Google Contacts is an excellent program for keeping track of your contacts on your computer and on your cell phone.  When you sync Google with your cell phone, whenever you add or edit a contact, the changes will appear on both your phone and on your computer, almost instantaneously.

Now let’s review how to use Google Contacts effectively. 

When you open the web page for Google Contacts, you will see the word “Search” at the top of the page with a magnifying glass icon to its left.  This is where you search for a contact.  Just type in a name or part of a name in the Search box, and every individual in your contacts that has those letters in their name or in their email address, will show up on a list that you can click on to see that person’s contact information.  Additionally, if you type in a word or part of a word and hit the Enter key on your keyboard, every contact that has those letters listed anywhere in their contact information will show up on a list that you can click on to see that person’s contact information.  For example, if you type in a street name, every contact that lives on that street will show up on a list. 

When you click on the three dots in the upper right corner of the Google Contacts web page, and click on “Change column order,” you will see the current column order for displaying your contacts.  When you click on a column name, you can drag it up or down to change the column order.  There are five columns that can be displayed, and there are seven column categories that you can choose from: Name, Email, Phone number, Address, Labels, Job title & company, and Birthday.  When you click on the down arrow to the right of a column name, you have the option of interchanging that column with another column category.

Create a Google Contact 

To create a contact, in the upper left corner of the Google Contacts web page, click on the plus icon with the words “Create contact.”  When the “Create new contact” page opens, you can fill in the person’s First name, Last name, Company, Job title, Email, Phone, and Notes. 

When you type in the email address, a Label field will appear to the right, where you can indicate whether the email address is for Home, Work, or Other.  If you want to add another email address, just click on the plus icon to add it.  You can continue to add more email addresses by clicking on the plus icon again.  Use this same process to add phone numbers.

“Notes” is a great space for you to put information about this contact that doesn’t have a specific field for you to put in that information.

To delete any entries you have made, just click on the circled X to the right of that entry.

When you click on “More fields,” there are more fields for you to add information about this contact.

After you have created a new contact, saved it, and then reopened it, all of the numbers and letters that are colored blue are now links.  So if you click on the email address, Gmail will open with an email addressed to this person.  If you click on that contact’s phone number, Google will call that number for you using Google Hangouts and your computer’s microphone.  When you click on an address, Google Maps will open, showing you that address on a map.  You can then get directions to that address, and even see a close-up satellite view of the location.

Google Contact Interactions

When you scroll down in Google Contacts, you will see an “Interactions” section.  Here you will see a list of all the emails and texts that you sent to this person over the past three months.  When you click on a specific email or text, it will open so that you can see what you what was written in that email or text, and all of the attachments will also be visible.

When you open a contact, you can “star” that contact by clicking on the star icon in the upper right corner. This will place that contact in the “Starred Contacts” list, which appears above all of the other contacts for easy access.

When you open a contact, you can edit that contact by clicking on the pencil icon in the upper right corner.

Assign Google Contact Labels

When you open a contact, you can assign a label to that contact.  Click on the three dots in the upper right corner, and pick the label or labels that you want this contact listed under.  Labels are a great way for you to categorize your contacts for easy searching.  For example, let’s say that you are trying to find a contact that is one of your health providers, but you can’t remember their name.  If you had set up a label for Health Providers, then you would just scroll through that list to find their name.  If you don’t have a label set up, then you would have to search through every name in your contacts to try and locate this person. 

For me, I have a label for my referral networking group.  Then when I want to email all of the members or just some of the members, I just start the email by clicking on “To,” followed by my clicking on the label for my referral networking group.  All of my referral network members now show up, and I can choose all of them or some of them to email.  This saves a lot of time, and now that I can see all of the people in that label, it is not likely that I will leave a member off of the email I am preparing to send.  All I have to do is click on “Select All,” or I can click on each name that I want to add to the email.

To create a label, click on “Create label” on the left side of your screen under “Duplicates.”  Then just type in the name of the label, and click “Save.”  To rename a label, move your cursor over the label you want to rename, and then click on the pencil icon to the right of the label name.  Rename it, and click “Save.”

To delete a label, click on the label you want to delete, and then you will see all of the contacts under that label.  Click on a contact to see which label or labels you have assigned this contact to.  This information will appear under the contact’s name.  If the label you are going to delete is the only label you have assigned to this contact, then I suggest that you pick another label for this contact before deleting this label.  Otherwise this contact will not have a label once you have deleted the only label assigned to this contact.  To add another label to this contact, click on the three dots in the upper right corner, and choose another label or labels.  Once you have done this for all of the contacts under the label you are going to delete, you then move your cursor over the label you plan to delete, and you click on the garbage pail icon to the right of the label to delete it.

