Spreadsheets - not just for accounting and analytics anymore

Domestic Issue:
Contact information for family and friends (the wedding invitation, baby announcement, Christmas card list) is all over the place. Every time I need to mail, or mass email, something out, I need to cobble it together. It takes too much time, I have no idea if its right and sometimes I just don't get to it. Not to mention that it's really easy to forget someone you don't see very often...and you don't need to insult Great Uncle Hal because you forgot to tell him about your new baby!

Corporate Strategy:
At work, when I need to make or manage a list of contacts that includes names, variations on the names, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, birthdays, anniversaries, etc., I make a spreadsheet.

This list can be as big or as small as I want it - and I can merge it into labels or letters - or cards - or whatever very, VERY easily. I can cut and paste the email address column right into an email To or BCC line in two clicks - for those great mass email announcements about my husband's rotator cuff surgery that is sure to draw the requisite jibs and jabs that he needs ot speed his recovery.

I can sort the list by categories (ie: Hubby's family/friends vs. My family/friends, Party People, Lake invites, etc.) This sure makes it easy when I want to throw a friend-related Christmas party with people who are more fun-factor than fruit cake and I can sort the list and invite who I intended in about 3 clicks!

Domestic Bliss:
At home, my "Family & Friends" spreadsheet lives on my desktop. Whenever someone calls or emails with an update or gets a new phone or adds a baby to thier family, I open it and update it. I do not save versions. I have one live copy and that's what I work with. I have toyed with the idea of putting this onto a web-based document sharing program like Google-docs - so I can access it from anywhere, but I'm not there yet (as of July 23, 2010)...

What have I done with our Family & Friends spreadsheet:

• Event Invitations (ie: Wedding invitations) - this is where it all started. When we made our wedding invite list and started combining households this is where I stored all of the whos-who of both of our families, complete with a notes column to explain Aunt Hilda's difficult relationship with Granny Nell - so I wouldn't seat them together or otherwise deepen the rift.
• Wedding RSVP list - from there, I added a column to note who RSVP'd for the wedding and then followed that with a column to note whether I had sent a thank you note for the beautiful crystal hedgehog I received from someone.
• Announcements, Cards and other beacons of goodwill - As our life started to unfold, we continued to use and update this list to send out Wedding and Baby Announcements and then the Christmas Card. It's been 10 years and the list lives on. It's been altered, updated and columns have been added for cell phones and gifting preferences (for the teenagers). But it lives.
• Labels or Handwritten Addresses - you can use this list for the ultimate in efficiency and run labels for any and all mailings produced from it. Or you can print it and write the addresses right on the cards. Either way, you're starting from one place, with information you know is right. Whew. Sure beats flipping through a little black book that has things crossed-out all over the place and "refer to" notes to find your best friend who just changed her last name for the third time!
• Take it one step further - if you go to a site like Shutterfly or Kodak Gallery, you can even make your Christmas card or other photo mailer, upload your excel list - and have them print and mail the whole shebang! Wow. Talk about a time saver. It's a little impersonal, but at 11:30 p.m. on December 22, that might be OK - as long as Aunt Hilda gets to see the beaming faces of your children on her requisite Christmas card...and it might even be close to on time!

Another option is to save all of your contact information in an electronic address book like Microsoft Outlook or contacts on Hotmail, Gmail or Yahoo. This is often attached a specific email address and/or related to a computer you are using. You can export the data to a spreadsheet and merge with it.

If you're using a PDA of some kind, this may be your easiest route too because you can call up a contacts info and email or call them direct from thier spot in your list.

It requires more clicks to get that label printed and a merge for your Christmas Cards might take a little longer, but it's another option.

The Final Word:

DO NOT maintain contact information in a pretty flowered, spiral-bound notebook that floats in your purse (which one?) and may or may not become a coloring book for a child in line at the bank (hey, why are in line at a bank anyway? That's a future post...). You don't do yourself any favors by recording information this way.

DO find an electronic storage technique that fits your needs.

