Many of you will be able to relate to the issues brought up below. You'll possibly find a solution that will work for you too. If not, Ask Peggy. She personally answers appropriate questions and posts on the site within a few days.

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Q: I am a doctor, with a schedule which changes daily, but mainly it's a fixed pattern: 8am-3 pm, or 3 pm -10 pm or 10 pm til 8 am next morning.. I study for my masters and I own a small business, which I perform all by myself which is web designing and of course I have to meet clients.. I need to exercise and to do some activities, I am a big mess..please tell me how to organize my life coz it is affecting me greatly now. -Dr. S from Egypt

A: Dr. S. from Egypt, there are 24 hours in a day. You are one person. Don't you think you're trying to do too much at one time? I do.

In any person's life, you have to wait for your season to do things. Why don't you stop trying to run a business until you finish your Master's. Either get out of it or let someone else handle it for now. Replace the business with exercising. Once the Master's is finished, then perhaps you can pick up the business, but that depends on what all those other activities you mentioned above are, and how much time and effort they would take.

As far as getting organized goes, there are plenty of resources on this site to help you get started, including a list of recommended books on the subject.

You can't do everything at once. You need rest, relaxation. You're a doctor and should know better.

Q: Thank heavens I found your page! My problem is that I need a filing system for my interior design resource library. I get notebooks, brochures, samples of tile, fabric, and wallpaper books, etc and don't know how to organize them so that I can easily refer to them. any suggestions? Books on this subject (interior design office mgmt)? thanks. -lc

A: lc, organizing this type of space will be a challenge, and you'll have to think creatively and put some work into this upfront, so get ready.

Let's look at the principles of organizing and apply them to your situation.

1. Purge and sort first, and keep only items you value or need. You should first go through everything. If you can get rid of anything, do it. Keeping things that you don't really use just keeps clutter around you that will get in the way of your thinking process.
    
2. Keep like items together. On the things you decided to keep, sort them by keeping like items together. In your case, you'll want your fabric swatches together in one place, perhaps separated by style, colors, fabric, or whatever makes sense to you; tile samples together; books together separated by the type of information or styles in each; and so on.
   
   Use a system that will make sense to you. Think of how you'll retrieve each piece, and store it that way. If the first thing you think of is style, that'll be where you'll start. Then once you know the style, if you need to look at colors, let that be how you break up the styles, and so on.
    
3. Give everything a home. Now that you know what you're keeping, and that you're going to store like things together, you'll have to figure out how and where you can store them. Having a set place for everything and keeping them there when you finish with them will help keep you organized.
    
4. Use the right product to store them. Get creative and think of how you can store things. For instance, on your fabric swatches, you could put them all on metal rings you can buy at an office supply store or home improvement store. Perhaps you could purchase a peg board with hooks and hang the swatches this way. Before you purchase anything, make sure you measure your spaces first.
   
   With your books, select a shelving unit that you like or build your own. To separate the books, I'd look through them first. If there're only very few pages you'd like to keep in some of them, consider taking them out and making your own book with miscellaneous info, keeping the manufacturer's contact info with the pages.
   
   You might have books that have different styles, designs, etc., that you might be able to use colored dots to let you know what's in the book. Put the dots on the spine so you only have to retrieve books that have what you need.
   
   On some of the things you have, you might be able to use shelves like the ones they use in mailrooms. Always group like things together, regardless of what you use.
    
5. Put everything near its point of use. Keep the things you use most often near you. In redesigning your space, take advantage of your walls, behind doors, etc. Visit crafts stores, floral shops, etc., to get some ideas on how they store odd items. Remember to always measure your spaces before you buy anything.

This should be enough info to get you started. If you need more, the only book I know to recommend is Organizing for the Creative Person by Dorothy Lehmkuhl and Dolores Cotter Lamping CSW. But you might be able to find more at your local bookstore (I'd do an Internet search first though).

I know this sounds like a lot of work, and it is. But just imagine how you're going to feel when it's over. You'll have more time to spend growing your business instead of wasting time looking for something each and every time you need it. Good luck, and keep me posted on your progress!

Q: I want to buy a new printer. I like the HP laser combo printer, fax, scanner, copier. I'm getting a wireless network for my office and want this printer to be a part of it. Problem is is that on the HP site, the options page for this printer says it's not networkable. I just can't believe that'd make a printer that you can't put on a network. Do you have any idea thoughts on this?-jt

A: JT, I'm not a hardware person, but I asked by expert technician, Michael Jordan. Here's what he says.

Your printer cannot be networked because it doesn't have a network card of its own, but it can be shared. Let me explain the difference. 

A printer is "networkable" when it has its own built-in network jack or can accept some kind of network adapter that will allow it to stand alone. If your printer doesn't come with a network card or jack, you can buy an accessory item called a print server (HP calls it a JetDirect). 

You attach the printer cable to the printer server, and the print server is attached to the network. Print servers come in wired and wireless models for $150-$200 (the brand of printer server does not have to match the brand of the printer). 

Any printer can be "shared." To share a printer, you connect it to a networked PC. You cannot access the printer directly, but you can forward your printer request to the PC the printer is connected to. 

To answer your question directly, yes you can use it on your wireless network -- but right out of the box, it can only be used as a shared printer connected to a PC, not as a standalone with computers printing to it.

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