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Five minutes: One to Read + Four to Action = Many Hours saved
There is a list of tasks that everyone really should do ... but either they haven't got 'around to it' or have not even thought about them. Every week John Hookham looks one of these tasks. Each one takes less than five minutes to complete, but will save you masses of time and reduce your stress levels.
The 4th 5 minutes: Going abroad? What happens if you lose your passport when you are there?
Do you know your passport number? - Thought not. Take a few minutes to photocopy your passport (and your wife's etc) and place the sheets in a zipped compartment of your suitcase. Leave them there. Permanently. You only need to change the copies when you get a new suitcase or a replacement passport: once every 10 years for the passport and once every 10 or 20 years for the suitcase. How often you change your wife is entirely up to you or in most cases up to your wife ...
Time saved; quite a lot but knowing the details are there just in case it happens to you is worth much more.
The 3rd 5 minutes: The horror, the horror ... the lost PC files.
It always happens to someone else, never to you . until it happens to you. The extent of the loss is unknown but will become apparent over the next few months. The hard disk crash may be rare but when it happens - it really happens. Bad enough overwriting a recently modified file with the old version or losing the last five minutes typing. Losing the hard disk and the data it contains can be catastrophic. NB if your laptop gets stolen the consequential file loses will be same.
A 4Gb USB pen drive will cost less than £50 and it has the capacity to store copies of all of your word documents, spreadsheets and power points etc. Buy one and Backup!
Time save; vast . and you don't look like the idiot who didn't backup his files, even if the people sharing in the Schadenfreude would be in exactly the same position if their hard drive crashed ... or their laptop was stolen.
The 2nd 5 minutes: How to avoid being stood by your locked car in an empty car park.
Today every car has a sensor operated security system. When you leave you press the remote button to lock the car and activate the immobiliser and press it to de-activate everything when you return. Until that is, late one night, you have been working late and you are the last one to leave the office. You press the button and nothing happens - no bleeps, no flashing indicators - nothing. The battery in the remote is dead. No matter how hard you press, it will not work.
So next time you buy petrol, buy a spare battery for the remote (often these come with a container that you can attach to your key ring) or you can simply put the spare battery in the glove box or your briefcase.
Time saved; one hour spent waiting for the RAC or spent walking to the nearest garage to buy the battery. The same battery you could have bought the last time you were there filling up your now unresponsive car with fuel. And of course it will be raining when the battery fails .
The 1st 5 minutes: Get back your lost or stolen mobile.
*#06# is the code you enter into your mobile to find its IMEI number; this is the unique 15 or 17 digit code assigned when the phone was manufactured. If you enter the IMEI code together with your personal details at www.immobilise.com you stand a much better chance of getting a lost or stolen phone back.
The police use this database to find the rightful owner when any mobile phones are recovered; you also need the IMEI code to report a lost or stolen phone to the police. The IMEI code is also printed inside the phone and on the delivery note. If all else fails your network provider can provide you with the code, subject to some security checks. IMEI is the International Mobile Equipment Identity.
You can also register other equipment, such as laptops, MP3 players, digital cameras etc. You will be provided with your own user name and unique password to change or update your details. And the service is free to use.
Time saved; hours of re-keying all of your contact details, reminder lists etc and you might get back irreplaceable photos stored on your digital camera.
Contact Adrelia by email: info@adrelia.com