DO update information quickly when you get it. Your list should always be up to date. If it's easy to access, this shouldn't be an issue and it'll make your life so much easier in the long run.

DO share it! If your new, future, sister-in-law needs a place to start thier wedding planning, save a new version, delete your hubby's family and friends and email it to her. Who knows, you might have just saved her life down the line. Of course, you'll need to add yourself to that list for her, but you've just saved her hours of sorting through index cards, your mother's black book and the pain of discovering Auntie Sheryl's hatred for Uncle Sal's penchant for garlic at every meal. You'll be a hero! Small children will flock to you! Butterflies will flutter around you...Ok. Maybe not. But she'll really appreciate it.

DO print it out and put a copy in your purse. If you NEED to have a paper copy at your fingertips at all times, print a copy of the list and put it in your purse. Print it on cardstock if you need to. But when you update it or add to it, print a new copy and toss the old. You'll always be accurate then!

Any other ways that you save data? Add them to the comments and we'll review in the future!

Thanks for visiting!

Why should you bring work home?

Those of us who work outside of the home know what it's like to walk into the office and assume the duties of our job. We turn into different animals than we are at home - and that's good. Professionalism is important and relaxation is even more important.

I am often amazed by how many people have hidden talents and hobbies in thier personal lives that have absolutely nothing to do with thier professions. That's good - it's healthy.

In the age of crackberries and 24/7 accessibility, we should be able to unplug, unwind and un-work at our homes. That's why home is so important.

But what happens when home becomes a place of chaos, mismanagement, disarray, stacks of unopened mail, late bills, impossible to find warranties for broken appliances?

What happens when we need to help with a school project that was remembered at 8:30 p.m. the night before it's due and we're already in our jammies and will not be running to the supercenter to buy supplies...over my dead body?

What happens on December 23 when we realize that Christmas has arrived and no cards were sent and the Day Care ladies really deserve a gift?

What happens when you're searching for Great Aunt Dolly's address at the retirement home...it's not listed...it's midnight and you need to get the card in mail tomorrow night...and your mother would really resent a phone call right now.

What happens when you finally get a gift on time and you need to ship it tomorrow, but there isn't any way you're going to get to the UPS Store before it closes between your meetings and pick-up/drop-off duties?

What happens when your house is always a spilled cup of cereal away from Chernobyl?

You get these little humps on your shoulders and are always living in a state of anxious. I know, I've been there.

We yearn for the standardization, the organization, the bliss of our offices where everything is in it's place. Everyone knows where to find the stuff they need. Supplies are copious, organized and stored in neat closets and armoires ready to be devoured for the next presentation.

Many working moms go to work to take a break. It's a place where they're mostly in control. They know what to expect. They're successful there. Even on the worst day at work, we can find some sense in it.

Why?

At work, companies spend millions every year to be organized and efficient. We lean, six sigma, 5-S. We know the 7 Habits. We understand each other's Myers-Briggs. We know what we're supposed to do, have the tools to do it and are rewarded when it's done.

Because we do this all day, we often neglect the organization of our own homes and families because we're tired and we don't want to do work when we get home. But perhaps we should.

By employing some of the best practices and strategies that our companies have taught us, spent thousands to create and that we use every day, we're certain to institute some bliss into our domesticity. Even if we only scratch the surface.

This isn't just about technology and file cabinets. It's not about having a home office or a massive bulletin board in your kitchen. Though those things might be useful and part of your strategy, there are simplier and more obscure ways to insert corporate strategy into your home.

And I'm sure you'll think of more ideas than what is listed here. I encourage you to share these ideas in the comments - who knows what other working moms (or dads) might be searching for. They might need the answer that you already have.

So stop fretting over the pile of children's art falling off of the kitchen counter. Put down the Hello Kitty stapler you stole out of the marker box to fasten a receipt to the warranty that you won't be able to find next year when the inflatable pool get's torn by the riding lawn mower.

If you were at work right now (and maybe you are...to be shamed!), how would you manage all of this? Go get the stuff you need to do it - and do it. It may take a couple of hours, but you'll be glad that you did.

Here's to Domestic Bliss!