Duplicate Contacts

Sometimes by accident, you may create duplicate contacts.  To find and combine any duplicate contacts, click on “Duplicates” on the left side of your screen below “Contacts.”  There you will see all of the duplicate contacts.  You now have the option to combine all of the information from multiple contacts into one contact.

To get to Settings, scroll down the left side of the screen, and “Settings” will be listed under “More.”  This is where you indicate whether you want your contacts to be sorted by first or last name.

Below “Settings,” is “Help.”  This is where you can search for answers to questions you have about using Google Contacts.

The post Using Google Contacts Effectively appeared first on QuickBooks Training by Shor Solutions.

Google Calendar is an excellent program for keeping track of your appointments, birthdays, and other important dates on your computer and on your cell phone.  When you sync Google with your cell phone, whenever you add or edit a calendar event, the changes will appear on both your phone and on your computer, almost instantaneously.

Now let’s review how to use Google Calendar effectively

You can use Google Calendar to keep track of appointments, birthdays, reminders, and tasks.  You can also use it to schedule an event, and invite guests to that event. 

Google Calendar Search Feature

To use the search feature, click on the search icon, which is the magnifying glass icon located at the top right of your screen.  This is where you search for calendar events by typing in a name or a word.  For example, if you want to search for all seminars that you had put in your calendar, you just type in the word “seminar.”  Or if you want to search for all events with the name John, just type in “John.”  When you do this, all of the events that have the name “John” in your calendar, will show up in a list in date order. 

Google Calendar Didsplays

To change the way that Google Calendar displays your calendar, click on the rectangular box to the right of the gear icon in the upper right corner.  Here is where you can change the display to Day, Week, Month, Year, Schedule, 7 days. 

I use the “7 days” display so that I can see all of the events for the current week.  Then I can either click on the left (<) or right (>) arrow at the top of the calendar to move to previous or subsequent weeks.  If I want to go more than a couple of months ahead or back, I just click on “7 days,” and change it to “Month.”  Then I only have to do a few clicks to move months ahead or back.  When I am done, I click on “7 days” and on the “Today” box, which is just to the left of the arrows, and that brings me back to this week.

To get to settings, click on the gear icon in the upper right corner, and then click on “Settings.”  This is where you set your time zone, and you have the option to check the box “Ask to update my primary time zone to current location.”  If you check that box, when you are in a different time zone with your computer and your cell phone, the time that is now showing on your calendar and on your cell phone will be the same as where you are now located. 

But be careful, because if you schedule appointments in your calendar for a future date when you will not be in the time zone you currently are in, the scheduled time will be based on the time zone you are now in.  For example, if you are on the East Coast, and you schedule an appointment for next Tuesday at 3:00 PM, when you get back to the West Coast, which is in a time zone three hours earlier, that appointment will now show on your calendar as Tuesday at 12:00 PM.

Google Calendar Event Settings 

“Event settings” is where you let Google Calendar know what time interval you want as the default setting for each event.  You can choose 15, 20, 30, 45, 60, 90, or 120 minutes.  I chose 60 minutes as my default, and when I enter a new event, I just change the length of the event as needed.

Under “Event settings” you also can turn “Notifications” on or off.  If you want a pop-up window to appear on your phone and your computer that reminds you that an event is coming up, then choose “Desktop notifications.” 

Under “View options” you can set when you want the your calendar week to start.  You can choose Saturday, Sunday, or Monday.  You can also “Set the custom view” to 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, or 7 days, or 2, 3, or 4 weeks.  Whichever number you choose here, that number will now show up as a display option.  I chose 7 days, so that is now an option that I can pick for my calendar display.

Add an Event to your Google Calendar

On the Google Calendar page, to add an event to your calendar, click the plus icon at the top left side of your screen.  Then add the title, and pick the date by clicking on the date that is already there, followed by clicking on the date of your event on the calendar that now appears. Then put in the beginning time by clicking on the beginning time that is already there; and then scroll up or down until you see the time when the event begins, and then click on it.  Do the same for the time when the event ends.

To add guests to the event you are creating, just type in the name of a contact that is already in your contact list, and when the name appears, click on it to add the name to guests to invite.  If you want, type in the location of the event, and add a description. 

