Tim Barklage is the co-founder of St. Louis-based Better Life, a line of eco-friendly cleaning products that he is launching this month.
Zap clutter, gain focus
Indeed, distraction dogs entrepreneurs; many ache for the ability to focus. Using a wide variety of tools, focus is just what freelancer Denise Reynolds did. Reynolds, who writes about food, travel, and luxury from her home office in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., says she used to run away from her office when it was time to write. "My office was so claustrophobic that I couldn't write," she says. "I would take my laptop and go to Starbucks."
Two years ago, she set out on a quest to become mess free. Since then, she's banished paper from her office by employing a long list of Web-based applications, including ScanSnap and SpeedyScan, which convert paper files to searchable PDFs; Neat Receipts, for organizing tiny papers like receipts and business cards; and ClearContext, which manages avalanches of E-mail. Today, the precarious piles of paper are gone. "My office inspires me," she says. "Now I don't have to go to Starbucks to write. I can actually go to Starbucks for a cup of coffee," she says. "What a novel idea."
It's a novel idea that hasn't just made Reynolds happier. It's made her far, far more productive. And isn't that the entrepreneurial brass ring?
