Time was when you had a large desk –a messy one at that. You printed papers or had thick files that sat in huge drawers. You waded through them to find the stuff you wanted, and they cut more trees so you could do this.

If a cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind, of what, then is an empty desk a sign?

                                                                              - Albert Einstein

Think again now.  Today Many entrepreneurs’ offices comprise only of a laptop, which can be carried anywhere. Get up…. We live in the Information Technology Era. Here people don’t do their own work, computers does it for them. 

                                                                                                                                                  Image Credit: Unchartedparent.com

From a 6 foot by 2 foot table to a trendy iPad connected to the Internet (cloud, to be more specific), the office has come a long way in a journey that involves less and less paper –if only you can apply your mind to do it that way. Here’s what you need to get there:

A Good Camera: No, you don’t have to buy a cool shooting device or an expensive DSLR camera. The camera in your phone or Tablet will do, thank you. Use it now, not for “selfies” to upload on Facebook or on Pinterest nut to click a visiting card, an invoice, a bill or even and handwritten note. The new camera phones have strong picture resolution to catch most of the text details. There you have eliminated lots of paper –and more important storage that occupies real estate.

                                    Must Read: How to deal with Anger Issues?

A Document Scanner: If your camera is no up to clicking the document you want to store –let us say it is  a huge certificate or a legal document –you can use a good scanner. You can consider buying the Fujitsu Snap Scan or my favorite, the Neat Connect. These scanners have slots built in for receipts, papers and visiting cards, so that you can scan them at a go, and they can scan both sides at one time. The best part is that you can link these scan devices to the cloud. 

 A cheaper alternative is HP’s all-in-one multifunction printers that come now with a scanner and needs no separate PC link. You can simply scan to your phone or tablet –and that too wirelessly. No hassles of booting or testing the scan quality. At 7,500-INR or about $130, the HP3545Boffers a great starting point in a journey to a paperless office.

Evernote or Microsoft OneNote: Though I am a big fan of Evernote user, Microsoft is free –and it offers similar features. These electronic note apps (that you can download) can take the images you clicked or scanned. The photo can now also get comments and tags to help you sort and track them as per need. You can also create folders to make a collection of all the documents related. Since the documents are now pictures, Evernote and OneNote will also do optical character recognition for you and help you make these searchable –just like you Google something on the Internet. You can use tags such as bills, lunch receipt, or name of the person or organization associated with the document. You are, well, sorted now. Evernote and OneNote allow you to share your notes with auditors and accountants.

Cloud Storage: Parking space on the Internet can be very useful. Evernote and Microsoft OneNote will also back up your data, but since your data is now in digital format, you can always store these on Dropbox.com or Box.com, or simply your Google Drive to access them on other devices.

                                                                                                                                                                   Image Credit: Samsill.com

You are ready for a paperless office culture, but remember, there is more to this –because you have to change your behavioral pattern to make things easier in the long run. This is what we call “life-hacking” –the business of building your habits.

Try and make sure you ask for every paper you get in electronic form, be it your utility bill or a shopping mall receipt. And yes, do it for your credit card and bank statements to complete the circle. Make people follow the same habits as you do, because it will help the world conserve paper.

How new apps help you...

• You can keep scanned copies of your car registration or travel papers and take printouts for authorities right from your handset instead of unnecessarily varying sheaves of paper.

• You can do away with old fashioned business cards. You can store images of your cards that can be stored and searched easily.

• Using Evernote or Microsoft OneNote, you can convert old documents or even handwritten notes from meetings into files that use optical recognition.

If you have your own life hacks to make this article more helpful, feel free to contact me, or drop a comment.

Anger is considered a negative emotion. But when channelized for a higher or greater cause, anger can be used for transformation. However, most often, anger is counterproductive and self-destructive. We need to learn anger management as it often lands us in trouble. Though anger can be used ethically also, but most people regard it as insulting and negative for us.

 Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one getting burned.   - Buddha (563 BC-483 BC) Founder of Buddhism.