Click “More options” if you want to repeat the event on other days.  Then click on “Does not repeat,” which gives you the following options: Daily, Weekly, Monthly, Annually, Every weekday, and Custom. 

When you click on “Daily,” the event will reoccur every day at the time you set.  When you click on “Weekly,” the event will reoccur every week on that day of the week at the time you set.  When you click on “Monthly,” the event will reoccur every month on that day of the week at the time you set.  When you click on “Yearly,” the event will reoccur every year on that month, on that day of the week at the time you set.  When you click on “Every weekday,” the event will reoccur every weekday at the time you set. 

Click on “Custom” to repeat the event every _____ number of days, weeks, months, or years.  You type a number in the blank space.  Then you need to click that the event “Never” ends, or that it ends “On” a specific date, or that it ends “After” a set number of occurrences.  Then click “Done” to finish setting the custom recurrence.

Google Calendar Notifications

You then have the option to add a location and a notification.  If you add a “Notification,” you need to indicate how many minutes, hours, days, or weeks in advance you want to receive the notification to remind you of the upcoming event.  You can also add a description of the event, and invite guests.  Then click “Save” to save the event you just created.

Creating Additional Calendars

If you want to create an additional calendar, on the left side of your screen, click on “Add calendar;” and then click on “Create new calendar.” Then type in the name of your new calendar; put in a description if you want; and click “Create calendar” to save the new calendar.  You might want to create a new calendar for business events, which you can share with individuals you work with.  Let’s say you name that calendar “Business Calendar.”

Once you have created a new calendar, click on the left arrow at the top left of the page, which closes “Settings.”  Now open “Settings” again by clicking on the gear icon at the top right of the page, and click on “Settings.”  When you scroll down the left side of the page, you will now see “Business Calendar.”  Click on it to edit the settings, which now show up on the right.  You can share the calendar with other people and add notifications.

On the left side, just above the “Business Calendar“ that you just created, you will see “Google Calendar,” which is the default calendar.  If you want to rename it, click on “Google Calendar,” and then click in the box to the right that has the name “Google Calendar.”  Type in the new name here. 

Now that you have more than one calendar, whenever you create an event, you need to specify which calendar to add that event to.  Google automatically adds the event to “Google Calendar” unless you specify a different calendar.

Once you are finished editing the settings, click on the left arrow at the top left of the page, which closes “Settings.”  Now when you open an event on your calendar by clicking on it, you can edit it by clicking on the pencil icon.  You can now move this event is to the “Business Calendar” by clicking on the drop-down arrow to the right of “Google Calendar,” which you will see listed right under the words “Add notification.”  Click Save.  Now when you look at the calendar, you will see that the event you moved to the “Business Calendar,” has a different colored dot to left of the event name.

If you want to change the color of the dots for each calendar, click on the three parallel lines just to the left of “31 Calendar” at the top left side of the page.  Under this month’s calendar that is now visible, you will see “My calendars.”  Click on the arrow to the right of “My Calendars,” and you will see “Google Calendar” and “Business Calendar” listed.  Move your cursor over the calendar that you want to change the dot color, and you will now see three dots to the right.  Click on the three dots, and you will now see a palette of different colors to choose from.  Click on a color to change the dot color.

If you want to see only the events for a particular calendar, just click on the box to the left of the calendar name that you don’t want to see, and those events will disappear from the calendar, leaving only the calendar you want to see.  Click on the box again for those events to reappear on the calendar.

The post Using Google Calendar Effectively appeared first on QuickBooks Training by Shor Solutions.

That is, I love having a mess to clean up.  It is one of my favorite things to do.  I just love organizing things.  I love the challenge and the feeling I get when I have taken something that was disorganized and made it organized.

When confronted with someone’s mess, at first it can be daunting, as there is so much to do, and I have to figure out where to start.  This is where most people get stuck, and why they don’t clean up their mess, as the task feels overwhelming.  But after having cleaned up hundreds of messes over many years, I am confident that I can clean up almost any mess. 

Organization Game Plan

Once I know what my client wants organized, I work closely with them to straighten out the “UnstraightenedOutable.”  We come up with a game plan, and we start work on it one small step at a time.  Depending on the situation, sometimes I do all of the clean-up, asking them questions when I need clarification. 

