Meltdown

Thankfully, not my own, but, again, my computer graphics card had one.  Unlike a year and a half ago, when it would have cost $300 to replace it in my laptop, this time I was able to get up and running again after only $35 (a new card from California off of eBay for the computer tower I bought after the last meltdown).  Last night was spent backing up all of my data (yes, I know, bad Phyllis for not already doing that on a regular and consistent basis).  But, you know, unexpected meltdowns can be a blessing in disguise.  I used the time to finish the Tunisian scarf project, to start on a pillow project, teach a class at Looped Yarn Works and to read my favorite business magazines Entrepreneur and Inc.  I would highly recommend both of them, especially when I'm feeling discouraged about how slowly things seem to be going for my business.  I get a lot of inspiration from the articles and learn about a lot of different (and often free) services that are available for entrepreneurs out there, even small ones.  I also remind myself that, if I were able to spend all of my time working on my business, it would be a lot different than the few hours here and there that I am able to devote to it.  We all make choices (even if it feels like the choices are made for us), and I feel that the trick to it is to accept those choices and work them to your advantage the best you can or, frankly, make new choices.  Whining is not an option!

One tool that I'm currently embracing is http://www.evernote.com/.  I'm one of those people who comes across a website or a product, jots down the information on a scrap of paper or tears out the article or advertisement, etc., then ends up with a pile of papers that I'm paralyzed to do anything about, and seriously, how useful is the information if it's lost in a pile (but I can't possibly throw out that pile for fear of losing something important)?!  Sound familiar?!  Now, with evernote, my dream is that I can jot down a thought, copy a website address that I want to go back to, etc., and centralized it all in one space that's accessible on whatever device I'm using.  I'm in the process of setting up different "notebooks" on the site to organize and file away information.  I haven't fully explored all the possibilities yet or input all the scraps of paper ;-)  but there's potential here!  I'm not a paid spokesperson, I just hope that my experiences, good and bad, can be of help to you, and I'll keep you posted about how that pile is coming.

Ok, now, speaking of piles of paper...