The following are snatches of a conversation between an anger patient “Chris” and an anger-management therapist:

Chris: Doctor, I cannot control my anger.

Therapist: Okay…. Can you please elaborate?

Chris: Small things irritate me, and then I explode. I cannot control myself and I become abusive.

Therapist: Okay… so, little things irritate you. They pile up and then you burst out.

Chris: Yes.

Therapist: What do you do when little things irritate you?

Chris: I can’t do anything!

Therapist: Can you give me an example when an outburst occurred recently?

Chris: For example, last Sunday I took my daughter for an outing. I was anyway irritated because of the office work. My daughter started being very stubborn- she wanted a very expensive doll. I suddenly lost temper and thrashed her, said thing I shouldn’t have said. I feel very ashamed of myself.

Therapist: I see… what happened in office?

Chris: They are just small regular things… I was irritated by my team as I had told them to do something, explained it to them… they said they understood but produced something absolutely crappy.

Therapist: So, what were you irritated at?

Chris: They said they had understood and yet did not deliver….

 Therapist: So, if they don’t deliver, what happens?

Chris: It’s not about the delivery of the product. It’s their attitude which irritates me.

Therapist: What about the attitude?

Chris: That they take their work for granted. They do not function maturely….
Therapist: So, you don’t share a similar attitude towards work, and let’s assume they behave immaturely. What about it irritates you?

Chris: I feel taken for granted. I feel helpless.

Therapist: What did you do?

Chris: I shouted at them and made sure that they corrected the mistakes.

Therapist: So, the shouting reduces your irritation?

Chris: Well, not really. I just pushed my irritation aside for the time being to make sure that the work was done. But I was still very irritated. So, when my daughter was being stubborn I snapped…

Therapist: What happened when your daughter was being stubborn?

Chris: I just felt so taken for granted and just didn’t know what to do…. 

Anger can be of various types 

Here are some that may resonate with you:

 Anger as a coping strategy: Here, the client finds it difficult to cope with situation, he feels helpless and this triggers his anger. If he acknowledges his helplessness at the onset of an outburst, he can devise an effective strategy to deal with the situation. What the client thought of as small incidents in office were actually triggers for his anger. If he had dealt with the situation at the time he had experienced it, he may have been more successful at preventing the outburst later.

 Solution: When you feel helpless, don’t be ashamed of the feeling. Acknowledge it and then find a strategy to deal with the situation that is making you helpless. In the client’s case, it might be that he needs to communicate more effectively, or when he delegates, he needs assess the work progress more closely. When you plan your strategy, you also think of negative strategies. A strategy might not give an instant solution. It is important to stay focused on the solution.

---

Anger as a grudge: When we hold on to anger towards a person or a situation long after the event has happened.

For example; “I can never forgive my sister in law for what she did to me immediately after I got married.” It may not matter that the person has minimal contact with his sister in law now. This grudge creates bitterness within and hampers one’s ability to enjoy life fully. We feel right and justifies in holding on to this kind of anger even though we may be the only ones who are affected by it.

Solution: Is it to forgive the person and let go of the internal pain. Often we say, “I can’t forgive”, we actually mean to say, “I won’t forgive”. We can always choose to forgive and let go. It might take some time.

---

Anger to defend ourselves: When we feel personally attacked we respond aggressively. ‘I am being attacked’ is often a perception than a reality. A lot of times, criticism or other’s behavior makes us feel vulnerable, and we use anger to deal with it.

Solution: Acknowledge your vulnerability. Understand the things in your environment which are making you feel attacked or intimidated. You make a list to identify in real time, and find another strategy to deal with the situation. Detach your self-worth from “other’s response”. Try to accept people’s behavior as their problem.

---

Anger is only an emotion. Though on one hand it can lead people to do shocking things, actually it is an indication that something is bothering us. If we can go beyond this emotion and try to find a solution to either change or effectively deal with the situation, we would have used it constructively. Ultimately, it is our choice how we use and deal with it. We need anger as a tool to cope with the situation and not that of a hazard. Anger-management is what we chiefly nee in our real lives.