Organizing Skills

Most times, we do the clean-up together, so that they learn the needed organizing skills so that this messy situation does not happen again.  We get a lot done together as I show them my system of organizing, and I coach them on applying this system to create order out of disorder.  Knowing they have me to answer their questions to help guide them through the clean-up, they don’t feel overwhelmed anymore.  They slowly gain confidence as they proceed, knowing that they can repeat the organizing procedures that I teach them, which will prevent this mess from reoccurring in the future.  I leave my clients with homework, to continue doing the organizing by themselves, and to write down any questions that they may have, which we will review the next time we meet.

The post I LOVE A MESS!!! appeared first on QuickBooks Training by Shor Solutions.

Being organized means putting things in a place where you can easily locate them.  Today, in addition to organizing physical things, one has to organize non-physical things, such as files on your computer.

Organize Similar Things Together

So how do you organize things so that you can easily find them.  You need to put similar things together.  So for papers, you set up hanging files with folders, and you file the papers in those folders by categories. 

Here is an example of how I set up folders for the dozens of manuals I have.  I came up with 15 categories; and I labeled the hanging files and folders, and hung them in alphabetical order.   They are: Air & Water, Appliances, Auto, Basement, Furniture, Health, House, Kitchen, Music, Office, Outdoors, Pet, Sports, Telephone, TV.  Whenever I buy a product, I file the manual in the folder I think it bests fits into.  And whenever I get rid of an item, I go to the folder where the manual is stored, and I get rid of the manual. 

Fine Tuning your Organization

Organizing needs fine tuning every once in a while.  When you feel your filing system isn’t working as smoothly as you would like, you may need to rename a folder, combine folders, or split a folder into multiple folders.

For computer files, I do the same thing.  In My Documents, I set up folders for my business, volunteering, my hobbies, and one called My Folders, which is for everything else.  Then I have subfolders, and sometimes subfolders of the subfolders.  Within the folders are my files.  As I do with paper folders, I also need to reorganize folders and files by renaming, separating, combining, and moving them.

Personal items are also organized by category.  So for example, I have food, clothes, books, supplies, and tools organized by category so that I can easily locate items when I need them.  As with files, I reorganize when needed.  And when I buy new clothes, I look to see what old clothes I can give away.

Work at Becoming Organized

I was not born organized.  I worked hard at getting organized once I found that I could not function very well being disorganized.  So for example, I do not have a good memory, so I learned to write everything down.  But I found that lists were too cumbersome and difficult to work with.  So I use an individual sheet of paper to write down one thing I need to do.  I then file that sheet of paper in one of the folders I have set up in my file cabinet.  There is a folder set up for each day of the week, the weeks of the month, the next month, and long term.  Then when I get to the day that has my paper in it, I know that I have to work on that thing that day.  For a more detailed explanation and a demonstration on how this system works, check out my YouTube video.

The post How to Get Organized and Stay that Way appeared first on QuickBooks Training by Shor Solutions.

1) You are prepared to file your taxes in January

When you keep track of your income and expenses during the year using a bookkeeping software program such as QuickBooks, Quicken, Mint, or one of the many other good bookkeeping programs, when the year is over, you will have all of your financial information in proper order.  Then all you need to do is print a profit-and-loss statement to send to your accountant, or take the information off of the profit-and-loss statement to file your own tax return using TurboTax or a similar program.  

2) You have enough money to pay your bills on time

By using a good financial management program such as QuickBooks, you will be able to easily run a report that details the money owed to you by your customers.  By staying on top of the money owed to you, and following up with your customers, you will have improved cash flow.  Also by knowing how much money is owed to you, and by estimating when you can expect to receive payment based upon past customer payment history, you can better predict your cash flow.  Knowing this, if you see that you are going to be low on funds, you have the option of paying your suppliers later, reducing your purchases, or making a big effort to increase sales.

3) You have more time to do other things

Many tasks take up more time when you are disorganized, as you need to hunt for things that an organized person would easily find.  When you are organized, you are able to accomplish more in less time, providing you with the extra time you need to take on new projects or take some time off. 

4) You have a lower level of stress

If you are not organized, you feel additional stress and you start to feel overwhelmed as you can’t find things easily, work piles up, and you are not sure which task to tackle first.  The added stress of being disorganized often leads to mistakes, poor follow-up, missed deadlines, and negative interactions with customers, colleagues, co-workers, family, and friends.  Being organized is a proven stress reducer.  When you get organized, you feel positive about yourself, and it feels as if a load has been removed from your shoulders.

5) You look good

When you are organized, people notice.  They see that you are on time, meet deadlines, and respond timely to requests.  That leaves a very favorable impression.

The post 5 Benefits of Being Organized appeared first on QuickBooks Training by Shor Solutions.