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If you've tried various productivity systems and found them either too focused on top-down or bottom-up management, you might want to take a peek at The Middle Way Method, a system that blends the strengths of both techniques.

Photo by Randy Son of Robert.

Over at D*I*Y Planner, an organization site focused on creating your own planners and organization tools, they found themselves disillusioned with some of the more popular productivity systems:

From studying all these planning systems, I noticed that they fell into two categories: Top Down or Bottom Up. The first is Top Down Planning, and the Franklin Covey methodology provides a great example of this type, which says “Know who you are, and work from there to become who you want to be.” The second type is Bottom Up Planning, and Getting Things Done (GTD) system, follows this methodology. GTD is designed to clear all of the “Stuff” in your life, and process it effectively. However, I found that neither of these systems really work best for me. Over time, I kept track of what worked for me from each system, and I used that to create my own system, called The Middle Way Method.

The result is a productivity workflow that focuses not only on immediate action but on continually reshaping your work and goals according to your personal and spiritual focuses. Not only do the two articles about the method lay out the structure and philosophy behind The Middle Way Method but true to their D*I*Y Planner roots, they've included numerous templates and tips for creating a physical planner to help you use the system. Check out part one and part two at the links below for more information.

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You'd be surprised how much you can do when you put your mind to it. There are home improvement projects you can take on with very little help from educational resources or anyone else. But if you need someone's help, you don't have to hire an expensive expert. Learn the various ways you can get inexpensive help for the home improvement projects you've been promising yourself for years.

1. Your local hardware store will most likely have books of all kinds from fixing the roof to building your own porch. These manuals more often than not cover everything from whether or not you need a building permit to the preparations you need to make before you start building. These are very important things to know if you are going to do a project yourself. That way, you make fewer mistakes and you definitely don't make the kinds of mistakes that might cause you to have to tear your home improvement project apart and start over.
2. Find your materials from home improvement or home building projects that are taking place in your town or the local area. I know of contractors who charge for hauling, and then those same contractors use the excess materials they have hauled for other projects they have been hired to do. When you approach the home owner or the business owner who is paying for the building project, you just may find yourself with a magnificent deal that might include you hauling away the excess materials for free. Then, you have free materials for your own home improvement project.
3. Contact your local high schools to hire the experts you need. When you are doing your own home improvement project, you may only need some help and it would be great if your help had some knowledge of the building process. If you contact your local high schools, you might be able to find a vocational technology department where you can ask the teacher to allow you to get in contact with a few students they recommend. If you do your project in the summer, in the evenings, or on the weekend, you just may be able to find yourself a knowledgeable person who can help you with your home improvement project.
4. Contact local contractors who may have just laid people off because of the tight economy. It doesn't mean that the person who was laid off isn't knowledgeable in home improvement. It just means that a contract had to make cuts for the benefit of the rest of the company. You might be able to find yourself a very appreciative home improvement expert to help you do the job you've been promising yourself for years.

We normally look for help in the normal ways. But when money is tight, creative ideas start flowing. When you have a home improvement project that you would like to complete, you don't have to spend massive amounts of money for a home improvement expert in your area. There are ways to save money and help others in the process.

how I fit Tiles

I sincerely think Meetup.com is an underrated source for networking when it comes to interior design and other fields. Many of the groups on Meetup.com do not have more than 300 members, making it very small which is unfortunate. Organizations like ASID have many many members yet as far as I know, from actual live face-to-face personalized Meetings, lack.

This is where Meetup.com comes in. I created my group the Orange County Interior Design and Architecture Network Group only in June, the 15th, 2009.

Since then I have 31 members including myself, have attracted professionals from all sorts of related industries, and have fun creating events for the group.

This can be achieved in a few ways, you can:

Join an existing interior design group
Message members of existing interior design groups
Organize a new interior design group
Become an Assistant Organizer of an existing interior design group
Join a related industry group

Because of my Meetup group on Meetup.com, I already know industry partners that I can power refer with in the future.

I've met:

architects
a structural engineer
graphic designers
interior design entrepreneurs
a freelancer
a custom framer

and look forward to building my network even more

Take a look at my Meetup group site and see for yourself:

http://www.meetup.com/Orange-County-IDaANG/

Mentions
http://www.asid.org
http://www.meetup.com