Nothing can beat or bring back the feeling of the first day you step into your college, your home for the next few years. There is a little bit of nerves and a whole lot of anticipation for those stepping out of the comfort of their schools into a whole new world that is college. 

 "A man who has never gone to school may steal from a freight car; but if he has a university education, he may steal the whole railroad.- Theodore Roosevelt"

But this is also the time when you discover new things, make new friends and have a whole lot fun. Here are a few reasons why first year in college is the most special:

 After school, college is like a breath of fresh year: No fixed uniform, no bar on coloring your hair or showing off the tattoo you’ve got. The new found freedom in college is an amazing feeling.

 You get pampered by your seniors: Being the junior-most has its perks. You get pampered by seniors ready to show your ropes, give advice regarding classes, as well as occasional treats. Ragging is a thing of past (on most campuses), thanks to the strict laws, so there is nothing to be afraid of.

      Must Read: 12 Awesome Things you should do while In College!!

Teachers mark your answer scripts quite leniently: For a change, most teachers are quite benevolent with marks, allowing you to settle down, unlike in the second or third years.

You can get away with a lot of things: The leniency of some teachers also carries over to ignoring things like bunking classes and playing on your phone in class. All the rules, whether carrying your ID cards or adhering to the dress code (for some colleges), are a little more lax for the first few months because you are new.

 You have two more years before you must focus on your future: Once in college, you can afford to relax for the first year before the pressure of internships or learning new languages or choosing a career path. The board exam is usually tough, so for a change take break from your worries.

      Must Read: Life-Changing Lessons that four years in College taught me!

 Canteen food will still taste delicious: You will fall in love with the canteen food to the extent that you will treat your friends on your birthdays at canteen instead of at KFC. However, by the time you are in third year…well, let’s not spoil it for you guys.

You like everybody in college (well, almost): The first year is paradise when it comes to friends. You hardly know each other to start clan wars. Enjoy it. In time you’ll find out who your true friends are.

  If you want me to add something I have left please comment and help me improve this post. Any help would be appreciated.

Colleges teach us many life changing lessons, I also learnt some.

 A university is just a group of buildings gathered around a library. - Shelby Foote

 These are the lessons which  took in my college....
There is something for everyone: School is where the cliques are. In college people are a lot more chilled out, everyone has something that they can do, whether it is chatting with friends, playing cards, great computer skills or high management qualities. No one is an “outcast.”

 Live and let live: by the end of four years in college, you know that you cannot please everyone. Neither can you expect them to behave like you would want them to do. The sooner you learn this, the more peaceful your college life will be.

You may not be the one you thought you were: college will help you discover part of your personality that you never thought have existed. It’s all about learning and unlearning things. You may have a clear-cut idea about how you wish to spend your days when you enter college, but trust me, the plan never works.

Don’t pretend: four years is a lot of time to know others and to see right through those who are pretentious. Pretending to be someone else you are not doesn’t take you too far

The friends you have when you leave college are the ones that matter: when you join college, your group consists of about 15 ‘good’ friends, but by the end of it, you will be left with 6 or even less of them.

 You cannot fool your professors. They have seen hundreds like you. They do this for a living and can see right through you.

 There are tons of ways to have fun. Getting sloshed puking through the night is not the only one of them.

It’s okay to refuse something. And most often unlike popular belief nobody pressurize you. Even if you are around people who try to coax you into doing something you don’t like, be assertive and say “no”. Don’t cave. 

 Coffee is your best friends before exams.

 Your best friend from fifth semester might not be your friend in the sixth semester.

Network. It always helps if you know a lot of people. 

 Never have alcohol on an empty stomach.

 Always remove your make-up before going to sleep. Especially if you have a friend staying over who has a habit of taking sneaky pictures.

 Always check for your phone and purse before leaving a friend’s house or a party.

 Canteen food everyday will not only burn a hole in your pocket but also in your stomach as well. Bringing food from home occasionally is not a really bad option.

If you have something valuable to add to this list, please comment to make this posts even more interesting....