Torrent how-to site TorrentFreak has a simple tutorial on how to create your own torrent for a variety of BitTorrent clients. The process differs slightly from client to client, but overall, it’s pretty simple— and especially convenient when you’re looking to send something big to more than one person. Have you created a torrent? Share your special torrent how-to sauce in the comments. How to create a torrent [TorrentFreak]
Productivity blog Zen Habits has a good article on how to make your day better, including this little gem: no matter how stressed you are, if you can get just one important thing done, you’ll have had a successful day. When I say important, I mean things that will have a huge impact on your life (personally or career wise) over the long run. Not things that need to be done today or else. Here’s why: If you get something important done, something that will help you in the long run (even if it’s only a step towards a major accomplishment, it’s important), you will feel great! You’ll feel a sense of accomplishment. That makes any day a great day.
What’s your “important thing”? Thoughts in the comments. 10 Simple, Sure-fire Ways to Make Today Your Best Day Ever [Zen Habits]
Flickr is not the only place to find really good photographs. You can also use PicURLs, a site that aggregates the most popular (or buzzworthy) pictures from a variety of social networking/bookmarking sites (Digg, Reddit, del.icio.us, etc.). Each picture is thumbnailed with a quick link to the originating site and article. Note: not all the images on the front page of PicURLs are work-safe, so keep that in mind when viewing the site at the office.
Picurls [via ReadWriteWeb]Don’t just throw your old socks away: recycle them with wikiHow’s ideas on how to give your socks a long and productive retirement. How to Recycle Your Socks [wikiHow] More »
Work productivity site Web Worker Daily has an interesting article on the bare bones of tracking your business expenses (especially timely as tax season—believe it or not— is right around the corner). Here’s the bottom line: The basic rule of thumb is that to be deductible on your taxes in the United States, an expense must be ordinary (common and accepted in your industry) and necessary (helpful and appropriate for your trade). Note that “necessary” doesn’t mean “indispensable” to the IRS.
I must confess that I’m not as organised as I’d like to be with this, but that’s where you come in, dear readers. How do you track your business expenses? Please share in the comments. Tracking Business Expenses [Web Worker Daily]
Keep the clutter to a minimum with financial blog Wise Bread’s principle of “like in, like out”: If a new item comes into the house, like a sweater or souvenir coffee mug, make sure something similar goes out either to the recycling center, Goodwill, to a friend or if necessary to the dump. This will keep you from re-establishing clutter after you have put forth the effort to downsize.
You could also try the penicillin method or follow the 15 minute rule to get rid of your clutter. What’s your best declutter strategy? Please share in the comments.
Small Space Survival Strategies [Wise Bread]Use Twitter Timer, a simple bot program to send yourself reminders through Google Talk. Technology blogger Amit Agarwal has written up a very simple how-to that takes you through exactly what you need to do to accomplish this; for instance, I just set up a reminder to take my youngest to ballet today. For even more productive ways to use Twitter, try reading the Big Juicy Twitter Guide.
Set and Receive Task Reminders in Google Talk with Twitter Timer [Digital Inspiration]Make your technology habits more ecologically friendly with technology blogger Steve Rubel’s simple writeup on how to go “media green.” For instance: instead of buying printed books, try listening to audiobooks. Subscribe to RSS feeds rather than paper-heavy newspapers and magazines. Download movies (via a variety of methods) rather than buying the DVD. How have you made your media greener? Let’s hear in the comments.
Simple Ways to Go [MicroPersuasion]
