A multiplatform media powerhouse for contemporary South African culture

In 2005, Giuseppe Russo started One Small Seed in his adopted hometown of Cape Town, South Africa. Russo’s own story—after just a couple of months spent visiting the country, he felt the urge to create a cultural mouthpiece—embodies the concept.

Since planting his own small seed in Cape Town with a single quarterly title, the publisher has grown exponentially. In the course of five years, he’s added a social network, television platform, and a number of online magazines (all showcasing South African pop culture) to his media enterprise.

The original print version is your usual glossy brew, featuring stories–from fashion designers and music to artists to architecture—all hailing primarily from South Africa. Not long after the magazine started, Russo expanded to video, introducing stylized short format documentaries under the banner Onesmallseed.tv.

Ultimately, with the addition of a social network, Russo’s vision for a brand that people believe in came to fruition. Onesmallseed.net allows South Africans to create profiles with online portfolios, and from that came two more publications–Picture This (photography culled entirely from Onesmallseed.net), and a new digital magazine, Selected Creatives.

Looking through Onesmallseed.net, the 10 digital issues of Picture This, and Selected Creatives (also compiled from the social network), it’s overwhelming to take in the amount of creative talent that Russo has amassed around One Small Seed. We recommend taking a look, and if you like, enter the cover design competition for the 20th issue of the magazine (soon to be distributed worldwide).

London firm Brisac Gonzalez in collaboration with Oslo studio Space Group, have won joint first place in a competition to design an opera and cultural centre in Kristiansund, Norway. (more…)